5 Creative Ways for Hotels to Navigate Digital Transformation and Labor Shortage Challenge
Is your hotel currently feeling the challenges of labor shortages and woes?
If your hotel is struggling to hire and retain talent today, you’re not alone.
During the pandemic, the U.S. workforce experienced some major disruptions. In 2021 according to the Labor Department, more than 47 million quit their jobs. And a large portion of these jobs was in the hospitality industry. This was defined as the Great Resignation.
A large portion of these workers ignited a digital disruption and found themselves wanting an improved work-life balance and flexibility, increased compensation, and a strong company culture.
We are now experiencing what is defined as the great reshuffling, which means a lot of the workers that quit in the hospitality industry during the pandemic are now re-hired elsewhere.
During the pandemic reshuffling, jobs that require in-person attendance and traditionally have lower wages, have had a more difficult time retaining workers. And the leisure and hospitality industry has had the highest quit rate since July 2021, consistently above 5.2%.
But in November 2022 the leisure and hospitality industry lost 860,00 workers while 1.1 million workers were hired into the industry the same month. Which is a higher hiring rate than other industries. Though the unemployment rate in the leisure and hospitality industry is still much higher than in other industries.
So, the primary labor challenge for the leisure and hospitality industry is that it can’t hire workers fast enough.
In this article, we will look at some creative alternatives for hotels to embrace the great reshuffle.
Let’s dive into it…
5 Creative Ways for Hotels to Navigate Digital Transformation and Labor Shortage Challenge
During the pandemic, people with the help of digital disruption discovered new alternative ways to work. And many businesses responded to this demand providing people with a new improved work-life balance and flexibility, increased compensation, and a strong company culture.
Digital transformation is playing a critical role in addressing the labor shortage by creating new opportunities for hotels to find and retain employees.
1. Evaluate what your hotel has!
This is the first principle of the Digital Transformation Matrix for hotels. You have to understand what you have within your hotel.
Many hotels don’t take the time and effort to discover what they have within. Labor is often related to skills, data quality, and fear of change.
The first part of a digital transformation is a cultural transformation from within. Find a system to work with your people.
2. New alternative learning
Hotels need to implement more creative alternative ways for employees to learn.
Labor management starts with the people you have, not the people you can’t hire or retain yet.
And when it comes to skills hotels need to start thinking outside the box. Yes, it is key to focus on the most important skills, but also look at alternative skills.
Today with new advanced smartphone technology hotels can easily access digital tools that make training and communication something everyone values.
Besides the importance of the need for new technology skills, hotels need to look into more soft skills that represent inclusiveness, diversity, and sustainability.
The second part of a digital transformation is a mindset transformation. How can your hotel move from fear, anxiety, doubt, confusion, frustrations, and uncertainty that creates resistance or sabotage?
3. A new and improved system
The key behind digital transformation is to create a new work environment that supports people's experiences.
Many hotels are now starting to learn the benefits of collaborating on co-design, co-creation, co-working, co-production, co-marketing, co-distribution, and co-funding.
Start building relationships, and make friends by working with people like employees, customers, the local community, and your hotel's extended network.
The third part of digital transformation is people transformation. How can your hotel create a system that transforms into joy, faith, clarity, cooperation, and trust that leads to conforming (voluntary collaboration) and loyalty?
4. Focus on embedded hospitality!
Embedded hospitality is a new way to work with the community to bundle alternative services in an integrated manner.
Digital transformation focuses on people and technology working in harmony that will allow your hotel to put a mark on every experience.
Today no hotel can afford to isolate itself and keep on with business as usual. Embedded hospitality responds to a growing need for hotels to articulate new beliefs and systems that are aligned with shifts in the global economy and how every touchpoint in the customer experience matters.
Customers today want hotels to work with them. They are inviting your hotel into their community, make sure you take advantage of this.
This is a unique way for you to get a better picture of what people today are expecting from your hotel.
The fourth part of digital transformation is community transformation. Let the community help you with your challenges.
5. Let candidates test drive with your hotel!
Today people are jumping from job to job more often. Just like with customers lifetime value is evolving more towards experience value.
Are people looking in your local community looking for more remote work? Or are they wanting to see more technology that embraces automation? Maybe they are geeks on machine learning and artificial intelligence.
In today's work market flexibility is key. The travel and work segment that now is knocking on every business’s door is Gen Z. And this is a segment that is at another level than any hotel ever experienced.
This is a workforce that will create the work environment for your hotel. Be prepared! They are more likely to work with a hotel that has a presence in the Metaverse.
Hiring and retaining talent today is an art. Make sure your hotel takes charge and starts thinking outside the box and working with people.
Digital transformation is the art of people and technology working in harmony.
The fifth part of the transformation is inspired transformation. This is where your hotel will find superior performance.
How is your hotel meeting the challenges of today's labor market?
Digital Transformation Framework Partnership for Hotels
Hotels today must invest in people and technology in a context that adds value to everyone involved.
Don’t continue to neglect or take the people's transformation for granted. Technology is a digital tool that will help your hotel when implemented in collaboration with your employees.
Partner with your employees and they will help with retaining and hiring people.
I also invite you to work with me as your hotel partner to help implement a new innovative digital transformation framework that opens the digital gateways to more direct bookings without competing with the OTA.
Through value innovation, I help hotels with cost-effective alternatives that are focused on eliminating and reducing factors the hotel industry competes on. I also help lift employee and customer value by raising and creating elements that hotels never offered before.
Learn more about digital transformation partnerships for hotels...
DM me on LinkedIn or shoot me an email at: [email protected]
Are Morch is a digital transformation coach helping hotels open their digital front door, reimagine their processes and culture, and transform experiences in a fast-paced world!
