015 | Online Hospitality Training, eBooks and Best Practices with HMBookstore.com COO Rick Tomljenovic

Summary: <a href="http://lodgingmetrics.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/LL015-Rick_Tomljenovic.png"></a>Rick Tomljenovic has been in the hospitality industry for more than 35 years. He’s an owner and Chief Operating Officer of <a href="http://www.tristarhotels.com">Tristar Hotel Management</a>, a midsize company managing between 15-25 properties on average per year, including 5 properties that they own. Rick is also Chief Operating Officer for <a href="http://HMBookstore.com" target="_blank">HMBookstore.com</a> - a cutting edge online hospitality and tourism training company with more than <a href="http://lodgingmetrics.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/HMBookstore_eBook_Course_Listing.png" target="_blank">70 eBooks published</a>. HMBookstore’s eBooks have been adopted by professors at top U.S. hospitality universities, and over 13,000 eBooks have been sold to university students since 2012. After high school, Rick attended Forrest Park College and earned a hospitality degree. He worked for several midscale and largescale management companies, and spent a lot of time working for Holiday Inn managing several of their properties in the Chicago/Midwest region. Early on, Rick had the pleasure of working with the Holiday Inn training program and he was enamored by the experience. Those early examples of great training programs and materials planted the seed of what would later evolve into <a href="http://HMBookstore.com" target="_blank">HMBookstore.com</a>. The Why As a growing hotel management company, Tristar wanted better training materials for their employees, so they began creating their own in 1998. Back then, the materials were CD Rom-based, and they distributed the materials to their employees for training and testing. As the materials and technology evolved, they began to put their content into a Learning Management System (LMS) to improve the overall training process. They found that most of the brands offered training at the management level, and some line-level training, but it was more specific to the brand and less specific to the job. They set out to develop line-level training for employees that was consistent and hit the mark as far as customer service and guest satisfaction. The What More than 70 eBooks are available for purchase on <a href="http://HMBookstore.com" target="_blank">HMBookstore.com</a> and through several universities. The materials can be purchased as individual eBooks, in bundles, or via hotel subscription. Their main markets are: 1) Universities – over 13,000 eBooks have been sold to university students at institutions such as Northern Arizona University, University of Nevada Las Vegas, and Buffalo State. They primarily use them to augment their internship programs. 2) Hotel subscription model – Rather than paying a traditional “per seat” license, hotels can pay a subscription fee for full access and, as new employees are on-boarded, the hotel administrator can easily set up new access for that employee at no additional charge. 3) Online – All of the 70+ eBooks can be purchased individually or in select bundles via the <a href="http://HMBookstore.com" target="_blank">HMBookstore.com</a> website. Each of the books are broken down into modules (chapters), so the employee/student can complete them at their own pace. At the end of each module, employees are given a quiz to measure their proficiency. When the eBook is complete and the student passes, Hospitality Management Online (HMBookstore) issues a certificate of competition. <a href="http://HMBookstore.com" target="_blank">HMBookstore.com</a> is also test piloting an employee suggestion program, iInnovator, that provides a real-time process for employees to become more engaged and provide valuable feedback and suggestions to management. Employees are encouraged to give ideas that will either enhance guest experience or that can help generate revenue for a hotel. “You’d be amazed at what the line level employees are telling us th...