Whenever someone talks about the challenge of change, I hear David Bowie in my head. “Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes….” The second line of that song turns out to be “turn to face the strange.” I rarely hear song lyrics correctly, so this was news to me, but it seems very appropriate. No one likes change. That was the headline from Dr. Deborah Gilboa of Ask Dr. G fame, when I saw her speak recently.
New Ebook! There has been an exodus of people from hospitality, particularly from hotel work and housekeeping. Hotels are finding it difficult to fill positions, with a heavy burden landing on general managers. Many managers make do with small teams that wear multiple hats, which may work well enough while vacancies are low. But what is this costing in overtime and disgruntled managers and staff? And what are hotels doing to seriously prepare for the reality that peak season full hotels will...
As a hotel manager, you must ensure the safety of your guests, employees, and the general public. In the COVID and post-COVID era, this requires strict adherence to an ever-increasing array of regulatory compliance and legal requirements, on top of pre-existing compliance needs. Failure to comply with any of these can result in hefty fines, labor issues, damages to your brand’s reputation, and loss of competitive advantage.
The cost of labor is a hotel's single largest variable cost. How you manage your staff can increase or decrease those costs, so your operations management directly positively (or negatively) affects your margins. To complicate matters, COVID has definitely made its mark on hotel staffing, with hotels struggling to rehire as occupancy rates return to normal.
New safety standards are being enacted across the hospitality industry. Legislation is expanding at the local, state, and federal levels in response to escalating situations that endanger guests, hotel staff, and the general public. Hotels are responding with a renewed focus on hotel security, involving better systems to ensure guest and employee safety on-site.
Hotels rely on people. On the employees who maintain them and the guests who stay at them. This industry is one that is contingent on the happiness and satisfaction of those who are a part of it. In a manner of trust, workers and guests depend on executives and leaders to ensure proper treatment, accountability, and safety and vice versa, executives and leaders need their employees to be reliable and cooperative.
Occupational Safety and Health Act Compliance Following the passing of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, Congress created the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, commonly referred to as OSHA. This was done in an effort to ensure safe and healthy working conditions for men and women by setting and enforcing certain quantitative standards and by providing appropriate training, outreach, education and assistance.
Like OSHA, ADA compliance is of the utmost importance for hotels. Keeping up to date on the latest ADA regulations and laws can protect hotels from wasting thousands of dollars on lawsuits and fines. In addition, it serves to help maintain a healthy, reputable, and profitable working environment.
Services that made minimal human contact with humans existed even in the pre-pandemic era. But the importance and need for these services were understood after experiencing the COVID era. This period was revolutionary and transformative for not just one particular business or industry but also the world. With a large number of people locked in their houses, avoiding coming in contact with the virus, travel is at a complete standstill.
The coronavirus pandemic has left the hospitality industry in shambles with more than 5,000 hotels closing down in the U.S. alone in March and April. According to the fact sheet by the American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA), this is the biggest drop in occupancy levels that the US hospitality industry has seen in decades. The numbers are devastatingly low and will take over a year or two for the industry to overcome and return to pre-pandemic levels.