HRH1: Employer Branding: Building Competitive Advantage
Sean Broderick, VP-National Sales Development, Bernard Hodes Group,
    Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Susan Hailey, Vice President of Talent Acquisition, Harrah’s, Las Vegas

Monday, March 17, 11 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.

For best of breed hotels committed to attracting top talent, it’s important to create a compelling employment branding message and a positive recruitment and selection experience for the candidate. Across the hospitality industry, the impact of employer branding is now being seen as a source of potential competitive advantage. What is employer branding and how did it help Harrah’s become an employer of choice? How does Harrah’s market its “company culture” to a candidate? What is Harrah’s brand promise and how is it fulfilled through onboarding, training and compensation? Join Sean Broderick and Susan Hailey to learn how Harrah’s builds loyalty and value with its customers through employees who are devoted to delivering truly great service.

Monday, March 17, 1:45 - 3 p.m. – Part 1

Tips, commissions and other performance-based cash incentives determine the standard of living for many hotel employees – and help hotels attract and retain those employees. These programs also reinforce that personal and team goals must be accomplished to ensure the hotel’s success. But these tools are often used ineffectively. In the first half of this two-part session, you’ll learn trends in designing and managing property-level incentive pay plans, the pay mix for various positions, and how to determine whether you’re getting the best bang for your buck.

Monday, March 17, 3:45 - 5 p.m. – Part 2

In the second half of this double session, you’ll learn how InterContinental Hotels Group designs, approves, communicates and administers their property-level incentive plans. You’ll leave this session knowing how to properly apply all these tools at your property.

Tuesday, March 18, 8:45 - 10 a.m.

The West Paces Hotel Group has an insatiable commitment to excel and innovate. It has established an organization that generates record sales and profits, as well as unparalleled customer and employee satisfaction. The West Paces culture focuses especially on selection, onboarding and leadership development/certification to achieve people and process excellence. You’ll learn about West Paces’ quality metrics dashboard and continuous improvement processes, its HR function and work environment, and lessons learned along the way. This is a rare opportunity to “look behind the curtain” of the first hoteliers to scientifically measure customer and employee satisfaction.

Tuesday, March 18, 1:30 - 2:45 p.m.

When it comes to improving recruiting, we’re quick to examine sourcing channels, the latest technology and best practices. But we seldom look at the relationship between the recruiter and hiring manager. If they don’t communicate and execute, having the best recruiting plans and processes means nothing. Diana Meisenhelter will offer sage advice on crafting service level agreements, prioritizing competing recruitment activities, and identifying critical recruiting process metrics. You’ll take away best practices you can use in your company — and become a valued and respected business partner to your hiring managers.

Tuesday, March 18, 3:15 - 4:30 p.m.

You may have attracted housekeepers from Mexico, porters from Ethiopia and kitchen workers from Bosnia. But managing, retaining and developing such culturally diverse employees is impossible if they can’t effectively communicate. Come learn how an in-house English as Second Language (ESL) course complements your recruitment and retention initiatives by helping your “back of the house” staff communicate better with customers, co-workers, managers and vendors. Take advantage of this opportunity to tap Ronna Timpa’s 14 years of experience in improving the lives and communication skills of these employees.

Wednesday, March 19, 11:15 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

JHM operates more than 30 hotels under the Starwood, Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt brands, and will be adding several more in the next 18 months. But regardless of the brand, there’s just one JHM culture, based on the founding family’s Indian roots that support the mind, body and spirit of its associates, partners, clients and management team. How does JHM do it? Come learn how the company culture has been woven through the organization’s people, marketing and processes to become an integral part of its operation.

HRR1: People Report^TM’s Workforce 2007: Best People Practices in the Restaurant Industry
Kacy Oden, Director of Member Relations, People Report™, Dallas

Monday, March 17, 11 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.

As owners, managers and analysts examine the ability of restaurant companies to grow and prosper in the years ahead, they increasingly look to human resource metrics and their impact on the business. This recently released report digs deep into national research conducted in 2007 by People Report™, the foremost provider of HR metrics and benchmarks in the restaurant industry. Lessons learned during the past five years from successful restaurant chains also will be highlighted. Finally, you will learn about the emerging HR trends that have resulted in improved operational performance for today’s most successful restaurants.

Monday, March 17, 1:45 - 3 p.m.

With a war for talent raging in the restaurant industry, employees are slamming restaurant owners with an unprecedented number of class-action lawsuits alleging tip pool, uniform allowance and overtime violations. Government agencies also are investigating allegations of rampant labor law abuse in the restaurant industry. And, as always, plaintiff attorneys are more than willing to take up causes for a shot at a big settlement. This session offers HR managers and in-house counsel a practical approach to avoiding liability for such violations. Our experts will take you through the steps that ensure your restaurant will have the strongest possible defense when the lawsuits come.

To be a star for many years in the restaurant business, you must have the ability to identify and develop pivotal talent. And perhaps no talent is more pivotal than the ability to profitably manage multiple units. Drs. Hyatt and Baker will show you how successful restaurant companies use performance management data to identify top-performing managers and prepare these future leaders to clear this critical hurdle.

Tuesday, March 18, 1:30 - 2:45 p.m. – Part 1
Tuesday, March 18, 3:15 - 4:30 p.m. – Part 2

Anti-established in 1971, Hard Rock Cafes have become a multi-billion dollar, world-wide chain of restaurants. Irreverent, brash, yet philanthropic, at Hard Rock’s core is a message that says, “Love all, serve all.” Often imitated, never duplicated, come learn how Hard Rock has managed to thrive where others have failed. If you think it might have something to do with how they hire, onboard and develop people, you would be right. And Jim Knight will show you how they do it, in detail, in this rockin’ double album ... er, session.

HRR6: Avoiding the Heartburn of Class Action: How to Create an Effective Meal Break Plan
David Morrison, Principal, Goldberg Kohn Attorneys at Law, Chicago

Wednesday, March 19, 9:45 - 11 a.m.

Laws governing rest and meal breaks have been on the books — and ignored by busy restaurant employees and frazzled managers — for decades. But these laws recently have become the basis for a fast-growing wave of class-action litigation. Settlements and verdicts of seven to nine figures are common. And with California ruling that the additional one hour of pay owed to employees who were not given a meal or rest break was a “wage” not a “penalty,” the statute of limitations on such violations — and the potential for damages — just tripled. David Morrison will show you how to create an effective meal break plan. From mandating meal breaks to documenting break compliance and from auditing automatic meal break deductions to compensating employees for breaks not taken, you’ll learn how to avoid the pain of this class-action heartburn.

HFS1: Virtual Interviews, Real Jobs: 21st Century Recruiting at Sodexho
Anthony J. Scarpino, Senior Director of Talent Acquisition, Sodexho USA,
    Gaithersberg, Md.

Monday, March 17, 3:45 - 5 p.m.

Has your company hosted a job fair in cyberspace? Sodexho USA has, several times. Inside an online virtual community called Second Life, avatars of company recruiters and applicants talk about job opportunities and interests, and determine if there is mutual desire to continue the process in the real world. It’s high-tech, efficient and effective: Recently, 14 of 100 candidates were referred to hiring managers by their online screeners. Second Life is just one of the ways Sodexho USA is using available technology to attract and engage the top talent required to compete in the foodservice industry. They’ve changed the functionality of their own recruiting websites, too, using available technology in full effect. Join us for an insider’s perspective of Sodexho’s high-tech, high-touch recruiting initiatives.

Tuesday, March 18, 1:30 - 2:45 p.m.

Minorities make up 25% of Sysco’s workforce, and women represent 20% of the workforce. Clearly, talented people of all backgrounds see the company as a place of opportunity where they can make a difference. What makes this happen? From operations to sales, from entry level through management, there are well-defined diversity initiatives and effective programs that help employees reach their full potential. Come learn how Sysco turns its commitment to diversity into action, because it takes much more than words to build a truly diverse and profitable foodservice company.

Pre-employment screening can limit your exposure to potentially damaging litigation for issues such as wrongful hiring, workplace violence or wrongful termination. This session will acquaint you with the latest tools professionals use to screen potential foodservice employees. You’ll learn how to leverage the explosion of information available on the Internet without violating employment and privacy laws. And you’ll leave this session with an audit checklist against which you can test your own screening process. Because if you don’t measure up in this area, you’re probably not hiring who you think.

LR1: Emerging Systems for Managing Workplace Conflict
Richard D. Fincher, Esq., Managing Partner, Workplace Resolutions LLC, Phoenix
Gregory J. Kamer, Founding Partner, Kamer Zucker Abbott, Attorneys at Law,
    Las Vegas
Michael Nelson, Director of Human Resources, Ruffin Development, Las Vegas
Rocco M. Scanza, Executive Director, Institute on Conflict Resolution, Cornell
    University School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Ithaca, N.Y.

Monday, March 17, 11 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.

Progressive employers in the hospitality industry are em- bracing conflict management systems to channel and resolve workplace disputes. You’ll learn about the forces driving this transformation as the presenters examine several types of effective conflict management systems. This session is ideal for HR leaders, in-house counsel or hospitality managers who seek better methods for resolving workplace conflict.

Monday, March 17, 1:45 - 3 p.m.

You would be hard-pressed to find two topics that stir up more emotion on both sides of the bargaining table than these. Do card check and neutrality agreements promote more stable labor relations? How will property level managers react when their corporations agree to these practices? What are the prospects for passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, and the implications for labor and management if the Act were to become law? Learn how your operations are likely to be affected by two of the most critical developments in labor relations since the Taft Hartley Act.

Private equity firms made significant investments in hotels and restaurants in 2007. And their flood of capital into the hospitality industry shows no signs of abating in 2008. Our panelists are uniquely positioned to talk about this issue. Their insights on how private equity firms will influence and impact the industry’s investors, guests and employees will make this a most compelling session.