Investing in Your People, as if Your Business Depended on it

Little did I know that we would still be here two years later, in the trenches of the pandemic. With this 'new normal' here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future, it's a great time to shift your HR strategies from recovery mode to a state of adapting and thriving, specifically in your efforts to attract and retain top talent.

In a recent survey the Hospitality Asset Managers Association (HAMA) conducted among its members, hoteliers noted the availability of labor and labor wage rates in their top two of five concerns for 2022. Intensifying the labor shortage and wage inflation concern is this trend of the 'The Great Resignation,' where according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there is a record-breaking number of employees who have voluntarily quit their jobs en masse. It may come as no surprise for most of us, as we grapple with the effects of employee turnover and being unable to fill vacant positions fast enough.

So, what do you do to attract top talent and retain it? As a Human Resources Professional that prides herself in bringing solutions to the table, this got to me like the unsolvable gazillion-piece puzzle I worked on over the holidays. In addition to knowing why employees are resigning, even more importantly, I wanted to know what to do to stop it.

Determined to understand this issue thoroughly, I read several studies and dozens of articles and opinions. Unfortunately, there is no simple answer, and we are all in the same boat. Therefore, I concluded that today's employee expects more from their employer on several fronts. Aside from the obvious of competitive compensation, employees want an employer that will help them thrive as a whole, not just at work.

This is no easy feat in the fast-paced and labor-intensive hotel biz. Let's face it; if you want to hire and retain top talent, you have to commit to investing in your people as if your business depended on it. I am not referring to just a monetary investment but rather doing what it takes to satisfy the needs and wants of today's workforce. The benefits to your return on investment (ROI) will come gradually, as competition is high, but in the end, you'll thank yourself for it.

With that said, here is what we are doing to attract top talent and retain it...

1. Painless Onboarding

Have you ever noticed how much paper is lying around in the back offices of a hotel? Nobody likes paper, and neither do your new hires. If you have not done so, consider streamlining your onboarding process by using HR technology to automate the transactional aspect of the onboarding experience.  In addition, your new hire will have the flexibility to complete the onboarding paperwork 'on-demand' while freeing your hiring managers to focus on setting up the new hire for success on their first few days at work.

A Gartner study found that a successful onboarding experience can improve employee performance by up to 15%, leading to committed employees who work harder and are less likely to leave. Furthermore, there is a tug-a-war on talent right now and, expeditiously getting a new hire in the door means you win, and they don't go to the competition. My favorite part about transitioning our onboarding online was the peace of mind that our new hires are getting everything they need for a great start.

2. Train and Retain

One of the most significant disruptions to your hotel operations caused by high employee turnover is the loss of knowledge. When you have a wave of employees leave, it can take months to recover. With the high turnover and tight labor market projected to continue beyond 2022, why not capitalize on the talent you already have by training and developing within your organization? Investing in the professional growth of your employees will help you run a smoother operation and keep employees happy and motivated. In addition, consider incorporating upskilling and reskilling as part of your training and development programs to show employees that you are interested in retaining them long-term. Upskilling involves teaching an employee a new skill, whereas reskilling teaches an employee a new skill needed to do a different job.

According to the June 2021 survey conducted by Amazon and Gallup, upskilling is becoming the top benefit desired among employees. The survey says that 57% of workers want to update their skills, while 48% would switch to a new job if offered skills training opportunities. The same survey further revealed that workers just entering the workforce consider upskilling a more important benefit than other sought-after benefits such as paid sick and vacation leave. Moreover, more than half of workers 55 years of age and up say upskilling is "very" or "extremely" important.

To determine what skills to incorporate into your training programs, you first need to evaluate the specific competencies required for each position and those your employee will need for the next job on their career path. Knowing the necessary competencies for each job can also help you assess your team's skills, where the gaps lie and build individual development plans. Another benefit of investing in HR technology is making your training accessible online and on-demand. Employees are likely to retain more content if you break up the training into smaller segments and use a combination of synchronous and asynchronous online training. Regardless of what combination you go for, the goal should be to achieve employee engagement, ultimately keeping employees from searching for a job elsewhere.

Once you get used to looking for talent within your organization, you're going to be pleasantly surprised. I would say that this strategy alone, to promote from within, has allowed us to save the company time, grief and money.

3. Total Well-Being

Having competitive benefits and compensation has always been an essential part of a company's recruitment strategy, but what stands out as most important for attracting and retaining top talent in today's market? According to the SHRM article titled "What Employees Want, " the three main concerns across employees of all demographics are physical health, mental health, and work-life balance. Taking a holistic approach to your employee's well-being means offering benefits programs that emotionally, physically, and financially support the employee. Many studies that I came across indicate that mental health is a top concern while benefits like paid time off, paid family leaves, and flexibility at work follow.

The pandemic has created extra stress and mental health concerns among many employees. Without offering employees a lifeline for mental health, productivity will suffer, workplace conduct issues may increase, and ultimately cause employees to quit or get discharged from their employment.

There are also other fun and inexpensive ways to support an employee's well-being. For example, you can organize social gatherings, add motivational signs in employee areas, or coordinate nature walks. These little things add up and are a great way to keep that human connection with your team and get to know your team on a personal level. Another inexpensive way to up your wellness game is to utilize HR Technology to help create more flexibility, which employees want. For example, we recently added the scheduling module to our human capital management (HCM) system. Soon, our employees will be able to swap schedules or update their availability in real-time without asking their manager for it.

Once you have a tailored wellness program, it's crucial to communicate all the plan offerings to the team. In a recent survey, Unum found that 93% of the employers offered an employee assistance program (EAP), while 46% of workers said they weren't aware they had services available. To improve employee awareness, I reached out to all my benefits carriers to help enhance communication of all the benefits during the open enrollment period. In addition, our medical carrier gave us a tech stipend that we used to create customized videos highlighting everything our company is doing to invest in the health of our employees.

4. Quantify, Adjust and Repeat

Quantifying your progress with HR metrics is more critical than ever if you want to attract and retain top talent. SHRM defines HR Metrics as the measures of the effectiveness, value, and cost of a particular program or process. By knowing how you measure up, you'll have data-driven insights to make informed decisions on acquiring top talent, improving workforce processes, and cultivating a positive employee experience. Here are my ultimate go-to HR metrics that have helped me make significant changes to our HR processes.

Time to hire – this metric is a recruitment tool that tells you the total time it takes for a new hire to start. This metric takes the number of days from when the job is posted to when the new hire begins work. A long time to hire indicates a slow process that likely has bottlenecks. Tracking this metric helped us pinpoint an issue with the amount of time a background check was taking to come back and subsequently change the order of how we onboard. The time of hire metric is also the first experience your employee will have with the company and can quickly make or break the relationship before it starts. Another metric that goes side-by-side with time to hire is measuring the time to fill. This metric takes the number of days from when the job is posted to when the candidate accepts the offer. Both are telling indicators that will help you streamline your recruiting efforts.

Employee turnover rate – This HR metric refers to the rate at which employees leave the company in a specific date range, usually helpful to measure monthly, quarterly, and annually. The turnover rate takes the number of separations divided by the average number of employees during a period, multiplied by 100. We have taken a deeper dive, breaking down the turnover data by regrettable and non-regrettable, length of service, department, and similar criteria to determine what's causing an employee to leave. For example, let's say you have an unusually high turnover rate with restaurant servers in their first two months of service. Consider benchmarking this group against higher tenured servers, then with employees in other positions with the same time of service, looking for variations in the employee's onboarding that may be causing the attrition.

Engagement rating – So, how on earth do we keep today's employees happy and engaged, so they don't quit on you? Employee turnover is part of the equation, but take it full circle by surveying employee sentiments. The most common way to capture employee sentiments is through surveys while they are employed and as part of the exit interview. Although you may be hesitant to open pandora's box, it is the best way to capture your employee's perspective on their employee experience and how much they like you. Knowledge is power, and it's better to know sooner rather than later if you have employees who think their boss is horrible. Some other metrics that indicate low employee engagement are poor attendance, high turnover, low productivity, and, yes, even your guest service scores.

There are many different HR metrics, each one serving its own purpose to help you attain your goals. Having a data-driven approach is a sure way to improve your processes. Remember that compiling HR data is one of those garbage-in, garbage-out exercises. To get the best out of the data, you'll have to start with quality data, be consistent in your measurements, make adjustments along the way, and then repeat the process until you're happy with the results.

Investing in your team through the use of HR technology and offering competitive compensation and benefits will cultivate your employee-employer relationship. Equally necessary is analyzing HR metrics to help you get there, even amid a great resignation. Please don't lose your talent to the competition. Instead, take measures to solve the puzzle and watch your company thrive.

By Ruby Gurrola VP of Human Resources, Avalon Hospitality Group