Using Hotel Technology for Easy Staff Training & Onboarding
Can Operations Software Make Hospitality Hiring Easy?
Hospitality has been hit by a staffing shortage worse than almost any other industry during the pandemic. Hotels are forced to operate with a lean staff and, in some cases, hire applicants with little to no previous hospitality experience. While hotel general managers are wearing multiple hats to keep up, they do not have time to onboard new employees.
Hotel operations teams need task management tools that enable quick hotel staff training, standardized processes, and transparency of task statuses.
Immediate Onboarding on Mobile Devices
Task management technology can be one of the most cost-effective pieces of technology for hotels, but only if the platform is easy to adopt and widely used by the whole team. To avoid partial adoption, hotel technology needs to be simple and intuitive.
With ALICE, the interface is similar to operating a smartphone. The ALICE platform looks like the apps of today which provides familiarity and immediately eases anxiety in new hires who may not have been exposed to the technology before. The user experience is icon-based with intuitive graphics and color-coding which also helps break down language and other communication barriers.
Recently, an ALICE customer noted that “we don’t even have to train our users. We just give them a login and they get it.” Because of ALICE’s user-friendly interface, new hires are onboarded instantly. This “hands-off” approach is ideal for managers; managers save time in their day, still with the confidence that the team is appropriately trained. Each staff member can even change their own password without having to track down the IT department.
Quick Standardization of Tasks with New Hires
In addition to the friendly interface, hotel operations technology can help ensure that each team member follows the same protocols to perform their tasks. One way to encourage standardization of tasks is to utilize checklists.
For example, a hotel housekeeping team has specific tasks to be performed in a certain order based on the type of room cleaning needed. The task list is different depending on cleaning rooms between guest stays, during a stay, or providing turndown service. With ALICE hotel operations platform, checklist templates can be created for each type of room cleaning. When a room clean task is assigned, the appropriate checklist is automatically attached for the housekeeping team member to check off during the cleaning.
While hotel operations checklists encourage standardization, guest messaging software makes it easy for new employees to engage with guests right away. Everyone is familiar with texting. And when powered by hotel software, text messaging to guests can be performed at scale especially through the use of pre-written templates and automation.
With ALICE Guest Messaging, the front desk can automate a message based on the stage of the guest’s stay. After a guest checks in, automation can be utilized to text the guest 10 minutes later asking if they are happy with their room or if they need anything. If the guest texts back a request, the front desk can then immediately create a task for housekeeping or maintenance. The quicker a request can be fulfilled or a problem can be fixed, the higher the likelihood of a positive guest review.
Transparency of Task Status during Shift Changes
In addition to standardization and automation, the statuses of all tasks are transparent in ALICE. Managers and individual team members can start a shift by immediately reviewing notes from previous shifts and understanding which tasks are prioritized. New hires do not feel lost in the shuffle, but instead are on the same page as their colleagues. This transparency of task status also brings continuity to the guest experience especially as shifts change.
With ALICE Guest Messaging, a front desk attendant can see chat history with each guest to understand any previous interactions and gauge the guest satisfaction level prior to continuing the conversation.
With ALICE Housekeeping, rooms are prioritized in real-time within the ALICE user interface – whether on desktop or mobile – so each new shift doesn’t have to print out a new schedule or ask questions about room status. It’s all in ALICE
With ALICE Preventative Maintenance, all hotel asset history is tracked. If an AC unit breaks during the morning shift, any progress made towards fixing the unit is tracked in ALICE with notes and photos, so that the afternoon team can pick right up where the morning shift left off.
With a combination of easy onboarding and full team adoption, general managers can save time. New hires can begin work with confidence, getting up to speed quickly. Lean hotel teams can still provide seamless service – efficiently and with consistency.