Imagine this situation: you phone a business colleague, leaving a voicemail, and then this person replies two days later with a text message. How does this reply effort make you feel? For me - and this is just me we're talking about here - I'd feel rather insulted. Barring extenuating circumstances, a telephone call and corresponding voicemail imply a timely response effort be made via a return phone call. READ MORE

It's all about the team. Whether you are looking to fill open positions in an existing hotel, hire a new staff for a property soon to open or add talent at the corporate headquarters, attracting, assembling and retaining a top-notch team of employees is critical to success. Once hired, it is especially important to provide each team member with clear expectations, strong direction and a path of advancement within the organization. This entire process should both be true to and reinforce a company's core culture. READ MORE

Truly luxury hotels have the ability to engage their guests in a distinctive, exclusive and meaningful way not found elsewhere. They create a certain mystique that becomes almost addictive, bringing guests back time and time again. But because there is no standard definition of luxury, hotels have a challenge to be able to cater to a wide range of personal interpretations of luxury. From a sense of style and comfort, a legendary location, pampered attention, extravagance or ultra-simplicity, luxury is many things to many people. But one thing is clear - luxury delivers unexpected pleasures that exceed expectations in original ways. Learn how to best deliver that luxury touch. READ MORE

The “moral” of this article is: Every better business result requires a better conversation.” Every business result you want from your team involves engaging them in a conversation…actually an ongoing conversation. Whether it is a more gracious, welcoming guest experience; better teamwork; or employees showing more ownership and initiative, if you want better results than what you've been getting, you will need to engage them in better, more effective, more productive conversations. In this article, you will learn a six-step protocol that sets the stage for a productive conversation; a conversation that leads to commitment rather than compliance, a conversation that brings you the better results you desire. READ MORE

While Silvio Berlusconi, three times Italian prime minister, faces prison for fraud, the web of cross-holdings between Italian banks, commerce and industry is unraveling and the economic outlook is bleak. The recession is likely to persist through 2013, with uncertainty whether the gentle recovery in Germany and France will help Italy up also. READ MORE