Operators need to learn to better communicate with their staff in order to keep them engaged and boost profitability, HOSTECH UK heard.
With major staffing challenges approaching over Brexit, and 65% of hospitality staff unhappy in their jobs, operators are under pressure to retain good employees, the conference heard.
According to Paul Watson of hospitality software provider Fourth, employers must speak to their staff in their own language, which is increasingly new technology.
Citing research which found 35% of hospitality staff were actively disengaged from the jobs, he outlined the challenge for employers.
He said: “At this point they’ve started to fall out of love with the organisation, they’ve started to lose vision of what brand was, what attracted to them to brand in the first place
“Remuneration is quite low on people’s reasons for becoming disengaged. The key issue is around communication. You need to keep reigniting the passion and communicate.
“Employers have a major challenge communicating with staff.”
With many hospitality workers part of the so-called Generation Y- tech savvy, he explained: “We have to use technology - the tool that’s in the hand of all your employees.”
Highlighting the potential benefits in effective communication, he added: “An employee who is engaged will put in 10% more discretionary effort than a disengaged employee. Employers with engaged workforce can grow profits three times faster than company with a disengaged workforce.”
Fourth make apps for employers to communicate with their workforce.
