9 Ways Technology Can Help Overcome Labour Shortage in the Hospitality Industry

Woof woof! Maya here!!

Remember me? I am that same puppy from the blog about pet-friendly hotels.

My hooman received a lot of appreciation for that blog. And guess what? We even stayed at a pet-friendly hotel recently.

You guys must be wondering why I am here. Well, I got a little something to share.

I asked my hooman to do it, but he’s a little reluctant.

So, the thing is……

Okay Maya, time’s up! You can go have your chew stick. I will take this from here.

As Maya said, we have been to a pet-friendly hotel recently. However, we encountered a few voids around the staffs’ skill set.

Let me put them out for you.

Housekeeping Fail

Before reaching, I called up the hotel to keep the rooms tidy. But, it wasn’t done and we had to wait for an hour in the lobby. They said their housekeeping staff is caught up with other rooms, so it’s taking a little time.

Billing Blunder

I remember visiting the in-house pet shop to buy a packet of chew sticks. When I asked the outlet manager to merge the bill with the final one, he struggled with the system and couldn’t do it.

No Concierge

The same day, Maya and I decided to go for a walk and play in the pet play zone. But we didn’t know where it was. I was looking for a concierge to help us out; but unfortunately, they didn’t have a concierge as well.

It wasn’t a great experience, and for a hospitality blogger, not addressing such challenges isn’t wise. Because this is not just about my experience, it is about the hotels worldwide facing the lack of integral, skilled staff.

Labour and Skills Shortage in the Hospitality Industry

Do you know what exactly the skill and labour shortage is? If no, never mind. I will cover everything here.

The terms ‘skill and labour shortage’ are interchangeable and mean that there are not enough people available with the skills required to do the job.

And let me tell you, skill and labour shortage in the hospitality industry is real. At present, hospitality establishments are facing a severe crunch in the form of an industry-wide shortage of qualified employees.

The impact

When we talk about the impact of this phenomenon, it is not a very pleasant one.

In the intro, I have mentioned my experience. Despite all the facilities and care towards my dog, they lacked the required skilled staff to handle the inflow of guests and requests.

Now, with hindsight, even big hotels around the world find recruitment harder each year and have concerns about hiring in the future. As a result, many positions go unfulfilled, increases the workload on the existing staff, and hampers guests’ experience.

If we look at the broader picture, labour issues in the hospitality industry are not because of the lack of opportunities or job openings.

According to a report, employment in the leisure and hospitality industry rose by 331,000 in April as pandemic-induced restrictions were eased. But despite that, many accommodation providers are having trouble hiring people.

Why exactly is this happening? Is it only because of the ongoing COVID-19? If so, why are hotels not able to lure back their workers? Why is there a shortage of staff in the hospitality industry?

Causes for Labour Shortage in Hospitality Industry

There are several reasons for the pain points that lead to labour shortage in the hospitality industry. 

If we talk about the COVID situation, hospitality workers witnessed massive layoffs, low pay, and a stressful workplace. One way or the other, hospitality workers were adversely affected.

Worst still, the majority of the workers have put off the idea of returning to the industry.

Now, this is just one aspect of the whole shebang. Let us look at some other reasons as well.

• Wage is a major factor in skill shortage in hospitality. Comparatively, wages in this domain are low. This is why hospitality staff tend to leave jobs at higher rates than any other sector.
• Hospitality staff tends to drop morale quickly because the industry often calls for high-pressure work environments. Moreover, when someone underperforms, the entire organization gets a judgment from guests.
• The lack of an effective hiring system is another reason why people are reluctant to enter this industry. Often, hotels make jargonised job descriptions and job expectations aren’t clearly communicated. Meaning, candidates don’t really get to know what they are opting for.
• There’s a lack of a growth plan for all employees as well, even if they are only hired seasonally or at a young age.
• People who want to get into hospitality don’t get proper training. Even though there are a lot of training institutes, a majority of them lack the quality.

These are just a few factors. Many other ‘not-so-talked-about’ aspects also drive staff shortage.

However, skill and labour shortage in the hotel industry is not something that can’t be fixed. Hotels need to sincerely look at the voids and tweak their operating model accordingly.

Technology is the Hotel Industry’s Saving Grace

Even though there are various solutions to labour shortages in the hotel industry, technology seems to be the most effective one.

In this section, I am listing all the possible ways technology can help.

1. Automation in hotel operations

The hotel industry has evolved and is moving towards automation. The prime reasons for turning to automation are increasing productivity, lowering costs, and providing a better experience for both staff and guests.

Over and above, it also fills the labour shortage gap in hotels.

You can take my example.

If the hotel I visited had an automated system, I could simply raise my concern regarding room cleaning, and it would get allotted to the concerned housekeeping staff.

Furthermore, automation helps with marketing, reservation, and updating room inventory.

Again, for example, if a hotel deploys a channel manager, it doesn’t have to worry about having a staff always available to update the inventory. The channel manager would take care of it; that too in real-time.

A website booking engine is also a part of this. It not only automates your booking process but makes it supremely seamless.

The bottom line is; hotels must incorporate a property management system (PMS) that offers a variety of integration to automate every single operation.

Here is a resource to help you with more information.

2. Contactless hospitality

Contactless hospitality is one of the strategies to deal with labour shortages. Not just that, it also ensures that your guests and existing staff are safe.

How does this work?

Contactless hospitality solutions empower hotels to let their guests select their room, check-in, avail all the services, make payment, and even check-out, with little to no human involvement.

Self-service kiosks are also a part of many contactless service providers. Multiple kiosks can be placed in the hotel for guests to check themselves in and avail other services.

You don’t have to worry about having a low number of staff. Also, your existing staff can now focus more on other aspects of a hotel.

Moreover, contactless hospitality solutions are nothing less than a blessing for hotels amid this pandemic. They can be a major catalyst in a hotel’s recovery process.

3. Guest Centric In-Room Services

Personally, I don’t like using the intercom. You have to call the concerned department, let them know about your requests, sometimes they get it right and sometimes they don’t. Basically, they are prone to discrepancies.

But how about keeping a smart tablet in the room?

For example, you want to order a meal and choose what you would like to have. So, instead of using the intercom and placing your order, you can simply use the tablet. You can select the restaurant module, check the menu, make the payment or add it to the final bill and order. Everything is automated.

Now, do you feel that there’s a need to have staff just for this task? I am sure you’re getting the point.   

4. Mobile hotel app

A mobile app is a critical element of a hotel. With an app, people get instant access to your hotel information and can book within a couple of thumb touches if they choose to.

Also, it can be used the same way as the tablet (as mentioned above). It will act as a complete solution for every single guest need.

Now, in terms of a hotelier, it is guaranteed to make life easier. It gives a hotelier the power to manage hotel operations from anywhere, anytime and with the same level of preciseness as a computer.

5. Virtual concierge

Remember I said I was looking for a concierge when Maya and I wanted to visit the play area?

Well, if the hotel had a virtual concierge, I could get all the information in just a few clicks.

And if you look at the broader picture, a virtual concierge is way more effective than a conventional one. It can handle multiple queries at a time and deliver solutions in seconds.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, going forward, I can see the role of a human concierge fading. It’s bitter but true.

Not to mention, chatbots are also a part of the virtual assistance aspect. A chatbot could also be programmed to work as a concierge. 

We have a blog on how a chatbot could become a digital concierge. Do give it a read. 

6. Security robots

Security robots come in different forms and capabilities. But for your hotel, you just need a bot that can scan luggage and can be used for surveillance.

These robots are becoming a more common sight in hotels these days because they are capable of collecting more data than conventional guards. However, that doesn’t mean guard jobs are at stake. They can work in collaboration to ensure better safety.

7. Other Robots

It is not just the security aspect but robots can help in many other ways. Let me talk about the three most common areas where robots can help you cope with skill shortages.

• Robots can also be used as hotel porters. There are robots available in the market that not only greet guests but also help them by carrying their luggage.
• Vending machines in hotels are also a great inclusion. It ensures that there’s some sort of cash inflow from the POS and eliminates the need for a guest to seek help when looking to buy snacks.
• Robots are now cooking our food and being used widely in hotels and restaurants. In one of our blogs for restaurants, we have talked about kitchen robots. Read it to know more about them.

8. AI-powered staffing

The hiring processes in many hospitality establishments aren’t effective.

What most hotels do is just seek to fill their recruiting funnel. Further, they often advertise jobs that don’t exist, hoping to find people who might be useful later on or in a different context.

This is a completely wrong approach to hiring.

But it’s not just the hiring model, hotels need a system that can make the process more precise and less time-consuming.

This is where AI-powered staffing comes into the picture.

AI staffing systems scamper through a big pool of applicants. Not just that, it can also collect more data, evaluate them, assess their skills, and find the right candidate for a role.

Further, AI eliminates human bias. Conscious or unconscious, there’s always some sort of bias involved when humans make decisions. But this is not the case with AI — It matches the candidates based on data and not on emotion.

9. Cross-resource utilization

So far we have learned about several ways to manage skills shortage in the hospitality industry. Now, let’s look at one of the underrated yet one of the most effective methods.

Cross-resource utilization is about equipping the staff with a secondary skillset so that they can jump into another role in a pinch. However, not many hotels practice this strategy.

Things have changed lately, there are tech-oriented training systems available for hotels to train their staff.

With such a system in place, your staff can learn more about other departments and tasks without hampering their current role. Additionally, these systems are cloud-based; meaning, they can be accessed from anywhere, anytime.

If your hotel has not turned to these sorts of solutions yet, it is high time to do so.