Excerpted from the study guide for HSMAI Global’s new Certified Hotel Sales Leader (CHSL) certification, designed to recognize the expertise of hotel sales leaders, emphasizing the most up-to-date sales and commercial principles, practices, and strategies.  

As we observe Mental Health Awareness Month, and as industry leaders grapple with the challenges of burnout and the increasing importance of nurturing the holistic well-being of their employees, the emphasis on mental health and well-being remains paramount. We explore this in an excerpt from the HSMAI Foundation Special Report: The State of Hotel Sales, Marketing, and Revenue Optimization Talent 2023-2024.  

Organizations must measure employee wellbeing, happiness, stress, satisfaction, and purpose. Everyone should ask themselves, “How am I creating a thriving workplace?” The past few years have shaken everyone’s confidence in health, job security, and income. Get insights on solutions from the HSMAI Foundation’s State of Talent Report.

As rising leaders, we need to spend time thinking about our next steps for career growth and seeking out opportunities to progress further. HSMAI Rising Sales Leader Council recently discussed the topic of career growth, progression, and personal development.

With the pandemic in our rear-view, and a focus on work life balance more prevalent than ever before, keeping our teams producing without the fear of “burn out” has been a continual focus for sales teams.

Cultures change when behaviors change. You may not be able to dictate attitudes, but leaders can dictate the behaviors they expect in the workplace.

Burnout is most common among high achievers and is often related to being short-staffed and high turnover, both prevalent in the current climate. Over the last year, burnout has been a recurring topic for the Rising Sales Leader Council as we’ve brainstormed ways to prevent burnout in ourselves and our teams.  

Recently the HSMAI Americas Board and HSMAI Foundation Board members shared perspectives on talent management. Here are some of the highlights for how leaders are handling talent management in the coming year.

In recent years, the hospitality industry has faced well-placed scrutiny over its lack of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). The Rising Sales Leader Council discussed how they are thinking about DEI at personally and professionally. 

With the start of the new year, professional growth may be on your list of intentions or goals. The HSMAI Sales Rising Leader Council met to discuss the importance of continual learning in our career development, and how there are always opportunities to grow.

Insights from Eric Kreins, Assistant Managing Director of Sales, Hilton Worldwide Sales, Chair of HSMAI Sales Advisory Board, on the discipline’s evolution and which skills are needed today to excel in the profession of hotel sales.

When it comes to talent — on property and off — we are all too familiar with where we’ve been over the last couple of years. But, where are we going? Insights from the HSMAI Sales Advisory Board.

Industry leaders Lexy Coley and Jessica Davidson discuss how passion can fuel a career in hospitality, what hiring managers are looking for in new talent, and tips on leadership development.

The common denominator among these three themes is the stress and burnout it has created among leaders and the associates who are trying to create work-life balance in a VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity) world.

In continuing the conversation on the challenges in hospitality talent and the talent pipeline, the HSMAI Foundation held its Hospitality School Sales Faculty Forum to discuss the student perspective when it comes to the sales career path.

One of the top challenges impacting hotel sales, identified by the HSMAI Sales Advisory Board, is keeping sellers motivated, and one area the advisory board has been exploring is how the lack of authority among sales professionals may be affecting career satisfaction.

The HSMAI Sales Advisory Board recently identified some of the top issues facing the sales discipline. All these challenges can be positively impacted by ongoing education, training, and coaching.

In order to be an effective salesperson, it is crucial to understand the strengths and weaknesses that come from your personality. HSMAI’s Rising Sales Leader Council’s Sales Tools Workgroup has defined selling tips for four different personality types.

While the war on talent is nothing new for the hospitality industry, the pandemic has made this an even bigger challenge. What other professions and industries can you target for talent and explore for new business development opportunities?

New insights from the HSMAI Foundation suggest how to encourage careers in hospitality sales, marketing, and revenue.