Bringing Context Back to Hospitality's Labor Emergency

Conventional wisdom says COVID-era furloughs and budget cutbacks are to blame for the current state of vacant hotel positions–a figure the Los Angeles Times places at around 238,000 compared to before the pandemic.

Sure, this plays a part. However, I have been around long enough to know that our industry has been finding ways to achieve more with fewer hands-on deck for years. In many ways, this has sent the wrong message to the right workers, and as an industry, we need to bring context back to the root of this problem before we can hope to turn things around.

Finding a solution to today's labor challenges will require a mix of new technology, traditional hospitality, and a fresh perspective on what drives workers and how to speak with them. Hotel leaders must make difficult decisions on controlling costs, creating efficiencies in specific departments, and an analytical mindset toward operations to succeed in the short term. Over the long term, we simply need hands on deck like we need heads in beds. We get there by shouting on high about the core ideals that drive hospitality as a profession–beyond service, into personal development.

Controlling Costs

Before hotels can think about adapting to the labor shortage, operators must immediately begin controlling their costs to remain active in the short term. Leaders must create new efficiencies in housekeeping, the front desk, and food & beverage positions, starting with the departments most impacted by the shortage and likely to experience high turnover.

Leaders who have weathered the fierce competitive landscape over the past two years already have become reacquainted with performing nearly every role on property once again. While educational and illuminating, maintaining this level of activity from the top down has never been sustainable in properties of any size. Operators now find wisdom in cross-training workers for different positions, such as preparing front desk workers to perform housekeeping duties when there is a lull in service and a rush for rooms.

Hotels have been even more effective at rethinking how often housekeeping is necessary when times are tough. Guests had the grace to request service every two or three days in the past, but that is long gone. Service is the backbone of hospitality, and asking guests to forego housekeeping when average daily rates were $161.56 this past October is simply not worth any potential negative reviews.

Genuine innovations have impacted the industry's working potential today through scheduling technology and communications tools. Providing workers with consistent shifts they can access at any time from their smartphone improves attendance and accountability by making it easier for workers to plan for future shifts or simplify communication with co-workers. Old-school methods of physically printed sheets in the back-of-house have charm, but they also have no place in modern hotel operations. The last thing workers need is to miss a shift because they missed an update. It makes stale air in a place that should be positive and solves longstanding problems intuitively.

Furthermore, cutting back further on staff than the industry already has is not feasible because labor and hospitality are interlaced. If hotels cut too much labor, they wind up with too few workers to deliver the interactions hospitality is known for. While labor costs are high, hotels must acknowledge that guests want to see and interact with people.

From the guest's perspective, any technology used in place of this service component is a diversion, at best. Hospitality is a social experience for all but seasoned business travelers. With leisure travel dominating headlines in 2023 and preparing to do it all over again in 2024, this is a significant consideration not lost on workers, guests, or hotel leaders.

Living Up to the Hospitality Story

Short-term gains are essential because they keep your business alive, but without building toward long-term goals, business owners will continue to turn away workers and hemorrhage revenue. Businesses of all kinds are finding ways to fill spots using temp workers and third-party employment companies, but this solution presents additional challenges. Employing a third party has a cost attached to it, and the business model also often results in less-committed workers looking for their next opportunity rather than maximizing their current one. Hotels frequently train effective workers only to lose them to other industries, which is the first trend that needs to go in the new year.

Hospitality as a discipline tells a classic employment story. The industry is awash with inspiring stories of workers graduating from humble beginnings to leadership roles. This is one of the few industries where dedication can still take you far, where housekeepers can dream of becoming business owners, and we can point to real-life instances of it still happening. I began my own career as a night auditor in college. These stories are a crucial component to cultivating effective, driven workers who aspire to do well individually and are willing to train others to meet a higher standard at the property.

From a certain perspective, the hospitality storyline has actually gotten even better since COVID. Many workers who stuck it out during the most challenging times for our industry have come out the other end more effective, educated, and ambitious than before. These are true hospitality leaders. Their successes must be recognized, and their experience should be prized.

Our industry experienced a time of plenty prior to our recent downturn. General managers across hospitality had become unused to working the front desk, cleaning guestrooms, or overseeing the night audit on a regular basis. These leaders stepped up to the plate when no one else could, and going that distance made them sharper, creative, and diligent. Today, these are the leaders who understand how to connect with guests more, which details are essential for daily success, and how to work with fellow team members to problem solve in evolving circumstances. Workers are similarly tested after natural disasters such as hurricanes, or oil spills for coastal properties. They have proven themselves.

In order to live up to the hospitality story, it is vital for hotel leaders to keep up their end of the bargain and provide flexibility wherever possible. Success requires rigor and consistency, but especially in our business, it also requires empathy. Burnout impacts workers in any industry, and hotel workers have been stretched thin over the past three years. Finding ways to approve time off or bend the rules in the name of compassion can help you save on more than the short term. It can create someone who sees their commitment as more than a job–as a partnership.

Take Labor Seriously

Hotel leaders must also connect the right people with the right tools. Our goal as hoteliers is to invite people into our homes, to stay with us and enjoy a comfortable respite from our perspective. Hotel workers are so good at what they do because they enjoy making our customers happy. It's our duty as leaders to avoid committing to using tools or strategies that get in the way of this simple equation. If workers are struggling to use technology or techniques management adopted in the hopes they would improve operations, it might be time to listen to them.

This is especially true for the next generation of workers. They have a lot to learn about hospitality, but they also see through the flaws of new technology with little to no problem. Whether or not they connect with operations models determines if that is how we will be doing things in the future, so let's try to get it right. This means providing access to valuable information, fast, from anywhere. The flexibility to step into other roles if necessary. The need for direct support in the event of an emergency. And trust that goes both ways to avoid micromanagement and promote critical thinking on the job.

Hotel leaders frequently advocate "hiring the hospitality mindset and training for the rest." This strategy still holds true today, but we as an industry have been cavalier with those who have a hospitality mindset. It's our responsibility to locate these individuals, train them, and reward them in a way that earns their loyalty, just as we do with guests. It could be as simple as giving the right workers the right tools or giving them access to a new perspective to see our industry's long-term benefits.

Hospitality's labor challenge is not so different from the one faced by other industries, but we cannot afford to automate much further beyond what we already have. The best path forward for us is to remember to push people toward hospitality positions, not away from them, by showing workers that our industry rewards hard work, dedication, loyalty, and critical thinking. Once we are honest about the day's expectations, we can build a better labor foundation for tomorrow.

Reprinted from the Hotel Business Review with permission from http://www.hotelexecutive.com/.