The hospitality industry is heavily dependent on their staff. If the employees are unhappy, unmotivated or dissatisfied it shall reflect heavily on every aspect of a hotel experience from check-in, housekeeping, room service, restaurants etc. This shall not have a good impact on the guests stay at the property.
Independent hotels have to take extra measures to ensure that their hotel staff is happy, because with limited staff, they need their employees to be multi-tasking.
Here are 3 tactics that hotels should adopt so as to have happier employees:
1) Embrace Technology
Software and technology are an integral component for a hotel to have seamless functionality. There are numerous benefits for why an efficient technology can help ease the burden for the staff in the hospitality industry.
Technology can help processes be streamlined so that there is no ambiguity. Each department would have a system in place so that employees can follow a uniform process and update their information online. Many a times, information gets lost once a new shift takes over if the handover is done manually, then the staff needs to go back and forth trying to recover missed updates which consumes a lot of time; time which otherwise could have been used to interact with their guests. Online software can enable staff to load all the data onto the system, so the next shift just needs to log in and quickly be up to date on what has happened and what needs to happen.
Efficient PMS systems can also help hotels manage a lot of their departments via the system; housekeeping, check ins, room allocation, billing can all be updated and allocated via a single interface. This eases the burden on the employees.
2) Employee Workshops
Hotels should not neglect investing time and money on their employees. Regular interactive workshops are a great way to update the staff on new policies and revise the hotel’s best practices.
These workshops should also be used as an opportunity to take in the staff’s feedback as well as the feedback they have received from the guests. Hotel employees, especially those who are front of the house, can be a store house of information because they are the ones who interact with the hotel guest’s. Listen to them; let them know that they are also heard and that their feedback is invaluable.
Hotel’s can also take this a step further and engage the hotel staff in some fun activities like a day retreat, fun activities at the hotel, in-house competition so as to motivate them and give them an enjoyable work environment
3) Increase Transparency
For employees to feel a sense of ownership with their job, they need to have access to certain goals and information. The hotel owners and management should share their goals and targets with the employee so as to let them know that all this can only be achieved if everyone works as a team.
The different department heads should also be included when things such as hotel budgets, targets etc are being planned before a new year begins.
Employees who are aware of their goals would be more motivated to ensure that the hotel meets the required targets.Create an inclusive environment for the staff.
Small things can go a long way. Hoteliers need to understand that their industry is heavily dependent on people, and if the staff is overworked and overstressed it shall directly impact their hotel and the guests who come there.
Invest in your employees, help create a more productive environment, believe you me the return on investment shall be extremely fruitful.
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