There is a high turnover rate in the hospitality industry, and hotels are experiencing difficulty attracting and retaining employees. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics states that there is an increase in the turnover rate in the hotel industry, providing a barrier to new growth in the hospitality sector. The hotel industry struggles to retain employees due to unsociable schedules, low salaries, and more demanding and irritable guests. However, this doesn’t have to be the same fate for your hotel. A well-crafted retention strategy can help reduce recruitment costs and improve retention rates.
Read on to learn more about the reasons for high turnover rates in the hospitality industry and how your business can improve staff retention.
1. Meaningful Engagement with Staff
Engagement ensures the productivity, quality, and sales of a business and less turnover. A highly engaged employee generally goes above and beyond their job description and exceeds expectations. Research shows that a shocking 73% are thinking of quitting their jobs. However, engaged employees tend to be happier at work and, therefore, they are less likely to leave your company. In today’s world, workers want to be engaged in their careers, feel like they belong, are passionate about their organizations, and have scheduling and location flexibility.
Here are some of the ways to increase engagement in your employees:
- Organize team-building activities
- Celebrate employees for their achievements and personal milestones
- Providing opportunities for professional development
- Team members should have an easy time staying in touch
Engaged employees are passionate about their work, causing them to exert extra effort to do their jobs well. Investing in your employees will make them feel appreciated, and their loyalty and work ethic will benefit your hotel.
2. Adoption of New Technologies
As contactless services become more popular, you must adapt to the new ways of doing old things. The use of cash has been declining since COVID-19, and digital tipping is the new norm.
Tipping has been a problem for hospitality workers during and before the pandemic. Employees have been blaming each other for taking their tips due to not having the ability to know if a tip when left with cash. Unlike waiters, housekeepers and bellmen do not have a receipt for the services to ask for a tip. Hotel staff goes to great lengths to welcome guests back through their doors, but there is a need for a more modern approach to simplify tipping.
A digital payment system is safer from a health perspective, and it makes tipping easier for everyone, whether it is the guest leaving a tip or the employee who receives it. Buku is transforming hotel tipping, facilitating tipping for both tippers and recipients.
3. Empower Staff with Feedback and Recognition
Recognition is vital to everyone. Hard work, irregular schedules, and long hours are typical in the hospitality industry. Thus, many employees do not feel appreciated by their employers and feel that their hard work goes unnoticed. Appreciation boosts morale. Reward good work when you see it. Providing employees with incentives for quality performance improves job satisfaction. Give your employees incentives they can strive for but don’t ignore to praise them.
Therefore, it’s crucial to adopt a reward program for employee recognition. A structured reward program is the best method of doing this. Your company rewards and recognizes its top performers using a system to reduce the possibility of being accused of favoritism.
In addition to peer recognition and manager recognition, the program could award high-performing employees monthly or annually and recognize long-term service. If you recognize your employees’ efforts, you will boost their job satisfaction, but you’ll also encourage them to do their best to promote your brand.
4. Offer Flexibility with Schedules
A hospitality job is often considered a temporary position for graduates, students, and part-timers. The hotel industry doesn’t have to be this way. It would be best if you strived to develop a more beneficial business model.
Flexibility in scheduling gives employees control over their work schedules and the ability to find a work-life balance that suits them. The housekeeping department is especially in need of this. The most challenging part of housekeeping is the physical strain, so being flexible with your employee’s work schedules is more critical.
Avoid asking employees to work for long straight shifts. Consider split times – work a few hours in the morning and return in the evening. Or allow them to start earlier or later. With proper planning, your hotel’s operations won’t be affected, giving your staff a greater chance of staying on the job.
5. Improve the Workplace Culture
There is a lot of pressure in the hospitality industry, which, unfortunately, results in higher turnover rates and employee burnout. A fun work environment motivates your staff to work efficiently and effectively as a team. A positive company culture increases employee satisfaction, motivates your employees, determines how they interact with others, and fosters teamwork. Therefore, your hotel culture can contribute to employee and employer relations, bringing in new and quality talent to your hotel.
You might have an unstable environment in your hotel culture, which will reflect how your employees interact with guests. Recognizing and rewarding your employees will enhance your hotel culture efforts and performance. Encourage and support socializing between the team for bonding and stress relief. Retention rates will increase since people will look forward to work.
Your workplace culture is affected by many factors. Among them are:
- Putting your workers first
- A clear and open communication channel between management and employees
- Providing steps for resolving conflicts
- Trusting your employees to do the job well
- Inviting staff feedback
How buku Works
Buku offers a digital tipping system that’s cashless, contactless, and app-free. You make a tip using QR codes and links found in text messages and emails. Within your selected payout frequency, the tip will disburse to your business account or direct to your employees. Additionally, you will have access to reports and data to view and track success metrics. You can also offer an option for guest feedback that can then be shared and support your employee recognition programs.
Of course, of all the above, we believe that money still matters the most in this competitive, inflationary market. So, getting additional money to your employees faster is a smart business.
Get Started with Cashless Tipping Today
Optimizing your hospitality business includes improving staff retention. It’s possible to reduce the turnover rate of your staff and improve your retention efforts. Embracing digital tipping is a great place to start. Let’s talk more about how your business can benefit from our innovative digital tipping solution, or schedule a demo today to learn how cashless tipping may help your employee retention.
