Highgate

In hospitality, leadership development has to compete with the realities of the operation. Our leaders are managing teams, responding to guests, watching labor, solving staffing challenges, reviewing performance, and handling the unexpected issues that come with running a hotel. Development matters, but it cannot always happen in a classroom or through long sessions of in-person training.

That reality has changed the way I think about learning and development.

The goal should not simply be training completion. The goal should be readiness, whether that means becoming stronger in the role someone has today or preparing them for the role they want next. A leader can complete every course assigned to them and still not feel prepared to coach an associate, navigate a difficult conversation, manage performance, make a thoughtful business decision, or step into a larger leadership role. If we want learning to truly prepare people for what comes next, we have to connect it more intentionally to the work they are already doing.

Make Learning Fit the Operation

One of the biggest opportunities in hospitality is designing development around the pace of the business rather than expecting the business to pause for development.

That means creating learning experiences that are focused, practical, and easy to apply. Microlearning can be especially valuable in this environment because it allows leaders to build knowledge in smaller pieces and return to resources when they need them.

But shorter learning alone does not automatically make learning effective.

The question should always be: What do we want the leader to do differently because of this experience?

A short video on coaching might introduce a useful model, but the real development happens when that leader uses the model during an actual conversation with an associate. A lesson on financial performance becomes more meaningful when a leader reviews the hotel's results and identifies an action they can take. A session on communication becomes stronger when the leader applies it during a pre-shift meeting or team discussion.

Learning sticks when people have an opportunity to practice it.

Build Application into Development

For years, learning programs have often been measured by participation, completion rates, or assessment scores. Those metrics are still useful, but they tell only part of the story.

We also need to ask whether people can apply what they learned.

I have watched leaders who were well-trained step into the realities of an operation and still feel completely unprepared. Knowing the principles is one thing. Applying them when the phone is ringing, a guest is upset, a team member needs support, and there are several other decisions waiting for you is something very different.

What I have also seen is that the leaders who have learned to step back from the immediate operation, even briefly, begin to approach those challenges differently. They develop an action plan. They look at what is getting in the way of progress. They decide where to focus first, and then continue pushing toward their goals rather than simply reacting to what is happening around them.

That ability to pause, assess, and strategize is part of leadership development, too.

Training is not always a video, a course, or time spent in a classroom. Some of the most meaningful training happens in real life. It happens in the moment with an upset guest, during a difficult conversation with a team member, or when a leader has to make a decision without having every answer in front of them.

Those are the moments when leaders learn how to take the principles they have been taught and actually use them. That is why the application should be built into development from the beginning. It might include a stretch assignment, peer discussion, job-based activity, time with a mentor, or an opportunity to work through a real operational challenge. Leadership is not something people learn only by reading about it. They learn by leading, making decisions, receiving feedback, adjusting, and trying again.

Turn Managers into Coaches

Technology and learning teams can create great development experiences, but they cannot be the only owners of development.

Managers play an essential role in helping learning transfer into the workplace.

That requires shifting the conversation from, "Did you complete your training?" to questions like, "What did you try?" "What worked?" "Where did you struggle?" and "What will you do differently next time?"

Those conversations do not have to be formal or lengthy. Some of the most meaningful development can happen through brief coaching moments connected to real work.

When managers become active participants in development, learning stops being an event and begins to become part of the culture.

Use Technology to Enable Development, Not Replace It

HR technology has given organizations incredible opportunities to scale learning, reach geographically dispersed teams, personalize development, provide on-demand resources, and better understand how employees are engaging with learning.

Those capabilities are powerful, especially in an industry like hospitality.

But technology can create access to development. It cannot create development by itself.

The human layer still matters. It is the manager who provides feedback, the mentor who shares perspective, the stretch assignment that builds confidence, the conversation after something does not go as planned and the leader who sees potential in someone and gives them an opportunity to take the next step.

As learning technology continues to evolve, I believe our greatest opportunity is to use it to strengthen those experiences rather than replace them. In hospitality, we cannot always predict what our leaders will face next. What we can do is prepare them to think, coach, adapt, make decisions, and lead through change.

When learning is practical, connected to the work, and reinforced by leaders, development stops being something employees complete. It becomes part of how they grow.