Staff Shortage Insights from a HITEC Orlando Guest Blogger

Prepared by: Jennifer Jones

It is no solution that the bubble has burst and travelers are again out on the road. With hectic summer months nonetheless in advance, our motels are experiencing demand from customers that is surely welcome after the pandemic decimated occupancies. However, the lingering black cloud of the labor shortage implies motels are likely to struggle to fulfill visitor expectations from a provider point of view with less front desk agents, housekeepers, cafe workers, and many others. Support will be slower and limited at occasions, and it will be challenging to make wonderful impressions. We are all perfectly-mindful of how the airlines are battling with employees shortages, leading to a ripple impact of delays and cancellations — discouraging quite a few of us who were being seeking to get to HITEC!

At HITEC Orlando, several of you present shopped the aisles of technologies to uncover new applications to put into practice at our accommodations to bridge the labor gap. No a person at any time wants to say that we want technologies to substitute individuals. But at this time, we will need technology, considering the fact that we don’t have the individuals. Of class, technological know-how can help relieve labor issues and make organizations far more productive — but that takes absent from the full intent of hospitality and services. It’s a dialogue quite a few of us go again and forth on.

In my earlier blog site put up, I talked over how technologies like on line contactless test-in created a substantial entrance into the current market due to the fact of Covid-19. Those systems will keep on to stay as extended as we really don’t have the personnel to run the resort adequately.

Self-provider kiosks also grew to become extremely common throughout the pandemic to lessen the sum of encounter-to-experience interaction. All over again, these genius minimal gems are nevertheless popping up in lobbies everywhere, as we just can’t look to provide plenty of techniques for visitors to get checked-in seamlessly devoid of a wait.  On Sunday of the week major into HITEC, I witnessed a phenomenal check out-in line at 7:00 p.m. at a well known hotel model that wrapped all over the lobby. It was painful to enjoy, as no considerably less than 150 individuals stood in line at a entrance desk that was evidently understaffed with 3 stressed-out agents. As area fees continue on to increase, expectations of vacationers will as effectively, producing a dynamic that could be disastrous for traveler evaluations.

But this labor lack is not just affecting our personnel in resorts it is also affecting the employees at numerous of our technologies vendors. Sometimes, it requires months or even months the moment a deal is signed to get know-how implementations scheduled. 1 of the key good reasons lodges are attempting to put into practice new technological know-how is to aid make operations more efficient and offer with their individual lack of employees. A excellent instance is not remaining equipped to get integrations applied for months — integrations that are meant to help relieve personnel from manually re-getting into info into one more technique (workers that does not exist, or staff members that can’t consider on any more responsibilities). So, it’s a double-edged sword for most, and now the qualities are discouraged from the deficiency of service from sellers, just like their tourists are frustrated with them! As I said before, desire is high all over the place.  A whole lot of hoteliers are trying to get these technologies initiatives heading as soon as doable to stop the bleeding ideal now. I know our suppliers are mindful, but it is absolutely a log jam that I’m afraid both will by no means clear up or the goal of these technologies tasks will lose their speedy return on expenditure. What a disaster!

Jennifer Jones is president of J2 Hospitality Remedies and an formal celebration visitor blogger for HITEC Orlando 2022, which took place June 27-30 at the Orange County Conference Middle in Orlando, Florida United states. Read through all her celebration activities on HFTP Hook up.