Hotel managers and stakeholders know that employees are the heart and soul of their hotels. However, despite this common knowledge, engaging hotel staff in meaningful ways has always been a challenge. According to a Skift poll from August 2020, less than 35% of EU employees reported positive levels of engagement, making it crucial for hotels to use new tools to optimize employee engagement and achieve success post-pandemic.
Employee engagement refers to the emotional connection a staff member has with a business and its mission. It is essential for a hotel's success since it can improve employee retention and generate positive guest feedback, which in turn has a direct impact on the hotel's finances. A study by Forbes reported that disengaged workers have 37% higher absenteeism, 18% lower productivity, and 15% lower profitability, which translates to 34% of a disengaged employee's annual salary or in other words, €3,400 for every €10,000 they earn.
To address this costly issue, hotels can leverage Hoxell, a hotel operations platform that provides countless functionalities and features for hospitality leaders to implement immediately. Hoxell facilitates employee engagement across all key aspects of the 4-pillars of employee engagement.
About the 4-pillar model
The 4-pillar model helps to position the hotel as an attractive employer. It is intended to motivate qualified specialists and managers to remain with the company and to keep them from possibly changing industries; it also makes it easier to recruit new employees. The basic task of the 4-pillar model is to manage, secure manpower, reduce fluctuation and thereby play a decisive role in ensuring the economic success and maintenance of the hotel business (Boll, 2020).
The 4 Pillars Are:
- Recognition
- Work atmosphere
- Communication
- Perspective
How Hoxell ensures success across all 4 Pillars
Pillar 1: Recognition
Recognition of employee accomplishments is the first way to improve engagement. Especially in the rapidly changing environment that makes the hospitality industry so unique. To be able to do that, the first step is to be aware of the work your employees are doing on a daily basis.
Managers can use the Hoxell MANAGER’S DASHBOARD to identify and track metrics relating to employees, which can help set baseline expectations and longer-term goals for employees. Outward recognition is also highly motivating, and having a measurable way to show appreciation of outstanding performance is a great way to highlight and feature employees. Who doesn’t like to be shown appreciation for the work they do?
Pillar 2: Work Atmosphere
An inclusive work atmosphere, or the sense of being an active part of a system that is working toward a common goal, is vital for engagement.
The Instant Messaging function of the Hoxell Quality Operations System, can help management spread messages in real-time to the entire team, such as posting the hotel's mission and vision statement daily to connect employees with the hotel's objectives.
Hoxell was designed to improve hotel operations by providing a single tool for all departments to work together towards a common goal, facilitating cross-departmental teamwork and establishing strong unity and belongingness
Pillar 3: Communication
Communication barriers across departments and among co-workers can also contribute to poor engagement. Due to the overload of daily demands that a hotel employee has to deal with (especially at the front office), troubles can often be right around the corner. Hoxell’s entire Quality Operations System is geared towards breaking down those barriers by reducing communication errors and frustration between departments.
Concretely, that means that you can improve communication between departments by assigning tasks to the right person at the right time. Not only preventing endless phone calls, but also drastically reducing the mental load for the individuals that are not concerned by certain tasks.
Furthermore, the direct communication, made possible through the instant messaging function, reduces time-to-reaction for urgent tasks and enable all staff to handle guests’ requests or complaints as they happen.
Pillar 4: Perspective / Empowerment
Last, but not least, giving perspective and empowering employees, is the leading force behind employee engagement. Hoxell is highly customizable, allowing operations management teams to adjust services and details that work best for their property, which empowers staff and fosters a sense of competence and respect. Hoxell’s easy-to-use, intuitive task management feature allows all staff to enter tickets, making them feel responsible and empowered to manage requests and tasks. Furthermore, only the people concerned will be informed about those tasks - delivering the right tasks to the right people, at the right time.
Empowering housekeeping staff with Hoxell Housekeeping improves engagement since Room Attendants, maintenance workers and others work alone most of the day, and as a result the level of engagement is typically relatively low. Empowering this employee with Hoxell will drastically improve the condition of your hotel with the added benefit of increasing engagement.
With Hoxell’s combination of services, from the first day of implementation, your management team will be equipped with the necessary tools to improve employee engagement at your hotel.