Why didn’t we think of that?

Stephen W. Ayers, CEO STAY Ahead Hospitality

What a powerful cartoon statement in the Toronto Star today!

If indeed the Canadian First Nations had had any say whatsoever about who came to live and stay on their lands the outlook may have been very different than today.

Being a hotel guy, it got me thinking about how relevant the cartoon is for our industry. You just have to replace ‘immigrant’ with ‘new employee’.

The costs of recruiting, training and integration of a new hire can run into thousands of dollars, with a very conservative estimate putting the figure at no less than $4,500. In many hotels the staff turnover is high, so why don’t we get it right the first time?

As a general manager I always wanted to know what we were doing WRONG. I knew what we were good at, I read about it in the comments, in the staff and guest surveys. We needed to continue doing what we did right, but more importantly we needed to correct what was wrong.

The largest single cost in a hotel is the cost of the human resources.  In a high staff turnover hotel those costs are considerably inflated by the costs of integration of new staff into many different departments.

Staff surveys, a critical yearly ‘check up’ on the ‘health’ of your employees in the workplace will tell you a lot about what can be improved.

Unfair treatment by peers or superiors, complaints about lower wages, staff cafeteria food offerings, uniforms, long hours, equipment, materials, travel, unnecessary grievances, they will all be in there, and more.

But surely they are indicative of the overall hotel culture? Does the hotel actually have a culture that nurtures the employees, that answers their expectations? The days of just paying a fair wage for fair work are over. Employees expect different, and so do the guests of today and tomorrow.

Admittedly, recruiting or even finding new staff these days can be very difficult in a market where demand outstrips supply. That makes good recruiting even more important. A good choice of employee, coupled with a great hotel culture will not only make for happy staff but for long term staff.

It has been proven time and again that salary is the second most important thing in an employee’s life at work. The first is happiness at the workplace, and only a great hotel culture can give him or her that.

Good recruiting is a first step in trying to ensure that the right person is considered for the position. Try not to run and take the first candidate just because of pressure. Check background and experience. Have an extended conversation to see what personal values the candidate may have, and whether they fit in with the hotel culture. How have they turned up for the interview? Personal hygiene and grooming are important. Try and get an insight into the personality sitting in front of you and whether there may be future room for self improvement.

There is nothing like a face to face interview. Sure, the candidate may bring letters of reference and praise, but did his ex employers give those out to get rid of them? It happens! They must be followed up, but the interview is the important part of the new hire.

So now you have decided on the new hire, and believe that given the right opportunities he or she will do a good job, assimilate well into the staff complement and stay for a long time.

That will not happen unless the hotel has a culture that takes care of the staff. Whether good food (an army marches on a full stomach), fair wages, appreciation, sufficient equipment and materials, clean and good fit uniforms, in hotel promotion, staff events and more, these are some of the things that make for a great workplace. Creating a hotel culture that understands and nurtures and takes care of our diversity is one of the major and most important factors in the success of today’s hotels.

Happy staff makes for happy guests who are looking for hotels with culture. In addition, think of the considerable costs savings to be had by lowering the turnover. As we said, at the minimum, each staff kept in your employ will save $4,500 in new hire integration and will eliminate quite a few operational headaches!

So, is it not worth the while to correctly interview candidates and invest in a great hotel culture to welcome them into?