By Theresa Bontempo
It is crucial to have people working in the hospitality industry for a number of reasons. There are many small businesses and large franchises that make money from restaurants, bars, coffee shops, hotels, and even for tourist sights. These people–as difficult as their job can be at times–are crucial to providing a service with top customer service skills that will keep patrons coming back again and again.
Whether it’s making coffee, serving drinks, being a waitress in charge of a dozen tables, or even working at the front desk of a popular hotel or tourist spot, the hospitality industry offers a lot to customers, but it can often see a much higher rate of employee turnover. It’s hard to keep employees–especially ones that are good at their job–in this industry for numerous reasons, and this makes it important to engage your employees and keep them happy in a safe work environment.
Check out the top nine ways that you can engage hospitality workers in the industry and prevent a large employee turnover rate at your business!
1. Implement an Employee Engagement System
The perfect way to get your employee’s issues and concerns, plus recognize them for their hard work.
Employee engagement systems are a great form of digital technology to add to any business in the hospitality industry. Image courtesy of Shift.
Out of the many different ways to engage your employees in the hospitality industry, implementing an employee engagement system is one of the top methods. Employee engagement systems are interactive signage that can keep staff up-to-date with necessary internal communication where it can get over 400% more views than a regular paper sign on a bulletin board. Employee engagement systems are made for deskless jobs–such as those in the hospitality industry—and can provide a number of services to keep employees happy, as well as be a method of interaction and recognition among them.
Employee engagement systems can have a number of benefits and uses for any business in the hospitality industry:
- Stay up-to-date with internal communications
- Show performance of staff and teams
- Recognize employees for their extra effort
- Show work or employee milestones
- Use data collection to gauge employee satisfaction
- Shows feedback on service and sales
- Improves company efficiency
Out of all the options for employee engagement systems, one of the best is Shift–an interactive signage that is boosted through technologically-advanced visuals that are both colorful and bright. Shift helps to improve employee retention, increase company revenue, and up operational profitability through engaging employees in an effective manner by: shouting out employees for their hard work,listing birthday and anniversary spotlights, and even providing feedback to management.
2. Employee Feedback Sessions
Giving your employees feedback on their work is a simple way to engage them and make sure that they are satisfied in their position.
Communicating with your staff and giving them feedback on their job performance is a great way to engage them in the hospitality industry. Image courtesy of Fellow.app.
One of the best ways to engage your employees within the hospitality industry is by holding monthly or annual feedback sessions. This is a good way to gauge the happiness of your staff by giving them the opportunity to voice their issues or concerns and feel heard and valued within the workplace. Not only do employee feedback sessions allow them to use their voice to speak up about both the good and the bad things about their job, but it also allows employers to give constructive criticism and–more importantly–give them some praise. For many employees, being recognized for their hard work is crucial to know, and employee feedback sessions can be a great way to do so.
3. Build Strong Relationships With Employees
Getting to know your employees is crucial to build a relationship with them, plus it opens up communication.
Talking to employees is crucial to build a relationship with them and encourage strong communication skills. Image courtesy of The HR Director.
One of the many reasons why there is a high employee turnover rate within the hospitality industry is due to the fact that many employers don’t put in the effort to get to know their staff. Your employees are the heart of your business helping to make it run smoothly and efficiently every single day–so it doesn’t hurt to get to know them in a personal, yet business-like manner. Not only is an employer able to get a feel of their staff from their interests and hobbies, but they can get to know more of their work ethic and create a culture of strong communication. Employees that also get to know more about their employer feel more appreciated, will take more time to truly put in the hard work, and will care more about their position within the company.
4. Add Job Development Opportunities
Allow your hard working employees the opportunity to advance in their career to bigger and better positions.
Offering employees career advancements and other job opportunities can be a great way to avoid a high turnover rate in the hospitality industry. Image courtesy of USC Online.
One of the best features of working in the hospitality industry is that employees gain access to many different kinds of jobs. Finding something that they are passionate about and have talent in is crucial, but no one wants to start and stay in the same place. Career advancements can be a great way to engage your employees within the hospitality industry to find the most passionate staff who are willing to take on new challenges and get high rewards in the end. If you invest in your employee’s success by allowing them to advance to higher-up positions, it will make them also appreciate their job for your company and be more willing to bring more to the table.
5. Create a Positive Work Environment
Creating an environment where your employees will want to come to work is a great way to engage with them!
Many employees in the hospitality industry struggle with hostile work environments, which makes them feel unmotivated to come into work. Image courtesy of TBM Payroll.
You have a lot going on as a manager of a business in the hospitality business, but one of the main things to be concerned about is making sure that you have a positive work environment for your employees. This is crucial for your employee’s mental well-being, and it fosters a positive work culture, opens communication, and even helps provide support. A positive work environment can also create a stronger and more successful business where there is no drama, everyone gets along with each other, and there is teamwork and empowerment with staff.
6. Provide Proper Trainings
Making sure that your employees are trained the right way with knowledge of safety concerns is crucial!
Having new hire training or refresher courses for staff is a great way to engage employees and make sure they’re knowledgeable about their position. Image courtesy of Hospitality Net.
Top customer service skills among staff members is crucial for a successful business. One of the best ways to engage your employees is making sure that they are up-to-date with any training, re-training them in certain responsibilities and tasks, or even guiding them through changes throughout the business. Providing training to your employees–whether they are new hires or long-term staff members–is crucial for top service quality, customer satisfaction, creating strong business practices, consistency, and top-notch professionalism.
7. Team Building Activities
Get to know your employees more outside of the business and do team building exercises to enhance workplace collaboration!
Getting to know your staff’s strengths, weaknesses, and how you all come together in the workplace can be greatly increased through team building exercises. Image courtesy of Cvent.
Assembling a team of employees that can come together to provide customers the best service possible is crucial in the hospitality industry. If there is any animosity towards coworkers or they have different ways of going about their job, it can throw off a work day and cause issues. One method to avoid any unwanted drama within the workplace and strengthen your staff is through team building activities and exercises.
There are a number of team building and bonding exercises to do, and the first thing to do is get your staff out of the workplace. Whether it’s something as simple as an all-staff meeting to do icebreakers and get to know one another, scavenger hunts, escape rooms, trivia nights, or even cooking contests can help teammates build a stronger bond with one another while relaxing and connecting more to create a more productive team.
8. Hold Work Parties
Work parties are a great way to build relationships with your employees, plus get them out of the workplace to relax and build connections with one another. Image courtesy of Business.
Something that is fun for your whole team is holding a work party. Work parties can be held for any occasion, such as work anniversaries, company milestones, or even for holidays–such as Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving, or Easter. No matter the occasion, holding a work party in the workplace with catering or even at a specific location can be a great way to get new employees to meet long-term staff members, build relationships with each other, and have a good time outside of the workplace. It can even be fun to have a wardrobe theme where everyone has to wear something specific, and the best one wins a prize, along with holding games and raffles for everyone to enjoy.
9. Extra Effort Prizes
For the employees who have recently been going above and beyond, give them something special for their efforts!
Giving your employees extra effort gifts for their hard work can motivate other staff members to do the same in their position. Image courtesy of O. C. Tanner.
There are many simple things that you can change to engage your employees within the hospitality business. Hospitality workers are crucial to any business and keeping good staff members and keeping them happy is important–so is recognizing their hard work and dedication. One of the most effective and simple ways to implement engagement in the workplace is by giving out extra effort prizes for those who are going above and beyond in their job.
Whether a manager notices how well they performed a certain task, going out of their way to make sure customers are satisfied, or maybe even based on surveys from happy guests at their place of business, a prize or small gift can go a long way. Extra effort prizes can consist of gift cards, bonuses, salary raises, extra time-off, flexible work arrangements, and public recognitions, which are a great way to show staff that you appreciate what they do on a daily basis.
Pay Attention to Your Staff and Engage With Them in the Hospitality Industry
Making sure that you have satisfied and happy employees within the hospitality industry is crucial. With such a high turnover rate within the industry, it’s important to go out of your way to make changes to engage your employees, have them connect and bond with one another, provide proper training, and create a positive work environment that they will be happy to come to work in every day. By making simple changes and adding new ways to engage your employees can make the hospitality industry a fun place to work and have staff be excited to come to work everyday.
Consider checking out these top nine ways to engage with your employees in the hospitality business and make a difference in the workplace today!
