Andrew Silver, managing director of Golden Tulip UK, highlights ways to overcome the damaging effects of high staff turnover and low morale
Hoteliers operate in an industry with high labour turnover and large numbers of low-skilled employees, but one of the greatest challenges for any organisation has to be not simply recruiting the right people, but keeping them.
Where time and money are invested in creating new employment strategies, these can result in staff turnover falling year-on-year. Rating potential employees against a competency model and, in the case of middle to senior managers, asking them to undergo psychometric testing can also help to reduce turnover.
Statistics show that, by asking employees to complete a staff opinion survey, they feel more engaged with their business and believe that their views will be listened to and used constructively to their benefit.
Some of these benefits could be increased holiday time or birthdays off. Also, an active and effective staff suggestion scheme definitely helps employees feel that their opinions and suggestions are valid.
Everyone has different motivations, and our role as managers is to understand them and act accordingly. Retention is greatly helped when your team understands their role clearly and how it affects the performance of the business.
One of the greatest motivators is feedback. Giving feedback helps people understand when they are doing a good job and when they fall short of required standards. It helps them to improve their performance and, let's face it, most people come to work wanting to do a good job and derive great satisfaction when they are empowered to do just that.
Giving praise and recognition for achievements is vital, while at the same time implementing a performance management programme for when things don't go so well.
What matters most is that people enjoy what they do and feel they are making a difference. Businesses that are committed to treating their whole team with openness and honesty, and assuring them that they will be treated with respect, will be rewarded with low staff turnover and a motivated, willing team.
All of this goes to prove that developing a company with people, rather than in spite of them, is a far more successful formula.
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