Next Gen in Lodging: Hoteliers Fight for Hospitality Careers 'In the Trenches'

Even as the hotel industry has globally made much progress in recovering occupancy, rate and revenue performance margins that were decimated by the pandemic, there is no doubt that the industry continues to operate at a talent deficit.

The worst demand crises to ever hit the industry forced hotel companies to reduce staff, particularly on the front lines at the property level, as some hotels closed and others operated at historically low occupancy levels.

Many of those workers found jobs in other industries and likely are not coming back. In many cases, those who stayed on during the pandemic worked through nightmare scenarios — understaffed, overworked and under extreme pressure from corporate offices and guests.

Perhaps the biggest challenge still facing the hotel industry coming out of the pandemic is how to retain, re-attract and recruit its workforce — the front-line workers, leaders and future leaders.

In this episode of the Next Gen in Lodging Podcast host Davonne Reaves talks with Kyle Allison, general manager of the Reading Country Club and host of his own Hospitality MD Podcast, and Loren Brown, founder of consultancy Reimagine Hospitality, about operating hotels "in the trenches" during the COVID-19 pandemic, what motivates them to continue their careers in hospitality, and how the industry can recruit and retain a workforce.

Reaves, president and founder of consulting and investment firm the Vonne Group and CEO of commercial real estate crowdfunding platform Vesterr, got her start in hospitality at the front desk of a hotel.

"I've navigated my way to hotel ownership but I've noticed a lot of people who I came up with in the industry ... there's not too many who are working in the industry, in operations," she said. "As an industry, we really don't talk enough about how we're going to keep our industry going, meaning from the talent perspective. We're talking about today, but we're really not talking about tomorrow."

Brown, who is "third-generation hospitality," said she was forced to take a job in the oil-and-gas industry during the pandemic, though her husband continued as a hotel general manager.

"I think what made me come back is, it's really the only thing I know," she said. "Besides that, I've loved it. I kept good relationships with people. I was an executive sales administrator for Crowne Plaza and I wasn't afraid to come back down to work front desk. One of the things that I love about our industry is that ... it's one of a very few industries where you can work your way up, your hard work can pay off and you can just go up without any kind of college education or background. ... An honest day's work and an honest day's pay is what it is."

Allison first was attracted to the hotel industry while traveling with his mother, a flight attendant, who when he was 17 applied for a hotel job for him. Now 25, Allison says he'll stay in the industry partly because he's "so grateful for everything the industry has given [him]."

"I felt like, when the industry was in its greatest crisis of recorded history, should I just leave and abandon after it's blessed me with so much, given me so many things?" he said. "I've had so much fun doing this. The industry has given me this abundant life, and I'm just going to leave when the going gets tough?"

Reaves, Brown and Allison shared their stories of working in the hospitality industry and navigating COVID and post-COVID, as well as providing action items and takeaways that could potentially bring and retain talent for the industry.