Automation is the Solution for Staff Shortage in Hotels
The recent years have seen a downfall in the number of staff available for hotels. While employee retention rates have always been low in the hospitality industry, the pandemic years pushed those numbers down even further. According to statistics provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there has been a 16% decline in accommodation worker employment rates as compared to June 2019.
Cloud PMS acted as a lifesaver for hotels that were experiencing staffing shortages. Many hotels resorted to using web based hotel PMS to cover up the lack of staff in their hotel property. By automating many of the functions of the hotel, the management reduced the pressure on their staff. Even today, many hotels are facing a shortage of staff and they need to use cloud PMS in various areas of their hotel operations to ensure guest satisfaction.
When hotels are operating with a small team, they can use the automation features offered by web based hotel PMS to do more tasks in less time. This allows them to make the best use of the resources given to them and also offer better pay and opportunities to their staff without suffering losses. Any hotel looking to retain staff and keep guests satisfied, should look into increasing automation in their hotel operations.
The Increasing Need for Automation in Hotel Industry
Even after the pandemic, when hotels tried to hire staff back, many of their staff members had taken up jobs in other industries. As a result, the hotels were left with a lack of staff members for many of their hotel operations. Lack of staff put more pressure on the current team members thereby reducing the standard of services offered by the hotel leading to a reduction in guest satisfaction.
For many hotels that were using on-premise PMS, updating to a web based PMS was essential as they were not able to meet the demands of modern travelers with their traditional PMS. A web based hotel PMS is the essential step towards modernizing the services offered by the hotel.
Using a hotel management software is the easy way to get things done around a property. From small tasks to big ones, using automation makes things easy and takes the stress of daily duties away from the staff. This allows the staff to perform their important duties in a better way. Here are some of the activities that you can delegate to a web based hotel PMS.
1) Check-in and Check-out guests through a web interface
2) Offer room access to guests through a web app
3) Help guests in the booking process via a chat bot
4) Easily manage channels via PMS to offer best room prices
5) Automate welcome and feedback emails through the PMS
6) Organize housekeeping duties for maximum efficiency
How Does Automation Increase Employee Productivity
The one massive change that hotel operators see after using a cloud PMS, is an increased level of staff productivity. The reason is simple, as the staff focuses on the important areas of the service industry that actually needs human interaction with guests, they are able to better handle guest requirements. With a range of daily duties being taken care of by the hotel management software, the staff can give their attention to the areas that are critical for providing profits to the hotel operations. Another benefit of using best hotel software is that the scope of human error in data collection reduces by a great degree. Here are some ways in which a hotel management software can help the team in your hotel.
- Automation of repetitive hotel operations
- Reduction of human error while booking rooms
- Automated reports about hotel’s performance
- Improve hotel reputation by accepting direct bookings
- Integrate payment gateways for hassle free payments
Automation for Collection of Data
Collection of data by hand can be time consuming and prone to errors. With automated data collection built into a PMS, hotels can get real time information about room demands and allow you to act accordingly. Real time data collection prevents missing out on revenue collection due to insufficient data.
Automated rate pricing is also possible with a well-designed PMS. The rate management feature of the PMS keeps an eye on the market trends and adjusts the rate accordingly for maximum profitability. This kind of automation prevents over or undercharging for rooms by sending new rates to your PMS and distribution channels after your approval.
Predicting room rates is also easy with an automated RMS. The RMS takes in account live markets, demands for rooms and other data points to adjust predictions based on market conditions. This kind of dynamic revenue forecasting system allows the operations team to plan their activities in advance and manage their resources for best output.
Conclusion
Automating a hotel’s operations is a great way to get over shortage of employees and also keep the whole system of operations running in a lean manner. Almost every area of service in the hotel can benefit from automation and using the right tool for the job will help managers in exceeding the expectations of the guests. Automation not only increases guest satisfaction but also reduces the stress on the staff so that they can focus on the areas of the hotel that actually need their attention. Staff can increase interaction with guests and also provide a better experience to guests as most repetitive tasks are taken care of by the automation software.
At mycloud Hospitality, you can choose an award-winning cloud PMS that will suit your need for automation whether you operate a large chain hotel or a small B&B. The software suite has several modules that can be customized to suit your particular needs. The learning curve is small and this software will keep your hotel on the cutting edge of modern technology. You can learn more by browsing through www.mycloudhospitality.com. You can also schedule a free online demonstration by calling +1-415-390-5039.