How to maintain a happy domestic staff or Hotel team

How to maintain a happy domestic staff or Hotel team
Having a happy, motivated and productive team is key to customer
service, maintaining sales and controlling costs. Conversely
unenthusiastic or discontented domestic staff or hotel staff will not
only affect the quality of service, your sales and the day-to-day
running of the operation, but will also rub off on everyone else, and
ultimately lead to high labour turnover.
The average labour turnover for the UK hospitality industry is around
30% (considerably higher in London). With the average recruitment and
training cost per employee estimated at around £1500, this equates to a
£886 million cost to the industry per annum. So it’s far more important
to retain the domestic staff or hotel staff that you have than to treat
them as a disposable item.
If you want to retain your best people you need to give them what they want.
Communication – Training and development – Good leadership
Communication Communication is a two-way process, not only
do people need to know what’s going on, they want to be heard. Daily
briefings need to include what’s happening that could affect the
operation or the customer experience in any way (e.g. maintenance,
domestic staff or hotel staff shortages, unavailable products or
services), as well as any feedback from domestic staff or hotel staff on
their observations or ideas. Let your team know how the business is
performing, and what this means to them. Communicate any changes that
are happening in the business before they happen, and how this might
affect them.
Training and development The first six weeks is critical
to any new domestic staff or hotel staff; it’s during this time that
make up their mind whether or not this is the right job for them. Rather
alarmingly it is reported that 33% of hospitality businesses don’t do
any training. If this is the case, how on earth do people know what is
expected of them on a day-to-day basis, let alone know how they can
contribute to the business or develop their career?
Training your
domestic staff or hotel staff in the mechanics of the business operation
puts them in a better position to contribute to cost control and income
generation. If people understand how the business makes its money they
are then in a position to contribute to this and put forward their own
ideas.
Make training a part of day-to-day management, so it’s not
seen as something that is additional or optional. This goes for both
domestic staff or hotel staff and supervisors/managers. Identify those
who have an interest in developing their CV and are willing to take on
training responsibilities as part of their own development.
Think
about your succession and grow from within. Give people the opportunity
for career progression as well is enhancing the skills to do their
existing job. Think also about life skills; for example offering English
lessons. And make use of the training grants available through the
tourist organisations, colleges, and government-funded schemes.
Good leadership All of the above points contribute to good
leadership and I could go on the hours on the subject, but there are
three areas in particular I’m going to home in on here.
Direction We’ve already talked about communicating what’s
expected. Set standards so that people can measure their own
performance. Be consistent, ensuring the same ‘rules’ apply to
everyone. Focus on telling people what you want to achieve, i.e. the end
result, rather than dictating how to do it. This gives people
flexibility to adopt their own style and you’ll be surprised how often
they end up improving the process. Lead by example so there are no
mixed messages. And make sure you provide the appropriate tools,
resources and training to do the job effectively.
Look and listen Ensure that you and your management team
are approachable. Provide support when it’s needed, and be receptive to
when this is required. Not everyone will be confident enough to ask for
help. Consult domestic staff or hotel staff and listen to their ideas;
they may be able to offer better ways of doing things.
Take time to
talk to domestic staff or hotel staff to build relationships and show an
interest in them as individuals. Listen to and act quickly on any
concerns. Identify what’s important to them recognising that with the
varied cultures and backgrounds of your domestic staff or hotel staff
that their values and priorities may sometimes be different to your own.
Recognise Recognise and reward performance and
achievements. This includes giving constructive feedback-what have they
done well and how it has contributed; where they have fallen short and
how this can be improved. Celebrate and share successes; identify and
utilise people strengths, delegating and giving them control and
ownership where appropriate. Be sure to recognise all departments,
including back of house domestic staff or hotel staff, e.g. housekeeping
is often the most undervalued department, but is commonly the most
profitable aspect of a hotel.
Encourage and reward loyalty by
conducting regular pay/benefits reviews. Think about incentives that are
within reach of any member of domestic staff or hotel staff who
performs well. This might mean focusing on a different theme each month
so that everyone has an opportunity to be recognised for their
particular skills or strengths.
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