Jessamyn Waldman Rodriguez is the Managing Director of Daily Provisions, an eatery from Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group. In her role, Ms. Rodriguez ensures operational excellence; genuine community connections; and a culture of hospitality for all employees, guests, and suppliers of Daily Provisions. Before joining Union Square Hospitality Group, she founded and served as the Chief Executive Officer of the award-winning social enterprise Hot Bread Kitchen, earning numerous accolades and authoring “The Hot Bread Kitchen Cookbook: Artisanal Baking from Around the World” (Clarkson Potter, 2015). Ms. Rodriguez holds an MPA from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and a B.A. from the University of British Columbia.
Event Overview
This fireside chat between Assistant Professor Tashlin Lakhani and Union Square Hospitality Group’s Jessamyn Waldman Rodriguez will be a lively conversation about strategies in business that support the creation of better career opportunities for workers in the food industry. Ms. Rodriguez will share business insight drawing on Danny Meyer’s “Virtuous Cycle of Hospitality,” a model that holds employees as the primary stakeholder and leads to more effective and profitable business growth. The discussion will focus on how building operational models can allow for better pay, less turnover, more ability to invest in training, and, ultimately, better hospitality to our guests.
This event is brought to you by The 97th Annual Hotel Ezra Cornell. Hotel Ezra Cornell (HEC) is a three-day, student-run business conference for hospitality industry leaders and members of the Cornell community from across the globe. A 97-year tradition of the Nolan School of Hotel Administration, HEC is one of the oldest organizations at Cornell and an unparalleled introduction to the students, faculty, and alumni of the preeminent hospitality program in the nation. Featuring some of the most talented individuals in the business, the conference will discuss the latest developments in hospitality and include leisure events for attendees to network with other professionals and meet the students who will be leading the industry in the future. Learn more about the conference at the Hotel Ezra Cornell website.
What You'll Learn
- How fostering operational efficiency allows for better pay and more fulfilling work for food industry workers
- The importance of training and coaching to decrease turnover and improve the guest experience
- The impact of the service profit chain in service operations
- How to build a business that treats the workforce as its most valuable asset
- The ways in which companies can innovate and prioritize people
- The business imperative for an inclusive and diverse workplace
Speakers
Tashlin Lakhani is an Assistant Professor of Management and Organizations at the Cornell Peter and Stephanie Nolan School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University. Professor Lakhani received her Ph.D. from the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University. She also holds a Master of Science in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell, a Master of Industrial Relations from Queen’s University, and an honors Bachelor of Business Administration with high distinction from Wilfrid Laurier University. Prior to joining the faculty at Cornell, Professor Lakhani was an Assistant Professor of Management and Human Resources in the Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University.
Professor Lakhani‘s research investigates the determinants of employment practices and job quality, with a particular emphasis on how firm ownership structures influence human resource investments and organizational outcomes. Her current work focuses on franchise businesses and the ways in which human resource practices and performance differ across franchisee-owned, company-owned, and independently owned operations in the hotel and restaurant industries. Professor Lakhani has also examined human resource management in global networks and the outcomes of different labor union strategies. Her work has appeared in journals such as Organization Science, Industrial & Labor Relations Review, and the British Journal of Industrial Relations, as well as in book chapters and industry reports. She has also presented her research at leading academic and industry conferences.
Professor Lakhani has received several awards for her research, including the Seidman Prize at Cornell University, the Ralph Alexander Best Dissertation Award from the Academy of Management Human Resources Division, the Thomas A. Kochan and Stephen R. Sleigh Best Dissertation Award from the Labor and Employment Relations Association, and the Industry Studies Association Best Dissertation Award.
Professor Lakhani has also received individual and team grants for her research from various organizations, including the Cornell Center for Hospitality Research, the Society for Human Resource Management, the Labor and Employment Relations Association, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Russell Sage Foundation.
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This fireside chat between Assistant Professor Tashlin Lakhani and Union Square Hospitality Group’s Jessamyn Waldman Rodriguez will be a lively conversation about strategies in business that support the creation of better career opportunities for workers in the food industry. Ms. Rodriguez will share business insight drawing on Danny Meyer’s “Virtuous Cycle of Hospitality,” a model that holds employees as the primary stakeholder and leads to more effective and profitable business growth. The discussion will focus on how building operational models can allow for better pay, less turnover, more ability to invest in training, and, ultimately, better hospitality to our guests.
This event is brought to you by The 97th Annual Hotel Ezra Cornell. Hotel Ezra Cornell (HEC) is a three-day, student-run business conference for hospitality industry leaders and members of the Cornell community from across the globe. A 97-year tradition of the Nolan School of Hotel Administration, HEC is one of the oldest organizations at Cornell and an unparalleled introduction to the students, faculty, and alumni of the preeminent hospitality program in the nation. Featuring some of the most talented individuals in the business, the conference will discuss the latest developments in hospitality and include leisure events for attendees to network with other professionals and meet the students who will be leading the industry in the future. Learn more about the conference at the Hotel Ezra Cornell website.https://ecornell.cornell.edu/keynotes/view/K042322/primaryAmerica/New_YorkeCornell