Staff shortages continue to be a major issue in the hospitality industry. During the pandemic, a large number of hospitality workers were laid off. Many had to seek employment in alternative industries out of necessity and didn’t return.
Understaffing causes many troubles in the hotel industry. An understaffed hotel can result in stressed employees and lower service quality. This ultimately creates a negative guest experience.
However, there are many ways to handle hotel understaffing. So, stay with us to learn how to deal with it!
Widen Your Search
The solution to your problems isn’t limited to candidates with prior hospitality experience. Many other jobs require skill sets that are relevant to the food service industry.
Almost every job requires attention to detail and interpersonal skills. So, if you’re willing to provide training where it’s needed, your pool of potential talent will grow a lot.
Training is Essential
As mentioned above, you can widen your pool of talent if you provide training. Brands are actively working to close the skills gap by providing additional training. They’re also defining clear paths to management, and even contributing to further education.
This approach ensures that the industry retains access to more employees while they are also developing their skills. This not only strengthens your team and fosters loyalty, but it also benefits the sector as a whole.
When understaffed, it’s easy to overlook proper onboarding processes. But ensuring that you properly train new employees and make them feel welcome is great for retention and performance.
Outsource Payroll Services
Today, due to understaffing, many big hotels are outsourcing many services to save time. Outsourcing payroll services helps in many ways. Outsourcing payroll administration, compensation, and claims, automating deposits, taxation, and staff leave management can remove the payroll burden from you. This ensures efficient service delivery to your staff and contributes to employee job satisfaction.
Furthermore, the hospitality industry is using AI technologies to improve customer service operations and the guest experience. Using various tools, such as ChatGPT, can be extremely beneficial to you.
Based on user interests, ChatGPT can generate engaging and relevant content. You can search for content blog ideas and get results based on your keywords. Then, hotels can easily create compelling content that resonates with their target audience. Also, this tool drives more sales from online channels. Finally, ChatGPT provides a platform for real-time customer engagement.
Fill the Gap With Current Employees
Try filling the gap with current employees. This is possibly the simplest and quickest solution to staff shortage. Your employees are already familiar with the job and may be willing to work extra hours.
Ask whether any of them would like to work some overtime. If not, consider hiring through an agency, which can alleviate much of the administrative burden and quickly fill a position while you look for a more permanent hire.
Match Guest Expectations
The COVID-19 pandemic contributed to ongoing staffing shortages in the hospitality industry. But the challenges faced by those in restaurant, bar, cafe, and hotel management positions became even more difficult as customer expectations rose at the same time.
As a result, it is critical to manage guest expectations in advance via social media and your website. For those in the restaurant industry, this could mean explaining that you have reduced menus. Or, that you have implemented self-service options. Meanwhile, hotels must take the time to explain any services or facilities that are not available.
Show Your Appreciation to Current Employees
While staffing shortages in the hospitality industry can be frustrating, managers and senior figures must appreciate their current employees. You should make efforts to express gratitude to employees and to provide incentives for them to advance in their careers.
For example, try to provide opportunities for advancement. This can help employees feel more valued at work. And it can also help employees upskill, allowing them to more effectively compensate for staff shortages. In addition, it is critical to solicit feedback from employees and strive to improve their overall experience.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, there is a big gap to fill when it comes to hotel staff. Due to last year’s issues, the shortage is more evident than ever. Therefore, hotel owners need to implement new methods and try to fill this gap.
Over to you
The hotel industry is always changing, especially during a time of crisis. Make sure to future-proof your business and continue attracting new guests by investing in these solutions.
About Are Morch
Are Morch is a Hotel Marketing Coach driven by his passion and love for Hotels. He provides dedicated high-value Social Media marketing services for the Hotel Industry. Together with his Social Media management team, his mission is to help Hotel brands achieve rapid growth and a dominant presence in the ever-changing digital landscape.
Where to reach me
Email: hotelblogger@aremorch.com