Consider Your Staff After You Buy a Hotel

After you buy a hotel, one of the biggest considerations you’ll have is staffing. A good staff can make or break a hotel. After all, hotels are a service industry. They thrive on customer service and satisfaction. To maximize customer satisfaction, you need a helpful, friendly, and diligent staff. It’s important for your staff to make guests happy, but it’s just as important for you to keep your staff happy. You should do your best to retain good staff, and part of this is having a good company culture.

How Do I Create or Maintain Company Culture?

Studies have shown that happiness and the ability to socialize at work raises both productivity and retention. In fact, happiness usually takes precedence over money when it comes to what people say makes them work harder. To foster this happiness and socialization, it’s important to create a healthy company culture. Company culture is the environment and atmosphere that you create for your staff. Encouragement and engagement are keys to a good company culture. When you buy a hotel, you’ll choose between a franchised hotel or an independent property. Depending on your choice, the approach you take for company culture will naturally differ.

For Independent Hotels

If you buy a hotel that’s an independent property, you’ll be creating your company culture from the ground up. You’re free to enact whatever policies you see fit and create your own atmosphere for staff. Think about how you’d want to be treated as a staff member of your hotel. This can greatly help you through the process of creating a good company culture. Best practices include perks for your staff, fostering open communication, and even setting up company events for the staff. These are just a few ideas, but it’s important to maintain the professional and fun balance.

If you’re taking on the staff from a previous owner, try looking at what policies they already had in place. It can be an easier transition for both you and the staff if you stick to what has been working. This is also a great opportunity to get the staff’s take on some policies they find less than ideal. Being open to suggestion lets your staff know that you care about their opinions.

For Franchises

If you decide to buy a hotel that’s part of an existing franchise, there’s less guesswork involved but also less freedom. Corporate will likely have many guidelines and procedures in place for both hiring and company culture. Many franchised hotels have fantastic company culture plans, so following the guidelines can make it easy for you to hire and retain a great staff.

How Do I Retain Staff?

Retaining staff is important for both your overall staff satisfaction and the performance of your hotel. Constantly having to train new staff is stressful for you, your staff, and the daily procedures of your hotel. The best way to retain staff is to be fair, flexible, and have a positive company culture. Another huge aspect of retaining staff is a good hiring process. During the hiring process, you should be looking for candidates with a high emotional IQ and a great attitude. Skills can be taught, attitude cannot.

Buy a Hotel Through Southeast International

If you’re in the market to buy a hotel or motel, contact Southeast International Hotel Brokers. We can guide you through the process and find you the right property for your needs. Contact us today, or view our website for more information.