subject: Understanding The Importance Of Hotel Service Culture [print this page] There is no doubt with the failing economy that the hotel service culture is changing and unfortunately many in the industry are not keeping up with the changes. This is contributing to the failure of many hotels. When the economy is in a tight situation it is common for employee cutbacks, but unfortunately what happens in cases like this is the hotels do not take the time to train the staff that is left. To be able to meet the needs of the added duties that are put on the employees still working it creates a great deal of stress.
As a result, the services tend to take a downward spiral for the hotel and this certainly becomes evident very quickly. It is a problem when it comes to the time factor, with employees having extra duties, to be able to take time out for training, however it is something that must be concentrated on if the hotel wants to continue being successful in tough financial times.
With a little bit of planning and knowing what the capabilities of the present employees are, it can cut down on the risk factors of poor hotel service culture becoming a reality. Ideally, what management can do is review and interview the staff that they are keeping on to see what experience they have in other areas, or what they would be most suited for. Although clientele may be cutting back on their use of hotels, they still expect good service when they do utilize the services of this type of accommodations.
Many times employees that have been on staff for a great deal of time have performed multiple services in the past, and perhaps have moved on to more senior positions. In the case of a staff reduction, this may mean that some of these senior staff members will have to resort back to providing services that they had initially done when first employed. This can create a bad taste with the employee's, however, a good employee meeting explaining the circumstances will go a long way to help remedy the situation. You are most likely going to find that the employees for the most part, are just thankful they still have a place of employment to go to. However this doesn't necessarily change the attitude in how they perceive their extra workload.
By instilling in them to work as a team, meaning both front line employees and management, it often gives them the encouragement needed, and their sense of loyalty comes through in that they are willing to help the business out during the tough times by putting forth the extra effort. You may also want to explain during this meeting that if service drops then there might possibly be further layoffs because of the financial circumstances. By providing both a very clear picture of the potential future and what the needs of the hotel are at this particular time, it can often help see the business through the rough times.
It is important to make things as easy as possible however on employees that are taking on the extra workload, and by showing some slack when it comes to things not being done perhaps as quickly as normally would be possible, it will help keep their positive attitude . By everyone putting in a joint effort during a tough economy the hotel service culture only needs to suffer in a minimal sense of the word.
