How to Keep Hotel Employees Happy and Motivated

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"Hiring right is hard enough. How do I keep good people? And how do I get them to reflct the high standards of our hotel?"  

This was the question posed by the senior VP of a major North American hotel chain. Our answer: Listen when people talk - really listen. Sounds simple, simplistic even, but the keys to hotel HR happiness include: hearing what people are saying, understanding how to separate the learning kernels from the whining chaff, and learning how to act and re-act to what you hear.

Although this article deals mostly with the hotel industry, the story it tells applies across a wide variety of industries.

From September 1999 through April 2002, and again in early 2010, The Q Group* interviewed hoteliers, hotel employees and frequent travellers from across North America, Australia and the UK. Not surprisingly, the key findings were similar from continent to continent.

What is surprising, however, is that although the lines of communication between hotel 'management' and staff appear to be open wider now than at any other point in history, no one seems to be actually listening to one another. This lack of listening is one of the reasons that hoteliers have trouble finding good people. And when they do find good ones, have a hard time keeping them. (It's also a major source of guest aggravation, but that's another subject unto itself!)

Many experienced hotel staff told us that one of the reasons they get discouraged, and that good people move on (either to other hotels or right out of the business), is that their opinions, even if sought, are never given any credence.

As one Front Desk Manager put it, "We keep being told that we must respond to guests' needs. We're always being asked for our opinions. Or being praised for filling out those little suggestion forms. But nothing ever comes of it. Just once, I wish someone would actually read those slips and follow-up on one of our ideas!"

Another, who is on her hotel's managerial fast track program, said, "They [management] keep holding team meetings, promising things will change and then nothing happens. There is no respect for what we say - and we're the ones who deal with the customers, and get feedback every shift we work. That's harder on morale than the long hours."

One F&B manger complained, "I'm supposed to use my initiative to make our guests feel like they're visiting a 'home away from home'. Last week, I comped a dessert for one of our very frequent business travelers who seemed blue. She smiled and perked up - but I got chewed out. I was told that kind of thing wasn't within my discretion. Well then, what is, is what I'd like to know?!"

This frustration can lead to people no longer caring. Time and again we hear of employees who felt like throwing in the towel because of lack of solid, two-way communication. Employees were asked what they wanted most. What would reduce the frustration level.

The answer: To be kept informed of decisions made in the hotel, particularly ones that affected the way they should deal with guests. Tied for first place - and closely linked in spirit: Not being second guessed, or being reprimanded, for taking the initiative and acting in keeping with direction received. The majority of employees wanted to be able to do right by their employers and by the guests - but felt their hands were either being tied or slapped.

In conducting the research, it was clear that many hotel staff care more deeply about what happens within the hotel than senior management may realize. It was equally clear that by not listening, hotel executives are missing out on valuable lessons - lessons that will help them serve their guests better and keep their employees longer.

Jane-Michele Clark is president of The Q Group (http://www.theQgroup.com), a strategic positioning and marketing communications firm that has worked with many blue chip companies over the past 30 years. In addition to being a business and marketing strategist, Jane-Michele teaches MBA level marketing and business strategy at the top-ranked Schulich School of Business (York University), is a corporate trainer and speaker, and 9-time nominee for the Canadian Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Award.
Jane-Michele can be reached at jmc@theQgroup.com or by calling 416-424-6644.
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