Across a plethora of industries, there’s an emphasis on building customer loyalty — and it’s easy to understand why. Research conducted by Bain and Company and Earl Sasser of the Harvard Business School found that boosting customer loyalty, along with a modest 5% increase in customers, can increase the average revenue per customer by 25% to 100%. Of course, a successful business knows that employee loyalty is equally important as your customer experience. Not only will unhappy employees negatively affect your customer experience, but your top talent will inevitably find employment elsewhere — and that can mean higher costs for you. This simple fact is especially pertinent to the hospitality industry, as this sector is particularly prone to turnover. In fact, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported this year that the hospitality industry had an annual turnover rate of 73.8%. To keep runaway turnover in check, anyone who owns or manages hotels needs to make employee retention a real priority.
How can you accomplish this? Check out the following three ideas for improving employee retention in the hospitality industry.
Prioritize Better Training
Although it may not seem like the most obvious of options for employee retention, the truth is that the training you provide matters a lot. If you simply give employees a handbook and have them shadow more established staff members for a couple of days, they’re likely to feel lost and ill-equipped to deal with the issues that present themselves on a daily basis. Likewise, they will learn that they are not a priority for management. Limiting the training period to the very start of their employment might not actually address employees’ needs and may cause them to lose interest in their work. Both of these scenarios can lead to high levels of turnover.
Make sure you offer one-on-one training on hotel property management software, workshops with outside experts, cross-training within other departments, and the development of other skills on a continuous basis. Not only will your employees know their way around a hotel PMS (property management system) and feel qualified to tackle just about any issue that arises, but they’ll also know that you care about their professional success. As a result, they will be more invested in the work they do.
It’s All About the Benefits
Of course, you want to hire candidates who love the work and who care about your mission. But don’t forget that humans respond to incentives. Your hotel is not a charity that relies on volunteers; you need to provide your hard-working employees with some perks that make their work worthwhile. In many cases, employees would rather have benefits like health insurance or a retirement plan over a higher salary — so remember that it isn’t all about their take-home pay. It’s also about knowing their employer is looking out for their well-being and cares about their staff enough to provide these benefits. In addition to health insurance or a retirement plan, you might think about providing paid sick days or paid vacation days, offering bonuses, or other incentives that make your organization a great place to work.
Focus on Culture
Speaking of making your organization a great place to work, another way to increase employee retention is by prioritizing cultural improvements. A positive culture has been tied to higher levels of employee engagement, satisfaction, and retention. You might make an effort to do this through team-building activities, employee recognition, fostering employees’ career paths and promotional opportunities, and countless other ideas. Even making an effort to listen to employee feedback in one-on-one meetings, year-end reviews, or exit interviews can make a world of difference in how staff members feel about your business.
By emphasizing employee training, incentives, and culture, you may be able to make some real improvements in your hotel employee retention rates. And when you choose a hotel property management system that’s easy to use, your employees won’t feel frustrated and thus disengaged.
To find out more about our user-friendly hotel property management systems, please contact us today. Our team’s mission is to help your hotel thrive with easy-to-use front desk software, hotel PMS software, and industry-leading customer service.