Regardless of where you are in the hierarchy of your hotel management tree, there is one thing that will doom you to failure and this NOT recognizing the effort of your team members, while it is understandable how this can happen due to the fast-paced nature of the industry, it also happens to be unforgivable.

Believe me, no matter the level of the staff under your charge, they all will need a pat on the back in one form or another from time to time.

Creating a Connection

To be honest, when I first entered the management level, there was definitely a bit of a disconnect for me. I was in a situation where I had been promoted from within and had a lot of friends that were now reporting directly to me. The only way I deemed possible to be successful as a manager was to disconnect from them completely and ensure they knew who was in charge. Needless to say, that did not work out very well and I was forced to change my approach rather quickly.

Even so, I found it difficult to heap praise on staff members I had a personal friendship with during my days on the crew. Rather than give them praise, I just skipped over it and waited until their review to tell them how well or how bad they were doing. Over time, this had a negative impact and it was not until I was transferred to a different location and actually praised my staff in the moment that I realized how important it was to extend that gesture during the course of normal operations. Luckily, I was still a very young manager, so it really did not impact my career negatively as it would have had I continued down that path.

Why Recognize Employees?

The simple fact of it is that people like to get recognized and feel good about their job. In many cases, this type of recognition is far more important than money to people. It is important because it directly impacts how happy they are on the job. Think back on your own career about how miserable or uncertain you were at a position or hotel when the only feedback your boss provided was negative feedback. How many positions have you left in the industry simply because you felt underappreciated? So, then, why are you so reluctant to dish out praise in your own department?

According to industry human resource professionals, some of the top reasons for praising your staff for a job well done are:

• Happier employees
• Increased production
• Improved job satisfaction
• Higher employee retention rates
• Improved team culture throughout department and hotel
• Improved guest survey scores, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty

How to Recognize a Job Well Done

When recognizing the performance of your staff, you need to look at this in both short-term and long-term recognition. For example, short-term recognition could be as simple as a verbal “good job” or a pat on the back. At one of my hotels, we had smiley checks that were issued on the spot and could be redeemed in the HR office for various prizes.

For long-term recognition, there are, of course, the obvious, like employee evaluations and raises, but you should also be giving monthly, quarterly, and yearly awards for job performance. There will no doubt be employees and managers that consider this to be corny, but they are also probably the same people that gossip on the loading dock and put in the least amount of effort. They mock this type of recognition simply because they know deep in their own heart, they will never put out enough effort to be considered for such recognition. Do not let their criticism or comments dissuade you from doing the right thing, and that is recognizing the effort of your employees and rewarding it accordingly.

Can your hotel or hospitality organization benefit from having managers that understand how to manage their employees and properly reward them for a job well-done? Is the local talent pool simply not offering you enough options? Rather than continue down the same frustrating path, let Joseph David International find you the ideal fit for your needs. For more information about our hotel recruiting services and to see how we can help, please click here.