Staff management is key for smaller budgets

National Report–Much has been written about the recession—lending has halted, occupancy is down and rates are being cut. But what's going on at the actual hotels? Despite all the gloom and doom, hotels still need to operate and provide the optimum level of service on a smaller budget.

For a hotel to stay alive in today's environment, it is up to its GM to take stock of every daily task and streamline operations. One of the most crucial areas of attention is staff. If handled properly, a good, hardworking staff can give a hotel the chance to see an economic upswing.

Allan L. Reagan, managing director of AR Hotels and owner of the Wyndham Austin (Texas), started to prepare for the recession in July 2008. Instead of making a few cost-saving staff cuts early on, he invested more in his employees by cross training them.

"So, we're reducing head count through attrition, but training the others to do multiple jobs, trying hard not to reduce their hours," Reagan said. "We don't want to reduce the quality of the guest experience." Jobs that lend easily to cross training are laundry, shuttle van driving, maintenance in common areas, washing dishes and busing tables, he said.

It may be prudent for smaller hotels to go without a concierge, according to David Prentiss, GM of Homewood Suites Chicago-Downtown. The front desk staff could be trained to serve that role—but Prentiss said to be sure the smaller, multi-tasking staff isn't spread too thin.

"You can't shoot yourself in the foot," Prentiss said. "If you're a hotel that has 15 desk clerks on, and you can go to 12 or 13, you've reduced significant dollars. If you have two and lose one, you just reduced 50 percent of your staff."

"It requires our managers to manage," Reagan said. "If they just managed and deployed people in the same way, have one person stand here and there, this would absolutely fall apart."

Reagan said it is better to have a smaller, balanced staff that receives a 40-hour workweek than a slightly bigger, more niche-oriented staff that gets a 32-hour workweek. The labor costs are equal, but employees may be more motivated.

Analyzing staff in this way can produce a benefit to the hotel's operations, regardless of financial times.

When taking a good look at her hotel's expenses, Angela Greer, GM of the Radisson Hotel Bloomington (Minn.) by Mall of America, noticed a few staff positions that were "luxuries." The cuts she made weren't due to the recession but came as a result of better planning.

"We're using our labor smarter," she said. She moved several employees from hourly wages to salary wages, and those employees now work 50-55 hours a week.

Along with staff changes, GMs may consider removing any excess or inefficient tasks from staff workload.

For example, Greer reduced part of her 403-room hotel's workload by sending the hotel's linens to be laundered by another company. After the initial upfront cost, the money saved in energy, water, chemicals and labor equaled a net profit near $30,000, and it frees her staff to work in other areas.

"Don't be afraid of upfront costs and see what it saves you over a year," Greer said.

During this period of uncertainty, staff morale, too, becomes a concern. And to keep guest service at the proper level, that morale is important.

"You're hurting yourself if you don't have an appreciation of your staff, causing good staff to leave you," Prentiss said. "They also recognize that maybe by comparison we're not performing as well now but we're still making money, and they play a big role in that. Show them."