We all know that you will sometime run into an upset guest when one of several things can happen during their time at your hotel. They are unhappy about the size of their room, the cleanliness is below average or they have maintenance issues that can ruin their day. The golden rule has always been that your guest is always right (even if in reality they are wrong to a certain extent). It is even tougher when you are having to fix problems and issues that come up with a staff member. It is sometimes even more difficult when two employees are having an issue with each other and you will need to bring your HR department into the equation. There are certain strategies and techniques that you can use that are very effective in terms of getting your point across and doing it in a professional manner. We will look at 5 of them specifically in detail that can help keep your hotel running the way it should be:
Remain Professional
No matter how crazy or upset your colleague is, you have to keep yourself calm and composed. Avoid having to yell, scream and saying things that you are going to regret later. You are ultimately representating the company in a way that is authoritative but also professional in terms of coming to a positive resolution for both sides of fixing the situation.
Act On It
When an episode comes up, take care of immediately. I know that several hotel managers feel that if things are status quo, that things should always stay that way but they are not being realistic. If you see it, don’t let it keep going because your employee will keep getting more agitated and angry that there issue is not getting noticed properly. Rumors tend to get started this way and then it will eventually bring down the morale.
Maintain Confidentiality
It is critical that you keep these matters private. Other staff members don’t need to know what every employee is going through. Your staff member deserves that level of respect that you are taking the matter seriously and trying to fix it with that particular individual. The person will then feel embarrassed and will be looked at differently by everyone at the hotel.
Document Everything
In the age that we live in, you have to keep a paper trail. If a manager instructs someone in a way that is correct but has no paperwork to back up the conversation, it is one person word’s against another and that is when it gets very tricky. It’s also good practice to have a witness present so they can verify that the information is correct.
Don’t Empower Them
If you have an staff member that is not happy, don’t let them cause you and your team to stress out unnecessarily. Don’t give them the power to change the entire operation because then they feel that they are entitled to do whatever they want whenever they want. If you carry on with normal day to day operations like nothing happened, this will make the employee feel that they have to respect you and your position within the company.
These are just a couple of ideas that can help you keep you hotel running at a consistently high level. Your staff is the reason why you are in business in the first place and they have a right to be heard. It is your job as a manager to harness that energy and put it where it needs to go. You are thought of as a leader and your team looks up to you to make the right decision that is best for them and your hotel.
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