Tech Implementation: Five Tips on How to Get Your Staff on Board
Tech adoption has known a big push since the pandemic, and many hotel businesses have looked at different forms of digitizing parts of their operations. However, deciding on what software or technology to implement, is only half of your battle. Hotel staff can be wary when it comes to adapting to new and more digitized processes. So, how can you best deal with staff hesitation and ensure a successful tech implementation? Find out more by downloading our free guide on how to successfully implement a chatbot.
Choosing the right technology is an important part of any business’s digital transformation, but the success of a tech implementation doesn’t only depend on your tech choice, but also on how it is used. While your board members can be very excited; staff can be more hesitant when it comes to change. This could be because they need to change long-established processes, or because they don’t like to learn to use new software, or maybe because they see this technology as a threat.
How Can I Get my Team to Use my New Software?
So, how can you try to make the onboarding as smooth as possible? Here are five tips for a successful implementation:
1. Define the Importance
Introducing new software into your organization often involves some kind of change in your processes. For staff to accept this change, they need to understand the “why” behind it. So, communicate clearly why this software is needed, its aims, and how they will benefit from this. In the end, technology is here to support, to take out the leg work of tedious tasks. It’s not here to replace your team, and they need to understand that.
2. Sell the Product Internally
For this, you need to outline the pain points your team is experiencing and how this technology can solve them. For example, Safir Hotels & Resorts created an internal presentation when they implemented Guest Experience Automation™ to explain to their team what it does, and how it works.
You can start a pilot project with one hotel and later present the results to get other hotel staff excited about the project. It will also help to identify and smooth out any potential problems before the technology is implemented across your entire business.
3. Assign an Internal Expert
For a fluid onboarding, it’s helpful to assign an internal expert in your team, a person who knows the tool inside and out and who can help other team members with questions and doubts. This way, most questions can be resolved internally, which will lower the threshold for your staff to look for help when facing problems or questions and make the software more accessible, which will boost engagement.
4. Set a Clear Timeline and Expectations
Set up a clear and reasonable timeline of your expectations. Be aware that these timelines are not set in stone, setbacks can always happen. The key here is to be transparent about it and communicate with your team about what happened and what will happen next. So, everyone is aware of the project’s progress, what their roles are, what is expected from them, and when.
5. Continuous Training
Any good software is continuously improving and growing, which means users need to grow alongside it. A good tech provider therefore also offers continuous training, so their user can keep up to date with changes and updates and can use the tool to its fullest ability. Encourage your staff to partake in these sessions, so they too can keep improving how they use the platform.
A good understanding of how to use the tool will translate into increased engagement, which is what will make your tech implementation a success story.
For example, if you have implemented a chatbot receiving guest requests, which are successfully transferred to the right department but there the request isn’t followed up on because your staff isn’t engaged with the platform, it will cause a negative experience for your guests and could even lead to a negative online reputation. So, ensure you supply the necessary guidance and resources for your staff to understand why and how to use your new software.
However good and expensive your software addition might be, if your staff isn’t engaged with it, your tech implementation won’t be a success. On the contrary, it might cause frustrations and misunderstandings which could affect the guest experience.
Want to know more about how to successfully implement a chatbot? Read our free guide!
