Motivation behind Working in Front Office and Housekeeping in COVID-19
One of the key problems in the hospitality industry has been the absence of talented employees to work in housekeeping. This issue has further deteriorated during the COVID-19 environment as staff are not attracted to work in housekeeping and front office because of the possibility of spreading the virus. The main purpose of this report is to obtain an understanding of the features and complexities of the perception of the employees towards working in Rooms Division. This report explores how COVID-19 has impacted the dynamic hospitality industry. It sheds light on the underlying motivation and challenges to work in housekeeping and front office in the COVID-19 environment. It discusses the best practices that the hotels adopt for attracting and retaining staff in the Rooms Division in COVID-19. Lastly, it recommends how Rooms Division staff can be attracted and retained.
COVID-19 has had a pivotal impact not only on how the hospitality industry operates but also on how this industry survive. The pandemic has led to the closure of many hotels around the world, particularly luxury hotels. Consequently, occupancy rates are low. Looking forward, it is expected that the economy hotels will return fast to the pre-pandemic stage, where this process will be the slowest for the luxury and upper-upscale hotels. It is because the economy hotels are in a better position of tapping the segments of demand that stay comparatively strong despite the COVID-19-related restrictions (mckinsey.com, 2022). It is possible for economy hotels to remain open at lower occupancy rates than luxury hotels. Revenue of the hotels has been affected largely, whereas the hotels have not been able to pay the suppliers on time. The cash flow issue is a common one for the hotels during this pandemic (deloitte.com, 2022).
In the Rooms Division, finding and hiring talented employees is a key issue. The COVID-19 pandemic has exaggerated this issue since the rate of unemployment has increased significantly due to the mandatory shutdowns. There is a declining supply of talented employees in this industry, as the talented employees are interested in applying their skills in other sectors. Another key reason is the tendency of the hotels to pay low wages to the employees in the Rooms Division.
The employees are motivated to work in the front office and housekeeping in the COVID-19 environment because of certain reasons. One key reason is the use of hotel operations software. This software has made the front office and housekeeping jobs easier for the existing employees (Shin & Kang, 2020). As a result, the employees are extra motivated to work under the pandemic condition. Another key reason is the reduction in the number of employees in the front office and housekeeping due to the restrictions imposed by the governments. These employees form the lean teams who are asked to do more with limited resources. Since the number of employees has decreased, the existing employees can earn more by putting in some extra effort which is a key motivational factor. The third reason is the increase in the roles and responsibilities of the housekeeping and front office staff, which work as a motivational factor for them. These employees are now addressing various urgent issues that demands them to be alert, flexible and willing to take the additional workload. These have increased their recognition within the organizations. These staff are now required to adopt the new standard operating procedures (Stergiou & Farmaki, 2021). All these aspects work as the motivational factors for these employees to work during the COVID-19 environment.
Challenges to Work in Front Office and Housekeeping in COVID-19
The employees in the front office and housekeeping face some key challenges in the COVID-19 environment. Since the front office and housekeeping employees are in direct contact with the guests as they conduct formalities and housekeeping duties, they are required to adhere to the extensive protective measures and safeguards against COVID-19. Following all these rules and regulations is a challenging factor for these employees. The front office employees are required to conduct extensive documentation of the guests while verifying whether all the precautionary measures have been followed by the guests. It is a challenging aspect as it increases the workload of the front office employees (Goh & Baum, 2021). An increased guest expectation is another key challenge for these employees. Along with the increased cleaning requirements, the guests are vising the hotels with higher prospects for their stay than ever before. Their expectation is that the rooms will be appropriately sanitized and cleaned before their arrival. All these make housekeeping one of the most acute fundamentals of brand reputations and customer loyalty. It is a challenging factor for these employees to fulfil the ever-increasing demands and expectations of the clients. The elevated cleaning requirements and expectations of the guests are already challenging when the hotels are fully staffed, and staff absenteeism has become a custom amid the pandemic. As a result, operational challenges are being created as absenteeism makes it more challenging for the daily housekeeping targets while putting additional work pressure on the existing employees (Stergiou & Farmaki, 2021). These are the key challenges faced by the front office and housekeeping employees in the COVID-19 environment.
Hotels all over the world have adopted different strategies for attracting and retaining the Rooms Divisions staff in the present COVID-19 environment. The strategy that Hyatt adopted during the pandemic was to promote the Rooms Divisions staff from within the organisation. It has helped the hotel to build an engaged workforce. Similarly, properly training the Rooms Division staff and providing them with more responsibilities have helped in building pride while contributing to increase the retention rate. At Century Plaza, the Rooms Division employees are attracted and retained as the hotel gives them the opportunity to work in various departments (shrm.org, 2022). A Milwaukee-based Cousins Sub has been successful in attracting and retaining the Rooms Division employees by building loyalty through different types of tokens of appreciation, like gift cards, anniversary cakes, movie tickets, and particularly handwritten thank-you notes. This hotel chain has also been successful in retaining these employees by providing them with a pathway to rise into career positions. During the pandemic, the focus of Montage’s Holloway was to communicate and train as a way of dispelling concerns among the employees of the Rooms Division. It is needed to be careful in this context that there is no scope of over-communication. This hotel provides its Rooms Division employees with online training modules on various issues like how to weal personal protective equipment and others (shrm.org, 2022). All these strategies have helped these hotels to attract and retain their employees in Rooms Division.
The following discussion shows the recommendations on how the hotels can attract and retain the Rooms Division staff:
- The hotels are required to understand employee turnover. To formulate any strategy to attract and retain the Rooms Division staff, the critical aspect is to understand why these staffs leave. An exit interview is a key tool as it helps in understanding the trend. Employee satisfaction surveys can also be conducted on a regular basis.
- The hotels are recommended to adopt the strategy of providing ‘total rewards’, which are practices, policies and programs for providing the employees with something valuable in return for their involvement in achieving the hotel’s goals and objectives.
- Proper workplace culture needs to be developed in order to engage the employees of the Rooms Division more. An effective organizational culture boosts employee morale, and higher morale leads to increased performance, higher productivity, reduced stress and increased retention.
- It is recommended to the hotels to consider employee development as an investment in the employees of the Rooms Division. The introduction of different employee development programs is crucial for attracting and retaining employees as they help the employees to obtain additional skills.
- The hotels are encouraged to design and implement retention-focused compensation, which can be regarded as a great tool for attracting, retaining and satisfying the employees of the Rooms Division. Such compensation should include compensation bonuses and perks as these are largely useful in retaining and attracting employees (Goh & Okumus, 2020).
Conclusion
The above discussion shows that COVID-19 has created certain major adverse impacts on the hospitality industry, such as a decrease in revenue, staff and others. During COVID-19, aspects like increased pay, advanced technology and others work as the underlying motivational factors for the front office and housekeeping employees to work. The main challenges include increased client expectations, compliance with the extensive precautionary measures and others. The best practices adopted by the hotels to attract and retain the employees in Rooms Divisions include an internal promotion, training, tokens of appreciation, increased pay with other benefits, and others. These methods are useful in attracting and retaining the Rooms Division employees.
References
Deloitte. (2022). Impact of COVID-19 on the hospitality industry. Retrieved 17 March 2022, from https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/nl/Documents/consumer-business/deloitte-nl-consumer-hospitality-covid-19.pdf
Goh, E., & Baum, T. (2021). Job perceptions of Generation Z hotel employees towards working in Covid-19 quarantine hotels: the role of meaningful work. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management.
Goh, E., & Okumus, F. (2020). Avoiding the hospitality workforce bubble: Strategies to attract and retain generation Z talent in the hospitality workforce. Tourism Management Perspectives, 33, 100603.
Hospitality and COVID-19: How long until ‘no vacancy’ for US hotels?. (2022). Retrieved 17 March 2022, from https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/industries/travel%20transport%20and%20logistics/our%20insights/hospitality%20and%20covid%2019%20how%20long%20until%20no%20vacancy%20for%20us%20hotels/hospitality-and-covid-19-how-long-until-no-vacancy-for-us-hotels-vf.pdf
Lytle, T., & Lytle, T. (2020). Top HR Challenges in the Hospitality Industry. Retrieved 17 March 2022, from https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-magazine/winter2020/pages/top-hr-challenges-in-the-hospitality-industry.aspx
Shin, H., & Kang, J. (2020). Reducing perceived health risk to attract hotel customers in the COVID-19 pandemic era: Focused on technology innovation for social distancing and cleanliness. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 91, 102664.
Stergiou, D. P., & Farmaki, A. (2021). Ability and willingness to work during COVID-19 pandemic: Perspectives of front-line hotel employees. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 93, 102770.
Stergiou, D. P., & Farmaki, A. (2021). Ability and willingness to work during COVID-19 pandemic: Perspectives of front-line hotel employees. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 93, 102770.
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