HR in HospitalityCornell

Certificate Program

Top hospitality firms understand the critical function HR plays in creating and implementing key organizational strategies. This is why it is crucial to develop and continually adapt your company's HR function to best meet the needs of today's employees and drive business objectives.

In this course, you will conduct a labor market analysis to surface and compare key indicators of local market labor conditions. You will then analyze a company's business priorities, strategic position, and core competencies and pinpoint specific competitive advantages and challenges. You will conduct an HR analysis and make suggestions to align the HR function and practices with a firm's vision, mission, values, and goals. By the end of the course, you will have gathered and analyzed critical information you will use to implement a comprehensive HR strategy for your service firm.

It is highly recommended that you take this course first.

Hiring talented people for your organization can be challenging. Having a brand-aligned recruitment and selection strategy can be the difference between attracting top talent and losing valuable customers.

In this course, you will look at essential HR planning purposes, processes, and applications then conduct a cost of turnover analysis for a position in your organization. You will then perform a comprehensive analysis of the position to refine the job description, reporting structures, task and competency requirements, and key performance indicators. You will analyze and assess recruitment marketing efforts and make recommendations to better align the posting with the company and position requirements. You will also examine the candidate selection process and develop interview questions and accompanying guidelines that can be used to facilitate the hiring process for the same position you selected for the job analysis activity. By the end of this course, you will have practiced many of the key skills needed to develop a comprehensive and sustainable talent attraction and selection strategy for your firm.

In the diverse, customer-oriented hospitality industry, retaining and developing value-generating employees should be at the forefront of every organization's retention strategy. Successful companies take pride in offering training and development opportunities so employees can learn, perfect, and excel in their roles and prepare for the next one.

In this course, you will assess a company's current training strategy and needs and so you can develop a training plan to facilitate, assess, and engage both new and veteran employees. You will consider your current performance management process and recommend improvement strategies that will help your company reward and develop its employees. You will also evaluate your company's total rewards and compensation package, compare it to your competition's offerings, and make recommendations to better align these benefits with employees needs and company values. By the end of this course, you will have the working knowledge of how to create, develop, and improve an organization's development and retention programs.

Discrimination is a topic often discussed yet, unfortunately, often misunderstood. It is common to hear that employment practices are unfair. While this may be the case, fairness and the law are not one and the same. Discrimination law defines specific protected classes and the obligations that employers face in accommodating these protected classes.

In this course, you will begin to analyze and determine discriminatory acts through the lens of burden of proof, according to the law. You will explore the seven protected classes and how certain policies and practices your organization implements can lead to liability and damages. Understanding the legal concepts in accordance with your roles and responsibilities will enhance your decision-making and response with regard to discrimination. Ultimately, a careful examination of federal, state, and local discrimination laws, as well as your HR policies and actions, may help you better manage and prevent discriminatory behavior in your organization.

This course does not assume any legal knowledge or accreditation on your part. Rather, it serves as an educational framework for managing. None of this content should be taken as legal advice. For legal guidance, please consult your own attorney or legal department.

Symposium sessions feature two days of live, highly interactive virtual Zoom sessions that will explore today’s most pressing topics. The Hospitality Symposium offers you a unique opportunity to engage in real-time conversations with peers and experts from the Cornell community and beyond. Using the context of your own experiences, you will take part in reflections and small-group discussions to build on the skills and knowledge you have gained from your courses.

Join us for the next Symposium, in which we’ll discuss how both day-to-day operations and strategic goal setting in the hospitality sector have rapidly evolved over the past two years, opening up new space for real-time conversations about the future of the industry. You will support your coursework by applying your knowledge and experiences to various areas of the industry, examining the innovations and accommodations you have all had to make throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and strategizing on future directions. By participating in relevant and engaging discussions, you will discover a variety of perspectives and build connections with your fellow participants from across the industry.

Upcoming Symposium: April 1 and 2, 2025

• Tuesday, April 1, 2025 11:00AM ET – 1:00PM ET
  • Session title pending
• Wednesday, April 2, 2025 11:00AM ET – 1:00PM ET
  • Session title pending

All sessions are held on Zoom.

Future dates are subject to change. You may participate in as many sessions as you wish. Attending Symposium sessions is not required to successfully complete any certificate program. Once enrolled in your courses, you will receive information about upcoming events. Accessibility accommodations will be available upon request.