Training at its best. Print subscriptions now available! Careers beyond the classroom. Reclaim your career. A teaching legacy THE EDUCATION ISSUE

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1 Phoenix Focus Your Alumni Magazine August 2012 THE EDUCATION ISSUE Careers beyond the classroom EDUCATION Print subscriptions now available! Use your smartphone to start your Phoenix Focus print subscription today! Only $19.99 for 10 issues. Reclaim your career A teaching legacy Training at its best HALM812 Stay connected to more than 730,000 University of Phoenix alumni! AUGUST 2012 phoenixfocus.com Senior manager of education and training Best Western International Phoenix, Arizona

2 THE EDUCATION ISSUE Training at its best By Julie Wilson Photos by Bruce Racine, has had nearly every job in the hospitality industry over the past 27 years, and he s leveraging that experience to train 80,000 Best Western International employees on how to do those jobs right. Whether he s opening a brand-new hotel, adding on to a fivediamond-rated resort or leading the training efforts for Best Western International employees at more than 4,100 properties in 100 countries, Mike Nalley is certain of one thing: The hospitality industry is where he s meant to be. Once you get bitten by the bug, it s hard to get it out of your system, he says. 28 PHOENIX FOCUS August 2012

3 ALUMNI PROFILES Mike Nalley Senior manager of education and training, Best Western Phoenix, Arizona phoenixfocus.com 29

4 THE EDUCATION CAREER TRENDS ISSUE ISSUE In our company, training is really at the forefront. It s one of the key performance measurements we have. Only the best After nearly three decades in the industry, Nalley shows no sign of slowing down. Today, as senior manager of education and training at Best Western, he s overseeing the department s efforts to train the hotel chain s member property owners, managers and line staff. He and his team are tasked with teaching them how to market their hotels and operate them effectively and efficiently with the goal of turning a profit. Nalley, who is married with three children, is also responsible for overseeing training of employees through Best Western s learning management system. In our company, training is really at the forefront. It s one of the key performance measurements we have, he explains. It s recognized by the hotels and the brand as something imperative to their success. Nalley s department consists of eight trainers who travel throughout North America and worldwide in order to get the job done. Their online learning management system supports 80,000 users around the globe with training modules, videos and other resources. Nalley and his team also lead Best Western s brand-wide customer service program, I CARE, which has been instrumental in improving the hotel s guest satisfaction rates. Though Nalley takes pride in his comprehensive programs, he acknowledges that there is at least one thing he can t teach his charges. I don t know if you can train somebody to smile, he says. It has to be within their DNA or own motivation. As long as they have the desire to want to provide service or assistance to someone, most of the other skills are learnable skills. Hospitality beckons He knows this first-hand because he learned the ropes of the hospitality industry from the ground floor up literally. Nalley, who also served 10 years in the U.S. Army Reserve, got his start as a valet parking attendant at a hotel in the 1980s. Though he was initially charmed by the earning potential and flexibility of his schedule, he quickly learned to love the fast pace of the job and the opportunity to meet people from around the world. He finds that his bachelor s degree in psychology has served him well in an industry based on successfully meeting the expectations of paying guests. It helps you look at things from the [guests ] perspective what their desires, needs and agendas are, Nalley reflects. Moving up Nalley s natural inclination for service helped propel him to positions of greater responsibility in the hospitality industry over the decades. He spent 14 years in hotel management prior to his current role. During that time, he opened a couple of hotels and participated in managing a 1,500-room addition on another. It s a big challenge, he admits. Hiring, training and going through opening a property from the ground up including all the items in the rooms, the furnishings, the fixtures and the equipment. His love of learning brought him back to school to earn his graduate degree. When he earned his Master of Arts in Organizational Management from University of Phoenix in 1998, even more opportunities opened up for him. He completed his master s project on a start-up hospitality consulting company. At the urging of his instructors who were impressed by his work, he 30 PHOENIX FOCUS August 2012

5 ALUMNI PROFILES Mike Nalley decided to venture out on his own for two years and implement his plan. They thought there was a need, he says. It was a good move for me. In 2001, he happily joined the Best Western team, which offered him the opportunity to work in hospitality at the corporate level and to interact with the industry from more of a macro brand perspective. It also has enabled him to establish contacts and relationships with some of the industry s leading organizations. An evolving industry Things have changed a lot since Nalley landed his first hospitality job all those years ago. Guest expectations are higher. They are more aware of what they should be getting and the value they should be receiving for the price they paid, he says. Before, they just wanted a clean room and a comfortable bed, and now they want a flat-screen TV, Wi-Fi and many other amenities or services. His job is to help employees and their managers understand guests expectations, and he enjoys sharing his hard-earned knowledge about the industry. He s never stopped learning, either. He is currently pursuing his doctorate, which he expects to complete later this year. He is also an accredited certification instructor through the American Hotel and Lodging Association s Educational Institute and a member of its certification commission. Nalley s certifications Continuing his own education is critically important to Nalley, who makes his living training others. Education is the key to success, he says. His certifications through the American Hotel & Lodging Association include: Certified Hotel Administrator (CHA) the highest certification obtainable in the industry. Certified Hospitality Educator (CHE) Nalley not only obtained the certification but also became one of 20 people qualified worldwide to teach the certification to college professors. Certified Hospitality Trainer (CHT) Though he d eventually like to become a hospitality professor at a university and an industry consultant and speaker, he s relishing his role leading the training efforts at Best Western. Before, I was the person providing the service. If someone was checking in, I was taking their bags to their room or serving them in a conference or meeting, he says. Now I am providing the resources to train [other] people on how to do it. It can be very challenging and very rewarding. phoenixfocus.com 31