RALEIGH, N.C.—Concord Hospitality Enterprises has announced that Thomas Stewart has been promoted to senior director of talent acquisitions and development, a position necessitated by the company’s aggressive growth forecast. A ten-year Concord veteran, Stewart previously was the regional director of sales and marketing for the southeast, and has been the lead facilitator in delivering Concord’s Dynamic Sales Training program.
In his new role, Stewart is responsible for attracting new talent to the company and sourcing high-potential, internal candidates for promotion. He also is charged with developing the tools and programs needed to prepare Concord associates for career growth within the company. The company currently has 16 hotels in its development pipeline, representing 850 new jobs from New York to Florida.
“During his tenure with us, Thom has done an outstanding job of positioning and directing the sales professionals at our hotels,” said Debra Punke, senior vice president of human resources for Concord. “Now he will apply his considerable skills and talents to promote Concord to our existing and prospective associates. Concord’s mission to be the employer of choice is purposeful, we know that people deliver results and in order to attract and retain best in class talent we have to be a company that delivers best in class work environments and opportunities for people to grow. This kind of cross-discipline promotion is one of many indicators telling me that we are achieving that goal at both the property and corporate levels.”
According to Kevin McAteer, senior vice president of sales and marketing, Stewart’s leadership in developing and implementing the company’s proprietary sales program has enabled Concord to fill 75 percent of all 2014 sales department openings from within.
“Having someone who is focused solely on recruiting and retaining top talent is critical for us, particularly as we head into this very aggressive growth phase,” added McAteer. “Thom tells recruits that he wants Concord to be the last company they ever work for — not the last job, but the last company. That message really resonates with people who are looking to build lasting careers.”
Stewart, a 1989 graduate of Ohio State’s School of Hotel and Restaurant Administration, said that his years working at individual hotels made him a keen and careful recruiter whose goal is to find great co-workers for the people he’s known for the past decade.
“Turnover in the hotel industry is notoriously high, but Concord’s rate is well below average and I believe that our cultural differentiators have a lot to do with that,” Stewart said. “Most hotels offer competitive pay and good benefits, but Concord has a ‘People First’ approach which means that even in a 24/7 environment like hospitality, we prioritize a work and home life balance. We operate best-in-class hotels in every market to go with our great recognition programs and limitless upward mobility.”
