This past October, Jamie Fredericks ’18 MS – Hospitality presented her findings on multigenerational workforce training at the Global Food and Beverage Association’s 2019 G Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. Jamie, an online graduate who started her career with Marriott hotels in 2000, worked in several different roles before moving up to a management role within the company. After leaving Marriott in 2011, she returned to her undergraduate alma mater, College of DuPage in Illinois, where she opened a six-room boutique hotel on campus, Inn at Water's Edge. After almost 20 years in the business, Jamie said she is passionate about workforce development and training as it relates to generations within the workforce.

We asked Jamie a few questions about her online journey and her experience presenting at the G Conference.   

Why did you want to explore training for multigenerational workforce development?

As the manager of a six-room hotel, I have an extremely small staff, which happens to encompass multiple generations.  As I witnessed communication breakdowns, assumptions, different work ethics, and overall attitude changes, I wanted to research more about how my staff could cohesively work towards a common goal—taking care of our guests. That evolved into the question of what type of training would be needed to open their eyes and mindsets into understanding how different generations work. I concluded that further research should be done, more specifically in Las Vegas, with a larger data pool to account for greater responses. Las Vegas hotels employ the largest range of generations in hospitality.

Why did you decide to submit your research to this conference, and how did it feel to be accepted and present?

This was my first time both submitting my research to and presenting at a conference. I received an email that said the conference was accepting “abstract” submissions for their G Conference in a variety of areas, including human resources and leadership. The conference happened to be in Las Vegas. I felt my paper and recommendations fell in line with their request and decided to submit it. The G conference was interesting with a variety of speakers, not entirely related to hospitality. It was an unpredictable experience; I had to scale my presentation back because time was cut short. But I’m glad I attended though! I hope that further research can be conducted.

What inspired you to get your master’s online at JWU, and how was your experience taking courses online?

As a working mom—with a full-time job as a hotel manager and a part-time job as an adjunct professor—the only way for me to pursue my master’s degree feasibly was through an online program. I knew JWU had a great hospitality program and I would receive an excellent experience, allowing doors to open to me academically. In the future, I want to pursue teaching full-time. The online experience was exactly what I needed to complete the degree program easily. It was a very structured experience for me, and I enjoyed learning in that type of environment. Overall, my experience at JWU was very positive. I learned a lot in a short amount of time and my end goal was certainly attainable. 

Way to go, Jamie! We’re so proud of you and how you represented Johnson & Wales University at this event!

Learn more about the online Hospitality Management program at JWU Online. Simply complete the “Request Info” form on this page, contact us at (855) 598-1881, or email us at [email protected] for more information.