12 Best Hotel Employee Appreciation Ideas to Boost Staff Satisfaction

Struggling with unhappy guests due to poor service and hospitality?

Try keeping your staff happy and satisfied and see the change. Even Forbes agrees!

One of their articles highlights how happy employees are 37% more productive and 3 times more creative.

With hotels being all about warm hospitality and top-notch services, hotel staff will help you serve your guests in the best way possible.

But how to achieve a happy, well-appreciated hotel staff when you have so many hearts to please?

We have the right tips for you in this blog!

We have curated a list of 12 hotel employee appreciation ideas that can help you improve employee satisfaction in your hotel.

What is Staff Apreciation?

Staff appreciation means when the company puts efforts into appreciating their employees for their direct and indirect contributions. Employee satisfaction plays a crucial role in improving the experience of an employee.

One of the most overlooked elements in the hospitality industry is satisfying your employees. The happier employees are, the better they can serve their guests.  

As Richard Branson rightly said, Employees come first; clients do not come first. All you have to do is appreciate your staff because if you take care of your employees, they will take care of your clients and vice versa.  

So, staff appreciation is when the company appreciates their employees towards employee accomplishments, efforts, and progress.

With the help of Staff Appreciation, it becomes easy for employers to share positive feedback, express their achievements, and show some sense of gratitude for employee efforts.  

Remember! Appreciated employees will go the extra mile to deliver exceptional results for your hospitality business. 

Hotel Staffing Challenges

Undoubtedly, employees can find thousands of job opportunities in the hospitality industry, but many hotels still need help filling their positions and as a result, face staffing issues. 

An American Hotel and Lodging Association report says 87% of surveyed hotels faced staffing shortages.

Here are some staffing challenges that the hospitality industry is facing- 

• Hotel managers need help attracting and retailing hotel staff for longer. Thus, reduced staff might affect the service level.  
• One research study found that even offering the best perks to hotel staff, hoteliers face staffing issues because many hotels fail to satisfy their employees.
• It becomes difficult for hoteliers to operate at their maximum efficiency. When the demand increases, hoteliers often need to search for hotel staff. When consumers demand lower prices, the hoteliers have to cover daily costs and other operational expenses.

Thus, hospitality companies are facing staffing shortages, and retaining staff for a long time is becoming quite challenging. As hoteliers are experiencing high turnovers, this leads to lower profits, decreased productivity, and ultimately increases high staffing expenses. 

Developing hotel staff appreciation ideas is a strategic way to combat such issues.  

Research studies suggest that the turnover rate (73.8%) is significantly higher in the hospitality industry. Moreover, The Bureau of Labor statistics indicate that 6% of staff leave monthly.

Not giving recognition and incentives to employees is another driving factor behind the resignation of employees.

That's why hoteliers should come up with incentive programs and appreciation ideas to retain employees for longer.

Are hotel staff incentive programs different from appreciation ideas?

No, hotel staff incentive programs and appreciation ideas are 2 distinct concepts but are closely interrelated. Appreciating your hotel staff is a type of recognition that involves no monetary gain.

The employee incentive plan should be simple, strategic, and motivational enough to increase job satisfaction. While it won't guarantee that an employee will stay with your organization for longer, it creates a positive culture for the organization.

It's about giving respect to employees, inspiring them, giving them shoutouts, or hosting award ceremonies to show them what they've been doing exceptionally well.

When reward programs blend with appreciation, hotel staff feel valued.

What are the different types of hotel staff incentives?

There are 2 types of incentives for hotel staff, which are given below-

1. Monetary incentives

Monetary rewards are those inventive programs that support employees financially.

These include -

• Bonuses (performance, retention)
• Commission
• Profit sharing
• Salary raises

2. Non-monetary incentives

Non-monetary incentives aren't limited to raising the pay of employees; it’s about conducting training and development programs, work-life balance, and wellness programs.

Non-monetary rewards include the following -

• Gift cards and vouchers
• Discounts and perks
• Employee assistance programs
• Meal vouchers
• Employee transportation services

What benefits does the hotel staff incentives program provide?

Providing employees with hotel staff incentives compounds their performance in the long run. Let's talk about a few advantages of rewards programs -

• Employees feel more productive when they're given monetary rewards.
• Their job satisfaction improves when they're paid more incentives and recognition for their hard work.
• There will be a lower attrition rate when employees get such incentive programs and are more likely to work in your hotel. Such appreciation and rewards motivate those employees to remain for longer. Also, it reduces the cost of training and recruitment for hiring new staff.
• Motivated staff will provide top-notch services to guests. This keeps them happy and brings more word-of-mouth referrals for your hospitality business.
• Better incentives for hotel staff result in better service for guests and higher job satisfaction. The happier guests you have, the more profits you will earn.

What are the top 12 hotel employee appreciation ideas? 

1. Invest in quality training

It is often seen that hotel managers fail to launch quality training programs for their hotel staff.

When hoteliers realize that the employee turnover rate is increasing significantly, hotel managers overlook the importance of providing quality training programs and treat it as an unnecessary expense.

When new hotel employees join, they do not have the necessary skills and expertise to perform their job effectively because hotel managers are not ready to invest in high-quality employee training programs, virtual training sessions, and other brand courses.

While hotels that know the importance of spending 2x money on upskilling their employees get good ROI in the long term. 

Thus, great training brings a positive impact on employees both physically and mentally. The happy hotel staff makes your customers feel happy, which increases the hotel's productivity.  

For example – Hotel managers can effectively train their hotel staff by showing practical videos such as addressing an unsatisfied guest or training their housekeeping staff to clean a hotel room. 

2. Keep the atmosphere fun and healthy

If you think throwing a million-dollar party for your hotel staff can make them happy, then it's not the case for everyone. To win the heart of hotel employees, you must provide a pleasing work environment where employees love working on their work. 

Creating a supportive work environment act as the heartbeat of a company. A positive hotel culture lets the hotel staff work happily and leads to higher productivity.

Most importantly, encourage a culture of openness and transparency, have clear goals about how you want your hotel to improve, and ask for their input. Your employees know more than you because they deal with day-to-day goings at your hotel, in operations, sales, guest service, or any other department. 

Try having team launches, coming up with happy hour, or celebrating team wins to motivate your hotel employees and let them realize that they want to become a part of your hotel for a longer span.  

3. Support your employees 

Another way to increase hotel employee retention is to support employees throughout their journey. You can regularly interact with hotel staff and give them hands-on advice.  

Motivate your hotel employees so that they feel they should come to you and discuss meeting goals with you.

For this, you need to create an open-door policy to help employees come to you to solve their concerns, questions, or suggestions.  

In addition, your hotel can even use an employee management box wherein employees can share their inputs with the manager using a virtual suggestion box.  

4. Focus on providing good leadership. 

A research study from conventional wisdom suggests that employees never leave a company; they leave managers. A recent survey from Gallup suggests that 75% reasons for employee turnover is highly influenced by the hotel manager.

Ask your hotel staff to participate in surveys and let them share their feedback about the hotel manager.If hotel staff shares negative feedback about the manager, keep an eye on that. It could be one of the reasons for increasing employee turnover.

Thus, hoteliers should put more emphasis on promoting good hotel management practices. They should be trained to deal with their employees, delegate tasks effectively, communicate their expectations, and appreciate their employees when they hit a certain milestone. 

5. Show flexibility and empathy

Offer flexibility options to your hotel staff, including an extended lunch break, work from home facility, or they can leave early if they are not well. When hoteliers treat their employees as part of their family, they go crazy and fall in love with their job.  

Successful managers understand the importance of providing flexible opportunities to employees because it is more than a necessity now. With the changes in workplace culture, employee expectations are growing steadily.  

They no longer need a workplace where the employer itself overlooks the importance of adopting flexible schedules. Thus, hotel managers should offer flexible work arrangements to hotel staff and promote work-life balance, which can directly contribute to job satisfaction. 

6. Send satisfaction surveys to employees

Knowing hotel employees inside out is more important for hoteliers. Try getting to know them by sending monthly satisfaction surveys to understand how they feel whether they like the work environment, and what they like the most about workplace culture.  

Once you get the results, you get the hang of everything regarding what's going well and what needs to be improved.

7. Connect hotel achievements to staff efforts

Thank your hotel staff for your hotel achievements and connect your hotel milestones with staff efforts.

Organizing such events, taking employees on trips, or planning a meal is a great way to promote positivity in the work environment by explaining to them directly which department worked best and who is responsible for this milestone.

For Instance – If your hotel doubles down on revenue goals, then convert this achievement into an appreciation event. Yes, employees may forget their contributions, but conducting such events and tying them back with employee efforts instills confidence and encourages them to 2x their efforts.  

8. Provide employee recognition 

Ensure to provide recognition to employees and make recognition a part of your culture. Hotel managers can offer recognition rewards to hotel staff, which can be done in various ways, such as providing bonuses/ perks or sending them "thank you" notes.  

In addition, you can offer public recognition to your employees and appreciate their efforts and work on social media, such as featuring them in your newsletter or on social media. 

A research study found that no employee recognition is the #1 factor for quitting employees.

A great example of a hotel company that provides employee recognition is Kimpton. 

In Kimpton moment (an award-recognizing event), the hotel company celebrates individual success stories. They declare Kimpton winners every month, and reward employees with $10,000 as prize money for exemplifying commendable performance. 

9. Give employees a chance to grow

Employees want to feel that they are not just cogs in machines but productive assets for the organization. Employees grow and add value to the organization when their skills grow.  

So, you can offer an opportunity to employees to upskill themselves, provide them with training, or dedicate a certain amount to training courses. 

Try implementing various training programs for your employees that cover topics ranging from customer service, cooking techniques, food safety, and leadership skills. 

Meanwhile, provide financial assistance to hotel staff and encourage them to attend offline events/ workshops to enhance their professional skills. 

10. Provide incentives to employees

If you want to improve the retention rate of employees, consider providing raises and bonuses for them. Provide them with lucrative incentives and rewards to increase the morale and motivation of employees. 

A good way to do this is to ask them and give them choices – What feels them motivated – recognition, incentive travel, monetary bonuses, etc. Giving incentives to hotel staff makes them feel immensely valuable, and eventually, they are inclined to do more work and give their best each time.

You can offer incentives to reward your employees in various ways, such as free team lunches, wine-tasting or brewery tours, movie tickets, Netflix subscriptions, or offering fitness classes to your employees, and much more. 

11. Create a health and wellness program

Employees act as the organization's backbone, so make sure to keep them physically and mentally fit. You can conduct health and wellness programs for your hotel staff, so they remain motivated at work and live their lives to the fullest. 

Conducting such in-house programs helps them deal with stress ors regarding work, family relationships, or legal issues, making them feel better in the workplace and improving the hotel's productivity.

For Instance – Hoteliers can conduct therapy sessions, cooking classes, and stress management sessions to take care of the well-being of their employees. 

12. Practice habitual appreciation 

Spare a few minutes with your hotel staff and appreciate the employees' contributions and achievements to make them stand out. Meanwhile, try to turn staff appreciation into a regular event, making this part of your employees' lives.  

How do you measure the impact of employee retention programs and appreciation ideas?

You can measure the impact of these employee recognition programs through qualitative and quantitative methods which are as given below -

• Check performance metrics such as Net promoter score (NPS), how guests are satisfied with services, employee retention rate, and see the overall guest satisfaction score.

Let’s say, a guest was highly satisfied with your services and recommended your hotel to their loved ones and close family members. Then it means the higher guest satisfaction score is, the higher demand for your hotel will be.

• Send feedback forms to employees to measure the impact of incentive programs on their job satisfaction and performance. Ask them direct questions – are they highly motivated or not? Hop on individual interviews with them and get their personalized insights. That helps you assess how successful your incentive programs are.
• Communicate with their supervisors to get a true picture of attendance and punctuality. Are there any changes in their attendance? You can even use attendance tracking systems to see their arrivals and departures.

Once you’ve collected the data from customers and employees, you can tweak your hotel rewards policy accordingly. That’s because data provides you with insights of top performers and you will improve your incentive program strategy.

How can BOTSHOT help you enhance your guest experience through feedback management software?

We assure you that by implementing these employee appreciation tips at your hotel, you will be on the right track, and at the same time, your employees will be motivated.

If you don't know which idea hooks them most, communicate with them, as communication is valuable when building relationships with hotel employees.

At BOTSHOT, we automate the guest feedback process through feedback management software (Heda).

This hotel management system sends automated post-stay feedback forms to guests, which is a type of questionnaire that has a rating on a scale of 0-5.

Let's say Heda sends an in-stay survey form to guests, and the findings are shocking. Guests gave you the lowest score on customer service. That's how this software calculates the guest satisfaction score, and it will raise the ticket to the right department.

By getting those real-time insights from guests, you will prepare your staff better, train them so they can provide a speedy and quality service for guests.

FAQs

Q1.) What is the most popular form of incentive pay?

Generally, monetary incentives are most common in the hospitality industry. One way to increase your employee loyalty is through performance-based bonuses, recognition programs, employee wellness initiatives, etc.

Though money is a powerful motivator for them to stick with your hotel, when you recognize their efforts at the right time that feels more valuable to them.

Q2.) Why is employee satisfaction important in hotels?

• The hospitality industry is a client-facing role, and if employees are not self-motivated, then there would be a compromise in guest satisfaction. A less motivated staff affects your customer experience and can ruin your hotel's reputation.
• Thus, it's important to provide quality training for your hotel staff so they can provide a better service for guests. After all, guest satisfaction and employee satisfaction go hand in hand.

Q3.) How can hotels invest in quality training for their staff?

There are different types of training programs that hoteliers can provide. These are as given below -

• Provide them with onboarding sessions so they can settle down to their job quickly.
• Guide them on how to interact with their guests.
• Provide them with product knowledge so they can know what amenities can meet their expectations and how they can increase the overall revenue.