Creating passionate employees
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Consequently, managers are required to provide the environment, compensation and motivation to make it worthwhile for employees to deliver that level of performance.
Just managing your staff can be a major challenge for small-medium business operators who often have trouble delegating their dream and livelihood to employees. Yet an essential skill for small business owners and managers is also the ability to motivate your staff. As a supervisor, it always will be your toughest job to turn around people who have lost the motivation to make a positive contribution to the team.
Why bother? Mainly to enhance guest satisfaction and thereby your own bottom line, but it has other objectives as well as motivation:
• Increases staff morale and job satisfaction
• Reduces absenteeism
• Increases company loyalty and encourages employees to promote the business to guests
• Impacts on the efficiency and attitude of employees to their work
• Drives sales targets and milestone achievements
• Enthuses staff to participate in special programs (like energy saving)
The easiest, most inexpensive and, since time began, best way to motivate employees is simply positively reinforcing what they do at work. This means making positive statements about employees on a regular, daily basis. It will make them feel good about what they do and to desire more praise.
This is something that many managers in the accommodation sector are particularly neglectful of. They are quick to find fault but praise comes hard.
Employees who do the wrong thing will overhear others being praised and will require less reprimand as they strive to gain the same status. But, be genuine, don't patronise.
People want to learn, contribute and make a difference at work. They will do this better if they feel a direct connection with a company that benefits their own careers. Have your employees take stock of how they think they are affecting the business. It's a chance for your workers to give themselves an intermittent report card so that you can both compare notes.
Career advancement is one of the greatest incentives workers desire. In accommodation, it is generally the sales and front office staff that benefit from ongoing training, promotion and formal career paths. Rarely does this come down to housekeeping staff or F&B workers, particularly in a small-medium business, yet these people are every bit as important, particularly as they have major personal contact with your guests as does the results of their work.
Accommodation managers that have the most success in guiding their employees to desired performance levels conduct intensive, personal coaching and set specific behavioural requirements that are easily understood and monitored.
They realise that one staff member having a bad hair day can undo the great work of a dozen others.
However there are some very tangible motivating forces that can be implemented as well.
Providing meaningful staff benefits and perks to your staff is an important factor in motivating and retaining employees. While remuneration will always be the key motivator, non-financial benefits are becoming increasingly attractive to the modern employee and a valuable means of motivating and retaining staff. Benefits should complement remuneration and salary rather than be used as a substitute for good pay, and ideally, they should be personalised to individual staff members to ensure that they are genuinely beneficial and meaningful.
Some simple non-financial benefits and perks to consider include:
• Additional leave days (birthdays, family)
• Complimentary benefits (parking, use of gym, sporting tickets, famils, massage)
• Work-life balance benefits (flexible working hours/days, study leave or child care assistance)
• Subsidised or free meals
• Team-building experiences
• Personalised Christmas and birthday gifts
• Magazine subscriptions
Then there are structured incentive programs that reward performance with anything from bonuses to gifts to profit sharing... even company shares!
Understanding what's important to each of your staff members will enable you to offer them more meaningful and personalised benefits. Don't dangle a carrot beyond reach. Setting high but achievable goals (and reviewing them at regular intervals) is an important part of implementing an effective staff incentives program.
One of the keys to growing any successful accommodation business is retaining quality employees. Your staff are your greatest asset - keeping them motivated and retained in a competitive job market is crucial to the happiness of your guests and, therefore, the ongoing health and success of your business.
Not only does high staff turnover result in a significant direct cost to your business but it can also have a negative ongoing effect by fostering an unstable, inconsistent and non-cohesive work culture. When it comes to keeping staff motivated and retained, however, research shows that remuneration is rarely the bottom line.
If your employees are passionate, then your business profits will soar!
It's important to be aware that there may be tax implications for the benefits that you offer to your staff so make sure you consult an accountant before you implement any staff benefits schemes.
