Primary source of information How Communications can help you during recovery

By Lisa Leinberger

Operations

You may call it the HERO, but it’s really the Handbook for Excellent Restaurant Operations. Every year, we update this manual with the latest changes to the food code, regulations, laws and more.

It’s all online, which means we can make updates throughout the year, rather than just once. As of this writing, we’ve done this twice since we released the 2023 version in late January.

If you have a question about anything related to running a restaurant, chances are excellent it’s in this book.

Download your copy on our members-only website, access. wahospitality.org. If it’s your first time logging in to access. wahospitality.org, click on “Need Access” to get your password.

Be sure to check out page 60 to read about a lodging version being published this summer.

The Northwest Hospitality Leadership Podcast

During the pandemic, Washington Hospitality Association President & CEO Anthony Anton realized that the newest generation of employees were different from Gen X and boomers.

Millennials and Gen Z employees aren’t likely to put their heads down, plow through and do something just because the boss told them to do it. They want a job where they feel valued, where their opinions matter and that makes them a part of something bigger.

In order to lead these new generations, we need to learn new lessons.

This was the motivation for launching the Northwest Hospitality

During its first season, Anthony was joined by Chris Jenson, a consultant with The Table Group. If you are familiar with the book “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team,” you are familiar with The Table Group. It’s a company founded by the book’s author, Patrick Lencioni. The entire first season is available wherever you get your podcasts. Just search “The Northwest Hospitality Leadership

Stay tuned for season two. We’re going to explore an entirely new leadership author’s work.

Webinars

Every month, we have guests from our Advisory Network sit down and discuss issues that affect our members every day.

Rick Braa, our “Hospitality Profit” and a financial advisor who specializes in hospitality, discusses the latest in streamlining operations, what to do during this labor shortage and more.

We also have experts in HR, business insurance, buying and selling restaurants and other areas. We always record these webinars so if you can’t make it, you can watch it on our YouTube channel or listen as a podcast.

Occasionally, we get legal experts on our webinars who discuss the policies you should have in place to address issues like meal and rest periods or new or revised laws that you need to know. Catharine Morisset of Fisher Phillips has been providing us with outstanding information for years.

Go to our members-only website at access. wahospitality.org to watch these webinars.

Podcasts

Not only does the communications department record informative webinars to watch later, we also upload the audio to our podcast feed so you can listen to the webinars on the go.

Anthony also records the CEO Podcast for members on the go. This year, he interviewed Chris Reykdal from the state’s Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction about getting students high school credit for employment, as well as a Snohomish County

We post exclusive content on our members-only website at access.wahospitality.org. If it’s your first time logging in to the members only site, click on “Need Access” to get your password.

• Visit our Wildfire & Extreme Heat Toolkit

• All of this information is exclusive to our members and you’ll find it nowhere else.

Sheriff’s Department sergeant about public safety and Chip Rogers from the American Hotel & Lodging Association.

If it’s topical, Anthony wants to talk about it, and you can listen wherever you get your podcasts. Just search for “Washington Hospitality Industry Podcast” and you can find the webinar replays and the CEO Podcast.

Toolkits

If you are looking for information on a topic, there is one place you can go online to find what you need. Our toolkits are a one-stop shop for information.

If you are wondering what to do when the skies are smoky from nearby wildfires and your employees are working outside, visit our Wildfire Toolkit to find out when you need to bring workers inside and where you can monitor changes in air quality.

If you want to know what new laws and regulations are in place this year, click on our New Laws and Regulations Businesses Need to Know for 2023 Toolkit. You will find out about changes to the minimum wage, the overtime threshold, how you need to post salary information on job postings and much more.

While some of these toolkits are publicly available at wahospitality. org, there are some that are exclusive to our members. You’ll find those at access.wahospitality.org.

Newsletters and emails

Every Tuesday, we deliver all of the news you need to know for the week directly to your inbox. You’ll find the latest in regulations and webinars you’ll want to attend in this email. You’ll also find the ServSafe Manager schedule and how to register your employees for classes.

We also have localized emails that go to the Seattle Restaurant Alliance, the Seattle Hotel Association and the Spokane Chapter of the Washington Hospitality Association.

We send stand-alone emails for every webinar we offer and Action Alerts if our government affairs team needs to you weigh in with your lawmakers.

The More for Your Margin email comes out once a month, and it includes information about the programs our business development department offers.

For our lodging members, Lodging News comes to you on the fourth Friday of every month with news specifically for lodging operators.

If you would like to subscribe to any of these emails, please reach out to your territory manager.

Websites

New this year in communications: We are posting more information to our members-only website. All of this information is exclusive to our members and you’ll find it nowhere else.

Did you miss a recent webinar with the team from Fisher Phillips? Would you like to access our exclusive wage reports? You can find all of that information at access.wahospitality.org.

Of course, we still keep our main site wahospitality.org up to date with what you need to know in the hospitality industry.

We also have local websites with information about local meetings and news. Visit seattlerestaurantalliance.com, seattlehotelassociation. org and spokanehospitality.com.

Social media

You can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn by searching “wahospitality.” We also have our exclusive, membersonly Facebook group, “Washington Hospitality Members.” Join the conversation at www.facebook.com/groups/wahospitality. ■

Find us on social media

Facebook: wahospitality

Twitter: @WAhospitality

LinkedIn: Washington Hospitality Association

Instagram: @wahospitality

YouTube: @WAHospitality