Hoteliers have made more of an effort to bolster their company culture and retention strategies over the past several years to combat a tight job market.
While the general sentiment around labor is improving in the hotel industry, prudent hotel operators are doing all they can to keep talent in-house instead of testing the waters.
Leadership programs that promote a path to internal growth are one of the key retention strategies hoteliers use to not just keep staff on board, but to continue to cultivate the skills of their most talented workers.
Kerry Ranson, president of operations and partner at Raines, said his company has a leadership program that employees need to qualify for in order to be placed in it. The South Carolina-based hotel management company has tweaked the entry requirements to allow for newer hires to join.
Previously, employees were required to be employed at Raines for at least six months before joining its leadership program. Now, it's down to 30 days. Workers still need to exhibit the same qualities and promise as before to qualify, but the tenure requirement change led to triple the amount of members in the program this year, Ranson said.
The leadership program touches on multiple departments, emotional intelligence and strategic and tactical thinking, he said. Human resource teams run the classes, with a mentor on the property level that checks in with each participant.
"It's us trying to promote what the industry does have and the fact that you can make a better living for yourself — here's the path to that," Ranson said.
O'Mally Foster, chief people officer at Vision Hospitality Group, said Vision has a "Lunch and Learn" program that focuses on "things that we know from a hospitality side make the difference." Vision records each session and uploads it to its internal Facebook page for employees to go back and watch it.
Over the past few years, Raines has improved its benefit package and brought its 401(k) program back after freezing it during the pandemic. Whether that's actually making a difference since every company is reviewing its employee benefits is another thing, but Ranson said Raines is "throwing everything at the kitchen sink."
Raines' biggest success from a retention standpoint has been its leadership program, though, he said.
"The piece for us is if we can start nurturing and bringing along not only line-level team members into maybe other roles in the hotel, but, more importantly, if I can start bringing them into management roles, or ... let's say a front-desk manager [wants] to get into sales positions or even a GM role, we're building that strength and a culture," Ranson said.
Foster said Vision Hospitality Group focuses on retention rates rather than turnover rates to prioritize keeping employees in the door instead of dwelling on those who choose to leave. Vision has an "intentional focus" on making employees feel like they belong, are believed in and connected to the organization, he added.
"It's how do you get people to really, truly belong to your organization versus just coming in for a job and for the money," Foster said. "[It's about] how do we also make sure we're investing that money in the people, in the systems that we bring to the table, the programs that we have, all of the stuff that we have as an organization to make them feel and be welcomed within our environment."
Gabriel Perez, chief operating officer of lodging at The Indigo Road Hospitality Group, said his company is always looking for ways to make its positions more meaningful for its employees. This entails being open to trying different methods not just to attract new talent, but to retain the talent already in the room.
"We're always, as a group, looking ... to spread the voice that this is a pretty special company to work with, and hospitality, regardless of how hard it is, how difficult it could be and how stressful it has always been, it's a very rewarding industry. It's an industry that brings you a lot of joy, and it shouldn't be a transitory step within your professional life; it could very well be part of your entire professional life because it has so many diversifications within all its disciplines," Perez said.
Part of Indigo Road's retention efforts start with making the job itself feel experiential.
"We see people falling in love with what they do and wanting to explore other aspects of hospitality, either with hotels or within restaurants, because we make it experiential to those employees of ours," he said. "It's part of how we do things when it comes to retaining employees, preserving those, giving us the benefit of labor to create experiences."
Vision has increased wages in some markets, but the company is also aware that in some cases, it won't be able to offer the highest wages in a particular city, Foster said. This is why focusing so heavily on company culture can play a huge role in attracting talent.
Foster gave an example of a room attendant who shared a positive sentiment with its team.
"[She] specifically said, 'It's not because they pay the most. It's because I feel welcome and I feel that I really am part of the family here,'" he said. "What we're seeing is consistent is that you really, truly have to have people understand what you're giving them to come to work outside of that dollar."