The success of any hotel business depends not only on turnover and the volume of guests staying at your property, but also on the motivation of your hotel staff and other personnel.
In times of labor shortages and high turnover rates, hoteliers can use team building exercises to motivate and challenge employees and collaborators to contribute to the growth of business value.
Like any other corporate organization, hotels, regardless of whether they are family-run or chain-owned, can improve HR Management and contribute to the personal, motivational, and career growth of their staff.
For this reason, team building's primary goal is to foster greater understanding and relationships between people from different departments, as this almost never happens during normal daily work.
How important is teamwork in a hotel? Let's find out in this dedicated guide.
Strategic Team Building tactics in the hotel: 3 tips to put into practice
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At a time of chronic shortages of entry-level employees or operational staff (waiters, porters, cooks, housekeeping, etc.), or at a time when turnover rates are high, it is likely that the hotel staff needs to recover a good dose of motivation and personal and professional self-esteem.
Ultimately, front-line staff are the "face" of the hotel, helping to build the brand's image and having a significant impact on guest satisfaction. Therefore, it's essential that reception staff and those who first welcome guests feel motivated, empowered, and have a positive and empathetic attitude toward external guests.
It is well understood that this contributes to the creation of value for the hotel structure, to increasing Corporate Reputation and to contributing to strengthening the image of the hotel towards all stakeholders.
Team building helps create a cohesive team spirit , contributes to employee participation in creating the company's competitive advantage and promotes philanthropic activities.
Consider, for example, the importance of organizing a company dinner or the recognition of productivity bonuses or fringe benefits , or the award stays given to the best-performing hotel managers.
Whatever approach you take, here are some strategic tactics to help ensure your team building efforts have the greatest positive impact on your hotel:
#1. Be sociable and empathetic
Feel like an integral part of the group, learn to be empathetic and relate to others (both with Top Management and with operational staff).
It is essential to building a winning team : in order to achieve a good level of collective intelligence, interaction helps create a serene atmosphere, helping everyone give their best.
Psychological safety also has a significant impact on team productivity and contributes to increasing the prosperity and value of the hotel's business performance in the medium to long term.
#2. Focus on philanthropy
Hotel chains such as Marriott International have been focusing on corporate philanthropic activities for several years : every year, employees dedicate a certain number of hours to community service.
Marriott's initiative is known as “ Spirit to Serve ” and is comparable to that of Hilton Worldwide Holdings , the “ Global Month of Service ”: the entire corporate group is committed to working together to achieve a high degree of social sensitivity , that is, a mix of humanity and empathy.
#3. Trust and goal alignment
To build a winning team within a hotel, it's essential to foster the right level of trust within the group : ensuring that other members are present, available, and committed. It's important to align personal goals with collective (corporate) goals to ensure value creation in the medium to long term.
