How IT Has Changed the Hospitality Industry
Technology has changed the world as we know it, and the hospitality industry certainly hasn’t been left behind. Major advances in the IT world have allowed businesses to become savvier than ever, offering major benefits to both customers and companies. Ever-increasing IT developments are majorly impacting the way the hospitality industry functions. Mobile Check-In. In the past, tired and groggy hotel customers were forced to wait in line at reception to check into their rooms, but this is becoming a thing of the past. Many chains, such as the Hilton brand, are rolling out a mobile check-in option, allowing guests to choose their own room and even request amenities one or two days prior to their visit. Big Data. Restaurants are using big data to track everything from the number of free drinks given to make amends for employee mishaps to the rate at which condiments are used. Collecting and measuring more data than ever makes it possible to cut costs, learn more about customers, recognize trends and offer a better customer experience. Smart Appliances. The smart appliance trend, allowing people to control things like light switches, televisions, room temperature and their alarm clock from a tablet or an app, is starting to infiltrate into hotel rooms. Companies like Starwood are currently testing a host of features to add to hotel rooms to make stays even more luxurious. Online Bookings. Using the Internet to make travel plans is nothing new, but an increasing number of restaurants are now allowing customers to book tables online. Sites like OpenTable and SeatMe allow diners to find an open reservation and claim it in the click of a mouse. Other sites, like Tock, not only take reservations, they also collect payments upfront, so restaurants don’t have to worry about losing money for no-shows. User Review Sites. In the past, people only had word-of-mouth reviews to help them decide if a certain hotel, restaurant, cruise line, theme park or any hospitality industry business was worth their time and money. These days, it’s a common practice for people to consult user-review sites like Yelp and TripAdvisor prior to booking just about anything, so businesses are now under added pressure to provide outstanding service. The hospitality industry is thriving in Miami. Whether you’re searching for a new Miami job in this exciting field or need to find talented professionals to fill open positions at your company, RMG Staffing is here to assist. Contact us to today to learn more about our Miami temp-to-hire, direct hire and payroll staffing positions, as well as temporary staffing for banquet events.
Are Your Employees Brand Advocates?
Are Your Employees Brand Advocates? In today’s tech-savvy world, maintaining a reputation as a positive employer has never been more important. Having your employees serve as brand advocates is essential, because candidates place a heavy emphasis on their opinions. In addition to having your team engage in positive word-of-mouth advocacy, their written reviews can also generate serious influence. Find out some tips our Hospitality and Event Staffing Agency gives you. Top talent doesn’t just want a great job — they also want to work for an incredible company. Culture has become equally important to the job itself, so candidates do everything they can to search for clues about a company’s work environment to see if it’s the right fit. Social Media Most of your employees probably have a personal social media presence, so engage them as brand advocates on popular sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram. Create a solid set of guidelines to get everyone on the same page about the type of content you want them to share and certain topics to steer clear from. Encourage them to get online and share exciting moments during the workday and engage with other industry professionals. Job Review Sites Prior to applying at a company, savvy job seekers use review sites like Glassdoor to get a behind-the-scenes glimpse at what it’s like to work there. If assessments are generally negative, the type of talent you want to hire is going to steer clear of your company, because they have plenty of other options. Conversely, a number of glowing evaluations from current employees speaks volumes and will likely encourage top talent to submit their resumes. Since this type of brand advocacy is so important, ask your best team members to take a few minutes to write a review of their own. Testimonials They’re certainly not innovative, but employee testimonials are still a very effective way to promote a positive brand image. Ask your staff to write a sentence or two about their experience with various aspects of your company and post these statements accordingly throughout your HR site. If you want something a bit more long-form, consider profiling employees on your company blog and asking them to detail their favorite aspects of working for the organization. Need to find reliable and professional employees for your Miami area team? Partner with RMG Staffing. We offer temp-to-hire, direct hire and payroll staffing positions, as well as temporary staffing for banquet events.
Four Reasons Hospitality Employees Fail
There’s no getting around the fact that some employees are bound to fail. This is especially true in the hospitality industry, which can be incredibly fast-paced, diversified and downright stressful. However, there are some strategies that can be used in order to maximize the chances for employee success within your company. Provide Proper Training In some cases, hospitality employees fail due to a lack of training. This could be due to an unmotivated or otherwise uninterested employee who doesn’t pay attention or catch on to their training, or it could be due to the trainer’s ineffectiveness when it comes to training and mentoring. If the case is the former, the issue will need to be handled in cooperation with the employee in question. If the problem falls with an internal trainer, however, you may need to shuffle your roster in order to improve the effectiveness of your employee training programs. Disseminate Responsibilities Clearly and Concisely Sometimes, hospitality employees just don’t understand the responsibilities of their specific role in the workplace. This is most likely to happen when a staff member is constantly jumping between departments or when they’re asked to fill multiple positions on a daily basis. Sometimes, however, this is a result of an unclear or poorly written job description. Whatever the case may be, the issues mentioned above can usually be prevented altogether through an efficient interview and onboarding process. Clarifying exact responsibilities and mentioning any possible substitutions during the initial onboarding process ensures that your new employees have the direction and guidance needed to succeed in the hospitality sector. Ensure Employee Commitment and Motivation Hospitality employees might also fail as a result of their own lack of commitment of motivation. While there’s little you can do to motivate a stubborn or uninterested employee, most workers are easily motivated through competitive wages, fair treatment and the possibility of a future promotion inside the company. Preventing General Employee Burnout We’ve covered employee burnout in past posts, and it’s a real issue that can affect even the best employees. Although you can’t completely prevent burnout from happening, there are a number of steps you can take in order to minimize the risk. Giving your staff ample free time and vacation days, offering competitive wages and providing opportunities for career development or advancement are all great strategies when it comes to avoiding employee burnout in the hospitality workplace. Finding Great Employees in the Hospitality Industry While there’s nothing an employer can do to ensure ongoing success for 100 percent of their staff members, the tips described above can go a long way in preventing future career failures. If you need further assistance in the areas of recruitment, turnover or retention, or if you want to find out more information about the host of services we provide, please contact RMG today!
How Have Millennials Impacted the Hospitality Industry
Love them or hate them, there’s simply no denying the effect that millennial workers have had on the general job market. In fact, the hospitality sector itself has experienced a huge growth in business as a result of the spending habits of the millennial generation. While it’s easy to see how this can equate to increased profitability on behalf of companies operating within the hospitality industry, millennials are having a real affect on other aspects of the hospitality industry as well. Technology Usage One of the most obvious effects of the millennial workforce is the increasing reliance and adoption of innovative technology. Moreover, the majority of millennial workers are already highly familiar with computer software and, in some cases, hardware, before they even enter the workforce. This gives companies, including those in the hospitality industry, the opportunity to embrace new technologies without having to worry too much about assimilating their staff to new systems, concepts or applications. In some cases, a millennial employee may even be able to offer their own recommendations when it comes to implementing new technology or software into a company’s day-to-day operations. Such recommendations should always be considered before committing to a solution, but they should never be dismissed outright or ignored as such endorsements typically come from an employee’s personal experience. Real-Time Communications Millennial talent is used to real-time, instantaneous communications. Due largely to their familiarity with social networking, text messaging and even online chat rooms, it can be difficult for a traditional workforce to keep up with these standards and expectations. However, companies that can adapt to the concept of real-time communications may be able to increase customer service, bolster profitability and improve relationships with their entire staff. Health and Wellness in the Workplace Today’s millennial talent also tends to be more mindful of their eating, dieting and exercising habits as opposed to workers of old. With healthier dining options than ever before, as well as greater access to exercise facilities, the majority of millennial workers lead active and healthy lifestyles. As such, it’s in an employer’s best interest to accommodate these trends wherever possible. If you maintain an in-house cafeteria or lunchroom, for example, make sure healthy options, including vegetarian meals, are available. Company-sponsored recreational activities can go a long way in ensuring your staff stays active, including your non-millennial workers, and some companies even go so far as to partner up with local gyms to offer discounted memberships or, in some cases, free services to their employees. RMG and the Millennial Workforce As you can see, the millennial workforce is quite different than their older, more traditional counterparts. With that in mind, it’s important that you are able to accommodate millennials as well as non-millennials in both service and employment. If you need assistance making the proper adjustments to your workforce, or even if you just want to find out more about the type of services we provide, please contact us today!
What Do Online Reviews Mean for the Hospitality Industry?
Traditionally, brick-and-mortar establishments in the hospitality industry have relied on word-of-mouth and community-based advertising to build their brand and reputation. Given the prevalence of the Internet as well as the recent boom in online review sites, companies are now seeing more exposure than ever before. While there are some highly trusted review sites out there, there are some sites that simply aren’t reputable by any stretch of the imagination. Despite this fact, there is great potential for misuse and abuse of such online review sites. There are also a number of shady practices, shortcuts and other tricks that can result in an inaccurate reputation. Generating Reviews The first step to managing your online reputation is to generate reviews which can be done through a variety of different techniques. Some of the most popular strategies include interacting with patrons and increasing customer services standards. Others opt for the more direct approach of targeting and soliciting individual guests to post reviews online. While this practice is fine in theory, it should be done tactfully, professionally and without compensation. In other words, offering free products, services or cash for an online review is definitely frowned upon in the hospitality industry. If you are a startup company that is trying to make a name for yourself in the hospitality industry, you have no choice but to offer compensation for an online review. When doing so, make sure the customer posts a standardized disclosure stating they have been compensated for their review. By using this strategy sparingly, you’ll have a better chance of avoiding the negative stigma surrounding paid online reviews. Monitoring and Responding to Reviews Monitoring and responding to online reviews is a highly useful strategy that is used by many employers today. Not only is this a great way of keeping track of your reputation, it also gives you the opportunity to address any negative reviews you may find online. You can respond to positive reviews, either as a means of expressing thanks, answering a question or interacting with the community at large. In fact, a recent survey states that 79 percent of travelers are reassured by a company’s response to a bad review while 78 percent of those surveyed stated that managerial responses to good online reviews cause them to think more positively about the company in question. As you can see, it’s good idea to respond to the good reviews as well as the bad ones. Online review sites aren’t the only place you’ll find consumer criticism. Social media sites also provide your customers with an accessible forum to post their questions, comments, complaints or praise. As such, it’s important to keep an eye on these sites, too. Some companies, particular larger organizations, recruit full-time social media managers in order to keep track of customer reviews, field online questions and respond to complaints. Filling Your Roster Whether the majority of your recruitment strategies are online or off, it can be tricky to find top talent within the hospitality industry. If you’re having difficulty with the process, or if you just want to free up some of your resources for use in other areas, contact RMG Staffing right away!
Three Questions to Ask a Job Seeker Re-entering the Workforce
Assessing and interviewing a candidate that is re-entering the workforce after an extended absence can be a tricky task to handle. While some absences are legitimately explainable, others might not be readily excused. Moreover, those who place their career on hold for personal or unannounced reasons can complicate the matter even further. With that in mind, it’s important for an interviewer to ask the right questions of those candidates who are just now returning to the workforce. Not only can it help you locate and retain top talent in for your organization, it can even help the job seeker determine if your company is the right place to make their return. Why They Left the Workforce in the First Place From the recruit’s perspective, this might be the toughest question of the entire interview process. However, it should be asked when interviewing a job seeker who has recently returned to the workforce. While some candidates may have an answer ready, others may have personal or otherwise unannounced reasons for putting their careers on hold. Other times, a candidate’s reason for leaving their career may be entirely beyond their control. Sudden changes in living situation, unexpected lay-offs or terminations, and a plethora of other factors can all affect one’s ability to maintain constant and steady employment over a long-term basis. Reason for Returning and Choosing Your Company Next, you’ll want to find out a job seeker’s exact reason for returning to the workforce. It could be something as simple as a dwindling savings account or an overabundance of free time, or it could be a result of newfound training, education or professional development. In either case, find out their reasoning before committing to a new hire. Doing so can go a long way in securing and retaining employees that will have a positive impact on your company’s bottom line. Once you’ve established a candidate’s reason for re-entering the workforce, inquire about their reason for choosing your company. This could be something simple; perhaps your ad was the first one they saw or maybe they were recommended by a friend. Conversely, it could involve a lack of income, too much free time or the desire to advance one’s career to the next level. Whatever the case may be, it’s important to understand their reasoning in order to make sure their abilities align with the needs of your company as well as those of the job in question. What Have They Done to Keep Their Skills Fresh and Current Finally, ask these recruits how they’ve been able to maintain their skill sets and expertise during their absence. The answer may be obvious for those who are re-entering the workforce with brand new degrees and credentials, but others may have completely ignored their career skills during this time. Either way, it’s important to know what you’re dealing with before onboarding the latest interviewee. Finding Top Talent in the Hospitality Industry Depending on your exact area of expertise, it can be difficult to find talent that is reliable, reputable and experienced. If you have difficulty locating or retaining hospitality workers, please contact RMG Staffing today!