Reprinted from LodgingMagazine.com
All Aboard: Expert Advice on Taking a Personalized Approach to Employee Onboarding, Training & Retention Joel Carver, who is founder and CEO of the hospitalityfacing human capital organization The Carver Companies, is also co-author, with Mary Weber, of the book The People Effect, Find, Grown, and Retain The Best of the Best, in which the authors claim, “Hotel operators must treat their teams like the great assets they are to the company—not like commodities.” It was that point he stressed while sharing his thoughts with LODGING about the importance of employee onboarding, training, and, most of all, retention to set up hotels and their team members for success. Commenting on the latest labor woes the hotel industry is facing, Carver says, “In the last 24 months, we first saw layoffs, then a reluctance of employees to return to work, and now what’s being called ‘the great resignation.’ While there’s always been high turnover in the industry, it wasn’t a significant problem when demand for jobs was high. That’s not the case now.” SCRLA.org
He says to achieve the goal of creating and growing a team that can meet the ever-changing demands of expectations of both guests and owners—especially in a tight labor market—hotel employers need to make a commitment to giving employees the information and support they need to adjust and succeed right from the start. “Instead of throwing new employees to the wolves, we need to make a greater effort to help them succeed,” he says. Onboarding This, says Carver, starts with a conscientious approach to onboarding new employees so they are less likely to become a turnover statistic. “The onboarding piece is hugely important now. Too often, new hotel employees come in and don’t clearly understand what they’re walking into.” Carver observes that with high demand for their services, prospective and new employees have Continued on page 24... 21
