Transforming Guest Experience in Hospitality With a Smart Learning Technology

When we think about employee engagement in hospitality, a few things may come to mind. We may think about creating a better working environment for our team, building a more positive workplace culture, or perhaps getting people excited to come to work. These are all worthwhile goals and undoubtedly instrumental to a successful engagement strategy, but where does the guest experience factor into employee engagement for successful hotels and hospitality ventures?

Believe it or not, employee engagement isn’t just about creating happier employees. It’s also crucial for creating happy customers who will become repeat customers, and furthermore, would recommend you to others based on their experience.

While the satisfaction and long-term retention of your employees should never leave your radar, the real brass ring is to build a high-performing team, that adds value to your guests’ experience, from check-in to check-out.

Hiring, training, and retaining great talent is mission-critical for service companies, and especially for hotels. Over the years, it has been shown innumerable times that high levels employee engagement correlate to favorable business outcomes. For HR professionals and hospitality training consultants, the steps for translating employee engagement into a fabulous guest experience are easier than you may think. Here are some best hospitality industry practices proven to boost your guests’ experience:

1. Identify Your Differentiator

In the “old days” of the hospitality industry, hotels were pretty much in lockstep alignment when it came to guest experience. Whether you stayed in an expensive, 5-star resort or a budget chain, customers knew pretty much what to expect. Now, with Airbnb, boutique chains, and trendy, mid-range establishments on the scene, great service has never mattered more to hotel consumers. But what is even more crucial nowadays is that guest reviews directly impact a hotel’s reputation, and consequently a number of bookings. Whether it’s during the initial employee onboarding process or in the course of standard, ongoing training, it’s important that your training model is always underscoring the importance customer service and centering on the guest experience.

2. Remember What Engagement Is (And What It Isn’t)

Engagement is not an end in itself. Its goal is not merely to have a satisfied employee, but rather a high-performing one. The last thing any hotel needs is a content team that under delivers and potentially damages your reputation. It has been shown over and over again that employee engagement in hospitality is one of the key drivers of both performance and retention. So with this in mind, remember that engagement is actually about:

• Fostering a culture of curiosity and perpetual learning

• Creating clear and frequent communication between employee and employer

• Providing tangible rewards for high-performance

• Uniting ethos and company mission that motivates success

3. Use a Smart Learning Technology  to Increase Employee ROI

Any hotel executive or training professional knows that a new-hire is far less productive, and therefore less profitable, than a seasoned employee. This is another reason why effective training matters for the hospitality industry’s bottom line. A poorly trained employee will reflect negatively on your hotel’s brand and could cost you a valuable customer. At a time of increased labor mobility, it is even more important than ever to find and retain experienced staff with the correct skills to drive your brand. On top of this, the ever-growing popularity of review sites like TripAdvisor and Yelp has empowered guests to seek out and share positive or negative experiences with your business. The experience they have with your staff can impact the decisions of other potential clientele. Train wisely and protect your reputation.

4. Individualize Your Employee Training

Hotels in the budget sector are more likely to have employees who cover multiple positions: from food service, to front desk, to room cleaning, etc. This stands in stark contrast to those who operate in the upscale or luxury demographic and are more likely to allow employees to focus exclusively on a few skills and not cross-function. Smart learning technology platforms enable hotel executives to customize their employees’ learning tracks to best suit their needs while keeping them continuously engaged.

Looking to drive employee engagement, increase customer satisfaction, and grow your revenue in 2017? We can help. Rallyware is a leader in employee engagement that returns on investment while creating workforces that are happy, motivated, and successful.

Click here for your demo and see how Rallyware helps enterprises with large sales forces cut expenses, drive revenue, and transform operations.