By Theresa Bontempo
One of the most important industries that continue to keep the United States thriving consists of hospitality businesses. The hospitality industry includes everything that we like to do to enjoy a night out with friends or even when we’re planning a week-long vacation. Everything from bars, restaurants, coffee shops, hotels, amusement parks, and even other tourist sites are crucial to have fully-staffed for a successful operation of the day’s events.
While the hospitality industry is large in many places across the country, it also has a large staff turnover rate–meaning that many staff members come and go and don’t stay for very long. This could be due to personal reasons, they are burnt out from the lack of support from managers and their peers, the low pay, and even not enough career advancements. Learning how to navigate around this and get rid of the burnout that many hospitality workers suffer from is crucial with a wide variety of advancements to make their experience in the industry much more positive.
Consider the reasons why hospitality workers are burnt out and check out these top ways to make their experience in the business one they’ll enjoy!
Why Are Hospitality Workers Burnt Out?
There are a number of reasons why hospitality workers are burnt out–and it’s the same from any job across the board.
Many hospitality workers quit their jobs due to burnout, not feeling appreciated for the work they do, and not enough career advancements. Image courtesy of KSB Recruitment.
While hospitality workers and jobs are needed to keep the tourism, coffee, restaurant, and bar scene open, many people often leave these jobs for a number of reasons. Whether they feel underappreciated, work in a toxic environment, or are feeling stuck with no possibility for career advancements, there is a laundry list of reasons why many hospitality workers leave–further adding to the high staff turnover rate.
Common Reasons for Burnout in the Hospitality Industry
The hospitality industry is highly known for its large staff turnover rate–where many places are seeing 70% to 80% more new hires and even long-term staff leaving due to a negative work environment, among other issues. It’s important to take a look at some of the most common reasons why many people are leaving this industry to help prevent a large turnover rate and keep staff members happy.
Low Wages
One of the biggest reasons why many people leave the hospitality industry is due to the terribly low wages. The average hourly pay for almost any starting, entry-level hospitality position is anywhere from $17 to $21 per hour, but this can range depending on the job position and how high up you are on the ladder. The location of the job that you’re working at and your overall experience can also factor into how much you are paid, with those that are newer to the field making significantly less. It is common to see manager positions, such as those in a hotel, restaurant, and even casinos make the most money, but they are still often left stressed with the amount of work they are responsible for.
No Flexible Work Schedule
While working throughout your life is crucial to make a solid income to support yourself, your family, and pets, it is also important to spend some time outside of the workplace with consistent days off to prevent burnout. Since the hospitality industry has a high turnover rate, it can be difficult to create a flexible and consistent schedule for staff members. Many can be called into work at the last second because someone called off, or you may not get a day off that you requested due to being short-staffed. This is a leading factor in why many hospitality workers quit and leave the industry because work shouldn’t encompass your entire life. Having days off is crucial to support a healthy mental state and work/life balance to prevent burnout.
Lack of Training
Many staff members who are new to the hospitality industry are oftentimes blindsided when starting their first day on the job. Instead of a proper new hire orientation with other brand new staff members, they are often thrown into the job on day one without any proper training. By not properly training your staff in this industry, it can lead to potential safety concerns and many mistakes along the way–which are not the new staff’s fault. Managers should consider taking the time to properly get to know their new employees and training them in all aspects of their job. This will not only help keep the new staff member calm, cool, and collected on the first day despite the nervous jitters, but it can also help keep them long-term showing you care about the work that they do.
Signs of Burnout in Your Employees
There are a lot of common signs if one or more employees within the hospitality industry are becoming burnt out with their job. As a manager or someone higher up, it is crucial to keep an eye out and check in on your staff from time to time to ensure that their needs are being met with their job and that they are happy.
Consider some of the common signs of burnout that many hospitality employees often show:
- Persistent fatigue while working
- Loss of passion
- A sense of cynicism
- Decreased productivity
- Making more errors
- Difficulty concentrating
- Withdrawal in focus while on the job
- Calling off of work more
- Arriving late frequently
- Strained relationships with managers and other staff
- Continued conflict with managers and staff
How to Fix Burnout Among Hospitality Workers
Burnout is a common issue that many staff in the hospitality industry feel, but simple changes can affect this common issue!
Many hospitality staff members experience burnout due to a toxic work environment resulting in a high turnover rate. Image courtesy of LinkedIn.
Since the hospitality industry is known for employees being extremely burnt out due to their work conditions, it’s up to the managers and staff higher up to make the change. By making simple, yet effective changes, it can help ensure that staff are motivated to come to work, that they feel safe, and that they are heard as well.
Consider making some of the following changes to fix the burnout that many staff experience in the hospitality industry to avoid losing good employees!
Get Digital Signage Installed for Better Communication
With the increase of technology, one of the best ways to fix burnout among staff in the hospitality industry is installing digital signage and signing up for an employee engagement software system that can be a great way to connect your team. Digital signage is a centralized platform that can be a great resource when it comes to sharing information among staff, along with recognizing staff for their hard work, finalizing schedules, improving company morale, helping with the company’s efficiency, and even increasing internal communications. This is a simple way to get your staff engaged and they will appreciate the feeling that they are heard within the workplace.
For those interested in digital signage, Shift is a great employee engagement system software that aims to “communicate, celebrate, and inspire” teams for success while making staff feel appreciated and recognized in the process.
Create a Supportive Work Environment
One of the top ways to work towards fixing the burnout among staff in the hospitality industry is to create a supportive work environment. This can be done in a number of ways, but the first and most important is to recognize the effort that staff are putting in everyday. Whether it’s just showing up for work or going above and beyond for a customer, managers can create a positive work environment by verbal praise or rewarding staff for their extra effort through small rewards.
Promote a Positive Work/Life Balance
Among the many reasons why employees leave the hospitality industry is due to the lack of a work/life balance, where their life seems to revolve around their job with no free time to relax or take care of outside responsibilities. One of the many ways to cure burnout among your hospitality staff members is to promote a positive work/life balance, which could be done by offering flexible scheduling. Flexible scheduling allows employees to manage their work while also taking care of their personal life without the stress of struggling to do both. Managers should also consider limiting overtime when necessary and making sure that staff take advantage of all of their breaks during their shift.
Offer Career Development
Many hospitality staff members often feel stuck and trapped within their position. Within the hospitality industry, there are plenty of positions to advance to, and while it may take a couple years to move up, making sure that your staff are aware of these career developments is crucial to prevent burnout. All staff members within the industry are looking to advance in some way, and by offering staff members leadership positions, it could keep them engaged and motivated to go above and beyond to reach that next step in their career.
Expand Benefits to Include Mental Health Awareness
There are many times where staff overlook their mental health and wellbeing due to the worries of their job. Depending on the stress that comes from the job, it can cause major burnout, which can deeply affect someone’s mental health and managers should become aware of it when they see the signs. Benefits are a huge perk of being a full-time employee for many jobs within the industry and a strong mental health state is crucial–so expanding resources for staff to receive counseling and treatment when necessary is a must. By providing staff with resources to mental health treatment, counseling, and even stress management workshops, it can help staff have a better understanding of themselves while also helping them to perform better in the workplace too.
Have Regular Check-Ins With Employees
If you’re looking to start small within your business, then one of the best ways to do so is by having regular check-ins with your employees. Employee evaluations are a big part of any job position that allow managers and staff to talk about job performance, any issues or concerns, and get everything out on the table. This can also be an opportunity to get your employees together to do a check-in to see how they are doing. If you start to see that your employees seem to lack motivation, seem physically or emotionally exhausted, or seem to be more negative in the workplace, it’s a good time to pull them aside to check on them and see how you can help them.
Burnout Can Be Avoided–Use These Methods to Keep Your Employees Happy, Mentally Healthy, and Motivated to Work
The hospitality industry can be a difficult business to work in. There will always be both good and bad days, and sometimes it can seem like the negatives are outweighing even the best days. It’s important as a manager to pay close attention to your staff whenever you see a shift in how they are acting or performing while working as it can be time for a change in how things are run. Even if it’s something as simple as doing regular check-ins or providing them the counseling that may be needed for them.
Consider checking out these top methods on how you can avoid or even fix burnout with your employees in the hospitality industry!
