The Method Behind Hospitality Success

Imagine a luxury hotel where front desk staff greet you warmly, housekeepers meticulously prepare your room, and servers delight you with their attentive service. Now imagine the opposite: a hotel where staff seem unhappy in their roles and indifferent to your needs. The contrast is stark, and it underscores a fundamental truth about hospitality – employee engagement and customer experience are powerfully intertwined.

At its core, hospitality is a people business. From check-in to check-out, guests rely on staff to deliver service excellence and shape their perception of a hotel or brand. In this article, we’ll explore the vital connection between engaged employees and satisfied customers in hospitality, and we’ll examine how organizations that invest in their people reap the rewards through enhanced reputation, loyalty, and commercial success.

Creating a memorable guest experience: The power of engaged employees

In hospitality, customer perception is reality. Guests rely on employees to deliver the core service and shape their experience at every touchpoint. An engaged, enthusiastic staff leads to satisfied guests who trust the brand, return frequently, and recommend it to others. Conversely, unsatisfied employees are less productive, and they project negativity that detracts from the customer journey and damages loyalty.

In fact, recent studies show that disengaged employees are 18% more likely to make mistakes and may cost organizations up to 34% of their annual salary due to decreased productivity. Moreover, employee workgroups that have low engagement levels experience a 25% higher rate of absenteeism and 62% more accidents, leading to increased operational costs.

As the face of the organization, employees make or break brand reputation through service quality. Their interactions determine whether guests feel welcomed and valued, ultimately shaping the customer experience. Engaged employees are ‘value makers’ as they take pride in their work, have a pleasant disposition, and go the extra mile, while disengaged staff seem indifferent and inconvenienced, which harms service, customer loyalty, and overall brand image and reputation.

Additionally, engaged employees can also provide insights into improving customer satisfaction, as they directly receive guest feedback. By involving staff in customer experience (CX) improvement initiatives, hotels gain invaluable perspectives and solutions from the frontlines. 

Factors driving employee satisfaction in hospitality

What workplace elements affect staff morale, satisfaction, and engagement in hospitality? Key factors range from company culture to compensation, shaping how employees view their roles and organization.

Workplace culture and environment

A healthy, inclusive culture where staff feel welcomed, valued, and heard fosters engagement. The physical environment also matters – office layouts, adequate supplies and equipment, and spaces that enable collaboration or relaxation during breaks.

Training and development

Ongoing learning opportunities allow staff to gain new skills, advance their careers, and feel that the organization is investing in their growth. This can involve internal mentorships, external conferences, tuition reimbursement, and more.

Empowerment and recognition

Employees want to feel their work has meaning and impact. Recognizing contributions publicly or privately also boosts morale. Empowering staff to resolve guest issues promptly fuels engagement. At Starwood Hotels, aligning incentives to guest satisfaction metrics boosted employee empowerment when they created a ‘guest experience index’ for GMs that integrates employee experience and guest satisfaction in the reward structure.

Leadership and communication

Supportive leadership and open communication foster trust and community. Town halls, surveys, an open-door policy, and transparent discussions of company goals keep staff informed and engaged. Hotels find that increased collaboration and communication between departments is strongly correlated to reduced customer complaints.

Compensation and benefits

Competitive and fair compensation demonstrates the organization values its people. Robust benefits like health insurance, retirement plans, and flexibility policies also impact engagement.

Work-life balance

Hospitality involves high demands, long hours, and attentiveness to guest needs 24/7. Organizations that promote reasonable workloads, flexibility, and respect for personal life nourish staff morale outside of work as well.

Empowering employees : Effective strategies for boosting morale in hospitality organizations

With multiple factors impacting staff morale, how can hospitality organizations effectively nurture engagement? Key strategies include:

Foster open communication and feedback

• Create channels for staff to voice suggestions, concerns, or questions.
• Conduct regular surveys to gauge satisfaction.
• Encourage managers to actively listen, seek input, and share company news.

Provide growth opportunities

• Offer cross-training to build skills laterally.
• Enable staff to develop expertise through mentorships, classes, certifications, and tuition assistance.
• Make promotions and career progress schemes transparent and accessible.

Celebrate achievements and recognize them

• Spotlight employee accomplishments in newsletters or meetings.
• Send thank you notes, gestures, and gift cards for excellent service.;
• Tie rewards to guest satisfaction metrics when appropriate.

Promote collaboration and inclusivity

• Build connections between departments through mixers, committees, and volunteering.
• Ensure diversity, prevent harassment, and make all staff feel welcomed and valued.
• Example: Marriott’s “Serve Our World” value fosters inclusion via volunteering, fundraising and community engagement.

Enable work-life balance

• Be flexible about shift swaps and schedules when possible.
• Offer programs like onsite childcare, employee assistance, and stress management.
• Respect days off approved for religious holidays or cultural traditions.
• Example: Partnering with nurseries, IHG provides employees access to discounted childcare services to provide financial support and flexibility for working parents.

Offer competitive benefits and compensation

• Benchmark pay and benefits routinely to attract and retain talent.
• Consider perks like retirement contributions, insurance, transportation stipends, onsite amenities, and discretionary bonuses.
• Example: Hilton offers tuition-free education to employees seeking to upskill and up to $5,250/year for undergraduate programs.

Show employees they are valued

• Recognize work anniversaries, learn about staff’s passions, and check in on wellbeing.
• Invest in office enhancements suggested by employees to create a better working (and living) space.
• Make staffing levels sustainable for an optimal work environment, instead of cutting corners.

The crucial role of staff satisfaction in driving success for hospitality brands

Seeing how employee sentiment impacts the guest experience, the bottom line is clear: employee engagement is critical to commercial success in hospitality.

Happier staff means happier guests. Engaged employees provide better service quality, while disengaged workers damage experiences. High morale drives up guest satisfaction, loyalty, likelihood to recommend, and brand preference. It’s not surprising that a 5% increase in employee engagement leads to a 3% increase in customer loyalty growth.

In the digital era, delighted guests boost ratings and reviews, increasing search visibility and reputation. Poor reviews from unsatisfying stays conversely deter bookings and tarnish brand image. Customer satisfaction scores were shown to rise 1.3 points for every 1-star increase in an employer’s Glassdoor rating – meaning customer and employee satisfaction are positively and clearly linked.

Beyond customer metrics, engagement nurtures innovation and productivity among teams. Workers can bring a wealth of creative ideas in an open and collaborative environment where contributions are encouraged to help the organization continually improve. Employees are also more invested in success when engaged, benefiting operations and profitability. Companies with high employee engagement have 23% greater profitability, according to Gallup.

Reduced turnover saves substantial hiring and training costs. Experienced staff also deliver service more consistently as longevity builds expertise, on the other hand, new workers mean retraining and service hiccups. According to The Center for Hospitality Research at Cornell, replacing just one typical front-line employee costs hospitality businesses about $5,864 on average.

Ultimately, in the hospitality industry, where human interactions make or break brands, employee engagement is inextricably tied to the bottom line. The most successful, industry-leading global hotel chains recognize this, making workplace culture and satisfaction strategic priorities to retain a competitive advantage.

This article originally appeared on EHL Insights.