Community@HFTP: Ask Questions, Get Answers & Virtually Connect with Colleagues Worldwide

Written By: Susan Savkov

Attention, HFTP members: If you have not yet visited Community@HFTP, you are missing out on a valuable opportunity to instantly connect, discuss and share with other hospitality professionals who are HFTP members in a structured online forum.

Once you become an HFTP member, you automatically become a member of Community@HFTP… you just have to log in! (Your username and password will be the same as those for the main HFTP website.)

Once you are signed in, we invite you to explore the online communities that are available. There is a general community available to the entire HFTP membership called Community@HFTP News & Updates. Posts to this community will reach the largest audience and it is the most widely used.

You will find other, more specific communities that have been created on Community@HFTP with more segmented audiences: including Club Technology, Club Finance, Hotel Technology, and Hotel Finance — as well as invitation-only communities for local chapters and HFTP councils. These communities are designed for discussions/announcements that target a specific audience or address a specific group of people.

You can view all of the available communities by visiting the All Communities page.

Enroll in “daily digest” emails to maximize opportunities to engage with other professionals and remain completely informed on new updates to the community. The daily digest will notify you of all new discussions, replies, announcements, events and resources added to the online community each day.

To set up a daily digest email: Visit the community > click the Settings tab next to the community name > and adjust your Email Notifications.

Ask questions, get answers. Hospitality professionals create new discussion threads on Community@HFTP News & Updates for a multitude of reasons that include — seeking advice on a new feature they are looking to implement; comparing company policies to see what works best for others; referrals/recommendations for products and services; request valuable resources; and addressing hot topics of interest such as processing payment.

Below are recent discussion threads from HFTP members who received great feedback to their questions on Community@HFTP:

Sharing (and Comparing) Company Policies

Posted Topic: “Our club offers up to four weeks of paid vacation time for our full-time employees depending on their tenure. I would like to know the maximum hours or weeks of paid vacation time other clubs offer their employees to compare ourselves and possibly look into making changes in this area.”

Responses:
“We are the same; it goes in increments of one, two, three and four [weeks]
depending on tenure.”

“Our max vacation is four weeks, as well.”

“Incremental vacation makes sense in some situations, not all. You hire someone that’s been in business for several years, I don’t think it would be appropriate to start them off at minimum amount of vacation time, IMO [in my opinion].”

Referrals and Recommendations for Products and Services

Posted Topic: “What is everyone doing to have older (out of warranty) POS equipment fixed?”

Responses:
“Our POS equipment has generally held up very well. By the time we have issues it is time to replace them.”

“It usually is going to cost you more to have them fixed than it does to buy a new POS.  Your staff will appreciate a faster machine and you won’t have to worry about when your software company decides it doesn’t work with the older versions anymore.”

Sharing Valuable Resources

Posted Topic: “Does anyone have a good handover checklist for when a controller is leaving and a new controller is coming in?”

Response:
A respondent shared a copy of a report from the HFTP Americas Research Center entitled “Step-By-Step: Easing a Lodging Transition,” which can also be found on PineappleSearch.

Additional conversations taking place online include:

• credit card and payment processing options;
• market rate wage comparisons for private clubs;
• in-season food and beverage overtime discussion;
• gratuities policy;
• on-site ATM machines;
• payroll solutions;
• new property acquisitions;
• outsourcing IT support;
• managing cash bars;
• new employee on-boarding processes; and more.

Contribute to the Most Recent Topic Posted on Community@HFTP

Posted Topic: “Just wondering — if you offer a $10 refund if the guest opts out of cleaning the daily linen, where are you posting the charge?”

If you would like to add to any of these conversations taking place online, or if you have a question that you would like to be addressed by your fellow hospitality professionals, you are invited to post it on Community@HFTP today.

Have questions or need assistance accessing Community@HFTP? Email communityhelp@hftp.org.

Susan Savkov is the HFTP Membership Marketing Manager. Contact Susan at Susan.Savkov@hftp.org or +1 (512) 220-4028.