LOS ANGELES — Work culture and respect for employees haven't historically been viewed as the pillars of profitability for the hotel industry, but hotel CEOs now see those aspects as vital for protecting the bottom line as the costs of recruiting and retaining labor grow.

Speaking during the recent Americas Lodging Investment Summit's "Boardroom Outlook: Returning to Profitability" panel, Warren Fields, president and CEO of Pyramid Hotel Group, said all hotel operators first and foremost should be treating "all of our associates at every level with dignity and respect."

"We have to be truthful to them and allow them to actualize what they want to do with their careers in the hospitality industry," he said.

Rob Palleschi, CEO of G6 Hospitality, added: "We still all need to be focused on culture, and we can't lose sight of the culture we've established."

Ray Bhai, CEO of IBF Hospitality, said his company is focused on retention, both of employees and guests.

"It costs a lot to get that customer into your hotel, so you need that customer to stay at your hotel and enjoy the service," he said. "You need repeat customers."

He said in an environment where it is difficult, and expensive, to find new labor, employee retention has never been more important.

"I have used a staffing agency more in the last four months than ever before," he said. "So we need to retain employees to cut down our costs. For some of our back-of-house roles like housekeeping, we're at $20 to $22 an hour with base pay and what we pay staffing agencies."

One of the biggest challenges for hotels is more industries are competing for the same labor pool, which can lead to driving up wages in a bidding war, Fields said. But wages aren't the only factor employees are considering, and the amount of joy or frustration in the actual work must be considered, he said.

"We're not just competing against other hotels," he said. "We're competing against the government and Amazon. We're competing with Walmart. ... Ultimately, wages is a driver, but I think some of it comes down to what people are actually doing in their day jobs."

Fields said that means hoteliers need to concentrate more on putting the right people in the right roles, which will drive greater employee satisfaction. For example, someone better-suited at the front desk shouldn't be working in housekeeping and vice versa.

"We need to take the bias out of hiring and put people in the right jobs," he said.

Palleschi said ultimately brands will have to work with owners to get more out of having fewer people on-property.

"It's incumbent on our operators to manage and to be as flexible as possible and creative as possible," he said.

Stabilizing the work environment and employment levels across the industry will help elevate the work environment to the point where people aren't as afraid to work in the hotel industry, Palleschi said.

Hotel workers "are thrilled to be back," he said. "They're thrilled to be working. They're just worried their hours are going to be cut again and that they can't depend on us."

To counteract that, he said, it's important that hoteliers "speak as one voice as an industry" to sell the idea of working in hotels.

"We need to stay aligned on the message that we are a great place to work, we are paying more than a fair wage, and we provide long-term careers," he said.

Hotel industry leaders on the panel agreed it's vitally important for companies to be working from the best possible information and utilizing technology to inform decision-making during this difficult period.

Palleschi said his company is focused on "continuing to develop great revenue-management tools."

Fields said his company increasingly uses data analytics "to solve a lot of problems," which helps elevate the discourse.

"We need to be smarter as an industry in terms of not racing to the bottom in trying to drive rate and fees," he said.

Fields said he's taking a closer look at getting the right work-life balance in place, especially for senior people within his company, as many were forced to work up to 80 hours a week in the depths of the crisis. A big part of that effort is leaning on technology and analytics to make decision-making more streamlined.

"They're now able to absorb a lot more information to make better decisions on a more timely basis and still be able to spend time with their families at home," he said.

Bhai said hoteliers must invest in the right technologies to get long-term return on the investment.

Hoteliers who have successfully cut costs during the COVID-19 pandemic now have to make sure they don't add back unnecessary costs as demand returns, panelists said.

Bhai said hoteliers need to be especially careful how they work with third parties, such as online travel agencies, to avoid being overly reliant on high-commission demand streams.

"We've learned we need to be more disciplined," he said.

Palleschi said a big part of that comes down to brands being more flexible with owners on standards and things like capital-expenditure spending.

"We have to [be flexible]. We have to figure out a way," he said. "That's why I say there can't be any daylight between the brand and our franchise partners. Everybody has to be on the same page with no unilateral decisions made in the back room."