A recent article in the Hospitality and Tourism Educator (Van Hoof, 1991) reported that recruiters for lodging and foodservice organizations consider human resource management (HRM) to be of primary importance when educating hospitality graduate students. The criticality and impact of HRM in the lodging and foodservice industries has been confirmed time and again by recruiters and leaders in the field. And yet, while HRM professionals and corporate leaders publicly acknowledge the importance of HRM, how do operational managers and employees view HRM's role in addressing critical success factors such as increased profitability and enhanced service delivery? Is HRM narrowly confined to the traditional activities of hiring and firing, or is it perceived as having an impact on important strategic issues? This article reports on a study that examined whether HRM is viewed as having an impact on success factors outside of those traditionally associated with it. Data garnered from a restaurant chain is summarized; however the primary purpose is not to discuss the details of the research, but to consider the implications of the study’s findings for hospitality educators. Thus, the primary objective of this paper is to offer suggestions to educators about how to expose future managers to the potential roles HRM can play in operational issues. Before examining what educators can do to enhance student awareness of how to utilize the principles of HRM, we report on what practicing managers believe is the impact of HRM on critical success factors. Curiously, few researchers have explored systematically the question of whether HRM is perceived to have an impact on critical success factors outside the traditional personnel management domains of selection, retention, and payroll administration.