Taylor Hardy, a senior in the School of Hotel Administration, shares her takeaways from the National HR in Hospitality Conference, hosted by the Cornell Institute for Innovative Hospitality and Labor Relations. Our Founder and CEO, Gretta Brooks, had the honor of speaking on the panel during the plenary sessions. A brief overview of their session is below:
Plenary session: What kind of voice on workplace issues do today’s workers want?
Panelists:
• Gretta Brooks, CEO and Founder, SalesBoost, LLC
• Tom Kochan, Professor, Sloan School of Management, MIT
• Diana Valles, Director of External Organizing, Culinary Workers Union, Local 226
Moderator:
• Harry Katz
Tom Kochan first presented findings from his studies showing what forms of representation and voice the current workforce in hospitality is looking for. From unions to affinity groups to the complaint and grievance mechanisms in place by management, his research explored whether employees were looking for more or were satisfied with the current state. Some of his findings were surprising and counterintuitive from a management perspective, but it was helpful being given this information and having union representative Diana Valles and Gretta Brooks, CEO of SalesBoost, expand on these topics.
→ Learn more: What kind of voice on workplace issues do today’s workers want?