With workers seeking jobs with better benefits , hoteliers should also consider how they can attract and maintain employees by providing unique job benefits . For many frontline hospitality employees , working at a hotel is likely the closest they can get to have a 4- or 5-star experience . To increase loyalty and the appeal of a job , hoteliers could and should provide employees with the opportunity to earn points toward staying at a hotel . Points could be earned based on attendance or productivity and while serving as an incentive for employees to improve their performance , it also shows each staff member that their efforts are not going unnoticed .
Revising Business Operations from the Ground Up
Jobs in hospitality are notorious for working long , hard hours , yet much of this is because many operational areas have barely evolved over the last half-century . Housekeepers still push heavy room service carts and vacuum every room . Restaurant staff still juggle orders as they enter high-volume periods . Hoteliers can cut much of the stress responsible for driving otherwise loyal team members away by simply reevaluating how daily operations are structured and looking for ways to make work more efficient and less arduous .
With housekeeping , hoteliers could use newer technologies such as robot vacuums that can automate an otherwise timeconsuming responsibility . Such vacuums have the capability to ensure all areas are cleaned while providing housekeepers with more time to focus on other tasks . With F & B operations , food prep and running back and forth between guest tables is time-consuming . To alleviate the pressure on employees while providing guests with faster service , hoteliers can buy food items that come pre-chopped or peeled . By identifying both busy and slow business periods , hoteliers can structure their shifts to provide employees with the support they need during the precise times they need it most .
Fostering Stronger Communication Between Managers and Employees
Managers tasked with ensuring adequate service coverage already have enough on their plate from preventing employees from going under or over hours each week to ensuring that all workplace rules are followed . This often leaves them with little time to consider the unique needs of individual employees or to analyze potential areas where improvements can be made to the scheduling process . To offset this issue , businesses need to seriously consider adopting newer labor management and time & attendance platforms that are designed to fully automate many of the time-consuming scheduling tasks . Using intelligent algorithms , these solutions can instantly find coverage areas needing to be filled and who is available to fill them . More advanced platforms can even remove the guesswork of creating a schedule that matches work / life balance expectations by providing employees with the ability to select their own shifts .
Today ’ s employees are making their expectations for greater collaboration known by staying with employers that are willing to work with them in addressing both service and personal needs . Keeping an open line of communication between managers and employees is crucial to ensuring both needs are met . To be successful , hoteliers looking to combat the labor shortage must take a hard look at how they can best integrate new technologies into their operations to provide both current and prospective employees with a modern , flexible and enjoyable work environment that they have come to demand .
About the author With more than 40 years of expertise in the hospitality industry , Mark Heymann is the Founder and Board Director of UniFocus , the leading workforce performance firm in the service sector . UniFocus was founded in 1998 and was the first platform for labor management in the hospitality industry . UniFocus ’ s commitment to first-to-market innovations includes a single solution that intelligently automates and communicates precise scheduling , task management and performance improvements . Odin and Shift Genius are some of our newest upgrades and with the recent acquisition of Knowcross , the combined platform is the first complete workforce management solution in the hospitality industry . Mark holds a B . A . in economics from Brown University and an M . S . in business from Columbia University . He is a frequent speaker at hospitality conferences and is a member of the Forbes Tech Council where he is a frequent contributing author .
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