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Exam Information
Official specifications published by AHLEI
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Skills this practice test covers
- Step up from coworker to supervisor without losing the team's trust.
- Plan a new employee's orientation and match a training method to a skill gap.
- Forecast labor demand and build a schedule that covers busy shifts fairly.
- Coach, counsel and review employees, with progressive discipline when it is needed.
- Resolve a guest complaint or a staff conflict and follow up on the result.
- Prioritize the day's tasks and delegate work that others can do.
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CHS exam content
9 domains · 44 topics · 135 questions
You as a Supervisor (The Supervisor Role)17 questions
This module places the supervisor between management and frontline staff. It covers what each side expects, the professional and ethical standards of the role, and the first months after a promotion from within the team.
Skills tested
- Explain a supervisor's dual accountability to management and to employees.
- Set new boundaries with former peers after a promotion.
- Build credibility through consistent decisions and kept commitments.
Questions by topic
- Moving from Peer to Supervisor5
- Responsibilities to Management and Employees3
- Defining the Supervisor Position in Hospitality4
- Professional Standards and Ethics3
- Building Credibility2
Effective Communication17 questions
Supervisors pass messages up to managers, down to staff and across to guests and other departments. This module covers the communication process, listening and body language, written messages such as shift reports, and feedback.
Skills tested
- Trace a misunderstanding to a step in the communication process, such as encoding or decoding.
- Use active listening and read body language in a difficult conversation.
- Write clear instructions, memos and shift reports.
- Give constructive feedback at the right time and in the right setting.
Questions by topic
- The Communication Process5
- Communicating with Diverse Audiences4
- Written Communication3
- Verbal and Non-Verbal Communication3
- Giving and Receiving Feedback2
Conducting Orientation and Training15 questions
New employees learn the property, the team and the standards during orientation. This module also covers finding training needs, choosing a training method and checking afterwards whether the training worked.
Skills tested
- Plan a first day with an orientation checklist, a property tour and team introductions.
- Find skill gaps through observation and guest feedback.
- Choose between on-the-job training, shadowing, demonstrations and role playing.
- Check performance after training and adjust the plan.
Questions by topic
- Effective Training Techniques4
- Planning and Conducting Orientation4
- Training Needs Assessment3
- Evaluating Training Effectiveness2
- Setting Expectations and Standards2
Staffing and Scheduling15 questions
This module turns expected business into a staffing plan. Candidates forecast labor demand, recruit and interview, and build schedules that balance guest service, labor cost and staff needs.
Skills tested
- Forecast labor demand from expected occupancy and productivity standards.
- Write job descriptions and choose between internal and external recruitment.
- Build schedules with rotating or split shifts and a backup staffing plan.
- Use labor cost analysis to improve the next schedule.
Questions by topic
- Determining Staffing Needs3
- Arranging Staff Positions3
- Recruiting for Maximum Performance3
- Evaluating Scheduling Procedures3
- Developing Work Schedules3
Improving Employee Performance15 questions
Supervisors set standards, watch performance and act when it slips. This module covers coaching, counseling with progressive discipline, and performance reviews held as a two-way discussion.
Skills tested
- Set measurable performance standards for a position.
- Coach on the spot with positive reinforcement or corrective coaching.
- Apply progressive discipline, from a verbal warning to a written warning, and document each step.
- Prepare and hold a performance review that sets improvement goals.
Questions by topic
- Establishing Clear Standards3
- Counseling and Corrective Action3
- Coaching Employees for Improvement4
- Conducting Performance Reviews3
- Monitoring Performance2
Handling Problems and Conflict15 questions
This module covers workplace problems and the conflicts between employees, departments and guests that often come with them. Candidates separate symptoms from causes, choose a solution, and resolve complaints in a way that keeps guests coming back.
Skills tested
- Use root cause analysis to separate a problem's symptoms from its causes.
- Mediate a conflict between two employees and decide when to escalate it.
- Handle a guest complaint with the LAST method and record it in the complaint system.
Questions by topic
- Identifying and Analyzing Problems3
- Conflict Resolution Strategies4
- Handling Guest Complaints3
- Problem-Solving in the Workplace1
- Decision-Making and Problem Resolution2
- Types and Sources of Conflict2
Motivation and Team Building15 questions
Motivated staff give better service and leave less often. This module covers motivation theories and practical techniques, and the stages a team passes through as it forms.
Skills tested
- Apply Maslow's hierarchy of needs and Herzberg's two-factor theory to a staff problem.
- Tell intrinsic from extrinsic motivation and choose a fitting form of recognition.
- Recognize the forming, storming, norming and performing stages in a new team.
Questions by topic
- Understanding Motivation Theory7
- Team Development Stages3
- Fostering Teamwork and Collaboration3
- Practical Motivation Techniques2
Leadership13 questions
This module separates leadership from management and compares leadership styles. It also covers leading staff through change, ethical decisions, and directing work with clear instructions.
Skills tested
- Compare autocratic, democratic, laissez-faire and situational leadership.
- Explain a change to staff and respond to resistance.
- Delegate a task with clear direction and keep the employee accountable.
Questions by topic
- Leadership Styles4
- Leading Through Change3
- Directing Staff with Competence2
- Leadership vs Management2
- Ethical Leadership2
Time Management13 questions
Supervisors handle guests, staff and paperwork in the same shift. This module covers setting priorities, planning the day and the week, delegating, and managing the stress of the role.
Skills tested
- Sort tasks with an urgent versus important matrix.
- Spot time wasters and plan both the day and the week.
- Decide which tasks to delegate and which to keep.
- Recognize signs of burnout and use stress reduction techniques.
Questions by topic
- Prioritization Techniques5
- Stress Management and Work-Life Balance3
- Delegation and Time Allocation3
- Planning and Organizing Workload2
Requirements
- Required: supervising two or more people now, with daily judgment calls and input on hiring and firing.
- Required: at least a fifth of the job spent on supervisory tasks, such as scheduling, training, interviewing and performance reviews.
- Required: three months as a supervisor in a hotel or lodging business. The Supervisory Skill Builders series, a degree or a current AHLEI certification can waive this.
- Recommended: AHLEI's Supervisory Skill Builders (SSB) series, basic computer skills and a good command of English.
About the CHS exam
CHS is the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute (AHLEI) exam for hospitality supervisors who already lead a team. It tests the people side of the job across nine areas, from communication, training and scheduling to coaching, conflict, motivation, leadership and time management. The nine areas match the modules of AHLEI's Supervisory Skill Builders (SSB) series. Passing earns the Certified Hospitality Supervisor designation.
The PlanetCert practice test spreads its questions evenly over the nine modules, with motivation theory and the move from peer to supervisor among its larger topics. The explanations matter most where two answers both sound fair, such as coaching an employee on the spot or starting a written warning. Flashcard mode suits the named models, from Herzberg's two-factor theory to the forming, storming, norming and performing stages. Brainy AI Assistant can turn a module's idea into a hotel example or explain why one leadership style fits a situation better than another.
How to earn the certification
- Earns
- Certified Hospitality Supervisor (CHS)Supervisor
How to prepare for CHS
- 1
Match each module to a real shift
List the nine Supervisory Skill Builders modules and write one recent workplace example for each, such as a schedule change or a guest complaint. Modules without an example show where to start.
- 2
Work through Supervisory Skill Builders
AHLEI bases the exam on this series, and completing it also removes the three-month time-in-position rule. Study one module at a time and note its key terms.
- 3
Rehearse the hard conversations
Practise a coaching talk, a performance review and a mediation between two employees with a colleague. Then handle a mock guest complaint with the LAST method.
- 4
Memorize the named theories
Maslow's hierarchy of needs, Herzberg's two-factor theory and the stages of team development appear in the practice test's motivation questions. Drill them in flashcard mode until each one can be applied to a staff problem.
- 5
Book a proctor and test under time
The exam needs an AHLEI registered proctor, so arrange one early. Before exam day, take the CHS practice test in Timed Mode and ask Brainy AI Assistant about any answer that felt like a close call.
Start a timed CHSrun
AHLEI prepares candidates with the Fourth Edition of its Supervisory Skill Builders series, available as an online learning suite or a workbook package.
Who CHS is for
- Hotel and lodging supervisors who lead two or more employees on a shift.
- Employees promoted from within a team who now supervise their former peers.
- Supervisors who plan to move on to AHLEI's manager or executive certifications.
Typical job titles: Hospitality supervisor · Front office supervisor · Housekeeping supervisor · Food and beverage supervisor · Shift leader
CHS glossary
17 terms from the exam objectives and the vendor's official material, each defined in a sentence.
- Active listening
- Listening with full attention, then checking understanding by asking questions or repeating the main point.
- Constructive feedback
- Feedback that names a specific behavior and how to improve it, instead of only criticizing.
- Cross-training
- Teaching employees the skills of more than one position, so that staff can cover for each other.
- Dual accountability
- A supervisor's duty to answer both to management above and to the employees in the team.
- Forming, storming, norming, performing
- The four stages a new team passes through, from first meeting and early conflict to agreed ways of working and full productivity.
- Herzberg's two-factor theory
- A motivation theory with two kinds of factors. Hygiene factors such as pay prevent dissatisfaction, and motivators such as recognition create satisfaction.
- Job enrichment
- Adding responsibility, variety or decision-making to a job, so that the work itself motivates the employee.
- LAST method (Listen, Apologize, Solve, Thank)
- A four-step routine for guest complaints, in which staff hear the guest out, apologize, fix the problem and thank the guest.
- Maslow's hierarchy of needs
- A motivation theory that ranks human needs from basic survival and safety up to esteem and self-fulfillment.
- Orientation checklists
- Lists of what a new employee must see, learn and complete in the first days, so that nothing is missed.
- Progressive discipline
- A series of steps for correcting poor performance, from a verbal warning to a written warning, suspension and termination.
- Root cause analysis
- Finding the underlying reason for a problem, instead of treating only its symptoms.
- Service recovery
- The steps staff take to correct a service failure and win back the guest's goodwill.
- Shadowing
- A training method in which a new employee follows an experienced one to watch the job being done.
- Situational leadership
- A leadership approach in which the supervisor adapts the style to each employee's skill and commitment for a task.
- Split shifts
- Work schedules divided into two parts with a break between them, often used to cover two busy periods.
- Urgent vs important matrix
- A grid for sorting tasks by urgency and importance, so that important work is not crowded out by interruptions.