Employee Retention: Dealing with the Talent Squeeze
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Hotel Industry Trends, Hotel Management, Hotel News, Hotel Strategy, Hotel Training
Phil Benson explains why you need an uncomplicated employee retention policy to help deal with the talent squeeze.
Hotels in the UK have always faced employee retention issues, and employee engagement is decreasing. The high turnover of employees makes it difficult to progress staff members into middle management positions. Hoteliers do not want to be losing valued members of staff to their competitors down the road who are offering a few more pounds an hour, so how do they deal with the constant struggle of identifying and retaining talent?
The reason that the hotel industry has such a high turnover could be the low wages paid to some members of staff who do not feel any loyalty to their employer. However, the cost to a company to find a replacement worker is around 150% of an employee’s salary, so making the effort to make a new person feel welcome and part of the ‘family’ is financially crucial.
Employee Retention Policy
Improving employee retention and loyalty to the hotel can be achieved by creating an uncomplicated staff retention policy that works to hold on to employees, whilst offering incentives for them to provide a good level of work and a high quality service. As in all occupations, people want to feel appreciated and this can be done without the shallow lure of money.
Hiring people you think will work and play well with others is very important. If someone believes that at the workplace they have ‘friends’, they are far more likely to stay and work hard for the team. People can be trained for a job, but you cannot train someone’s personality.
Making new employees feel welcome from day one is a key factor to how they will judge the company as first impressions are an important issue in almost everything we do. As a hotelier or manager, doing a few simple things like introducing the new member of staff to other employees and making sure they have someone to eat lunch with on the first day will help them get to know people and make them feel more settled in a strange and foreign environment.
From a manager’s point of view, acting in a friendly manner and being patient with a new person will encourage existing members of staff to do the same and will hopefully, spread throughout the company, making it a better place for everyone to work.
Creating an enjoyable environment where people can work and making them feel valued will go along way to aiding staff retention. Positive reinforcement or small rewards for those going beyond their duties should not only encourage them to carry on the good work, but help others to do the same.
Identify Training Needs Early
Identifying training needs in employees or in individuals that could move into middle management is another way to boost the workforce, as it shows you are willing to invest time and money in them. This can only be a good thing for personal development, whilst helping the business to achieve having a better level of talent at their disposal.
Hiring the right people and retaining them is obviously smart business as a happy employee will become a more loyal one and take pride in their level work. This will only reflect well on the hotel, raise customer satisfaction levels and in turn, increase revenue.
