Operational inefficiency robs managers of flexibility, insight, and impact. Managers end up spending more time putting out fires than interacting with guests and their teams. From there, guest satisfaction, market share, and revenue can quickly decline, making it much more difficult to rebuild and maintain success. From simple changes in process and procedures to advanced labor management solutions, hotel operators can provide their managers with all the tools they need to combat inefficiency. The trick is to recognize drains on productivity and use the best solutions to address them. Hotels, casinos, and resorts averaged 1.49% growth in labor productivity from 1988 to 2017, markedly lower than the overall rate of 1.93% across all industries.
Disengaged Employees
Your staff is on the front lines, communicating with your guests, meeting their expectations, and driving growth. Engaged employees are motivated to meet and surpass your performance standards and make operations run smoothly and seamlessly. They don’t miss as many shifts as their non-engaged peers, have lower attrition rates, and are generally more proficient at their jobs – happy employees are 31% more productive.
Engaged employees need less supervision and give managers the freedom to walk the floor, communicate with guests, and take a hands-on approach to leading their teams. Better engagement means greater value for the guest and hotel, especially in the only guest satisfaction statistic that really matters - intent to return and recommend.
Back-office Inefficiencies
While back-office responsibilities like time & attendance, forecasting, budgeting, and scheduling, are integral to operations, they don’t have to occupy the majority of a manager’s time and attention. Mobile technology plays a critical role in unlocking efficiencies by providing managers with access to the data and functions they need for day-to-day operations without sacrificing attention to the floor or time.
Every moment a manager spends in their office is a moment not spent improving the experience.
Mobile labor management solutions empower a manager by placing key data literally in the palm of their hands. Every moment a manager spends running back to the office is a moment not spent improving the guest experience in some way. Mobile tech is an equally potent a tool for employees. Kitchen and wait staff, housekeepers, and other vital roles are deskless positions within hotel operations. Integrating mobile communication can make time & attendance much simpler. Both managers and staff can handle shift swaps and time-off requests with ease from a mobile app rather than traditional tools that required access to a workstation – or worse, a paper schedule on a break room bulletin board.
Outdated Training Methods
Training is another crucial tool in eliminating inefficiencies throughout operations, ensuring everyone knows their responsibilities, how to perform them, and how to gauge their performance and expectations against standards. A well-trained staff eliminates the need for micromanagement since employees are always apprised of key policies and procedures.
For a deskless workforce, mobile-enabled training and development platforms can provide the direction and insights needed to be successful. When a question or concern arises, hotel staff can consult their mobile training materials to find answers rather than stop what they’re doing to ask a manager or find a computer.
Inefficiencies can be a thing of the past if operators embrace modern tools and strategies. With a comprehensive approach for the most common sources of inefficiency – employee engagement, back-office tasks, and training & development systems – hotel managers can focus on leadership and guest satisfaction.
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