The day-to-day operations of a hotel are quite different today than before the pandemic.

Consumers have surged back to travel again after more than a year of being unable to travel, pushing leisure demand to new heights even beyond the typical summer months. Hoteliers, on the other hand – who were already facing a major labor shortage before anyone even heard of COVID-19 – had to hire and train new faces and avoid employee burnout. , as guests complained about the reduction in services and amenities.

Leaders of hotel management companies across the industry have been pondering the most significant changes to their business models in 2021, even changes that have become so natural they could be permanent efficiencies in the future.

Ed Robison, senior vice president of owner relations and development at management company HP Hotels, said his company has made flexible scheduling a priority, adding that “hotel staff are just different “.

“We are being more flexible in our recruitment as well as in our staff planning so that we can meet the demands of today’s team members as well as today’s travellers,” Robison said per e -mail. “The traditional eight-hour shift in our industry is 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. and 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. We have modified these hours somewhat to accommodate activity levels and activity in a given hotel as well as staff availability.”

He said flexible staffing isn’t something that’s likely to change anytime soon in the hospitality industry, especially if it’s an incentive to attract new employees.

“That last aspect is two-fold. In some cases we are more successful in meeting staff needs, but in other cases we simply cannot hire enough people to staff staff in the traditional way,” said Robinson.

In many ways, customer demands have necessitated the shift to flexible staff hours, said Gregg Forde, chief operating officer and executive vice president at Island Hospitality Management.

“Guest requests are changing a bit, and because you have more of a leisure component, that check-out time has been moved to later, which has changed the times you might need those associates at those hotels,” said Ford.

He added that the cross-training has been a huge benefit to Island Hospitality Management employees and the hotels where they work.

“As a result, employees were able to be exposed to new parts of a hotel, and we benefited from talented people gaining a greater skill set,” Forde said. “Those are probably the biggest changes we’ve seen this year, and I think those things are likely to stay as well. As things return to more normal occupancy levels, I can see this type of accommodation and this flexibility, these changes are continuing, which I think is a win for us and a win for the industry.”

Daniel del Olmo, president and chief operating officer of Sage Hotel Management, part of Sage Hospitality Group, said that in his company – which manages 60 hotels, including upscale, luxury, branded and independent properties – recruitment is one of his biggest obstacles.

“With approximately 900 positions currently open, representing approximately 15% of our total headcount, recruiting associates continues to be one of our biggest challenges,” del Olmo said via email. “This shortage has been a major catalyst to being as creative as possible. Cross-training has always been a best practice, but over the past 20+ months it has become standard practice. We are now hiring with cross-training as part of virtually every job profile.”

Sage is also testing different employment strategies to keep employees satisfied and engaged once they’re hired, including staggered salaries and a four-day work week.

“If someone is hired as a front desk clerk, they will first receive a starting salary. Once they transfer to another department and master this new position, they may be eligible for a raise” , said del Olmo. “Suddenly, these associates can now be scheduled for both departments. If desired, these associates can then train in a third department and may be eligible for a further raise while still being available to be scheduled. in a third department.”

So far, Sage’s trial of a four-day workweek for hourly workers has been a huge success, del Olmo said. Hotel front desk agents, engineers, accountants, housekeeping inspectors, and housekeeping supervisors are all eligible.

“He was received with tremendous acclaim and feedback from both a productivity and mental health and recruiting perspective,” del Olmo said. “We intend to explore this further with salaried managers in 2022 and have a four-day work week every two weeks. If this proves successful, we may extend a four-day work week. days to our executive on the property, even if it’s only for a week a month.”

Davidson Hospitality Group chief operating officer Pete Sams said the theme for 2021 was to try to do more with less. While the hospitality industry will continue to struggle with wage pressure in 2022, the silver lining is that operators have a better idea of ​​how to operate amid a pandemic and in a tight labor market.

“The reality of the industry is that the efficiency of hours worked is offset by wage pressure. … There’s a tremendous challenge in getting people back to work, getting back into the industry,” Sams said. “…But at the height of the volume reduction, many of our management teams were covering some of the line-level opportunities, just as we were reduced to skeleton teams at the height of the pandemic. We walked away of this with each passing month as we continue to rebuild staff at our respective hotels.”

While hotels remained open for business with lean staffing models, traditional hotel services such as daily housekeeping looked very different in 2021. Sams said Davidson had followed brands’ lead on how to clean rooms by safe and now uses an opt-in model where guests can request daily cleaning of their rooms.

“We had to revamp how we make guests feel comfortable, how we clean a room upon checkout between guest stays,” Sams said. “The general tenor [early in the pandemic] was just to stay out of the room as often as possible during the stay and then really focus on new practices and procedures for more thorough cleaning between stays.

“So on average cleaning a typical room represented a 20% increase in time spent in the room between stays. But obviously we were spending a lot less time cleaning during the stay.”

As travelers have returned to hotels, including vacationers who don’t travel often, cleanliness has been a sticking point and a constant refrain in poor reviews posted online. Taking a proactive approach in communicating COVID-19-related changes that could affect a guest’s stay has always been a priority, del Olmo said.

“We communicated any changes to our housekeeping via emails prior to arrival and upon check-in,” he said. “At most of our hotels, housekeeping is now offered upon request for guests staying less than three days. Most guests really appreciate the flexibility of opting for housekeeping services and applaud the extra steps we’ve taken to limit housekeeping staff entering guest rooms.”

HP Hotels also communicates to guests changes to cleaning schedules, breaks in room service offerings, or reduced restaurant hours. Robison said honesty with customers always demonstrates that hoteliers are doing their best to provide a hospitable experience.

“Our guests know what they want and like. It’s our job to provide that for them,” he said. “Consistency in the customer experience is key; it’s what keeps customers coming back, even when we have to adjust the delivery method. As a result, I think our hotels and restaurants have struck a great balance between adapting to the constraints imposed by the pandemic and the provision of a consistent service. , favorable customer experience.

“Going forward, if we communicate honestly to our customers, I know they will understand and reward us for their loyalty.”

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