Placing the fulcrum between cost-reducing efficiencies and service during COVID-19
As the hospitality industry recovers slowly from the impact of COVID, a recent hotel guest satisfaction survey relating to product and service standards encountered during guest stays, done over a specific period, reveals that the overall level of satisfaction was less than ‘up to expectations’. On the other hand, hotel room rates in general were on the up – bringing about a perceived mis-match of ‘value for money’.
This is not surprising. An analysis of surveys and customer satisfaction ratings done in September last year by Mckinsey & Company , whilst showing that many travelers were satisfied with their experiences- some even rating it better than prior to COVID-19, cautioned of troubling undercurrents when examined in-depth. It warned that “despite the high satisfaction ratings, negative sentiment was likely to rise in the backdrop of strained operational capacity, widespread staffing challenges, increasing airline complaints, hard to come by rental cars and hotel amenities and services that remain substantially pared down”.
The report went on to elaborate that notwithstanding the overall ‘sense of satisfaction’, the true situation is that travelers are simply glad to be on the road after a year of being stuck at home. However, as travel volume increases and business travelers return, there is potential for a wave of customer dissatisfaction. The question posed at the conclusion of that study was, “Will travel players manage to re-boot customer experience before travelers honeymoon phase comes to an end? Or will thinning customer patience shock the system?”
As tourists arrivals improve, driving occupancy up, hoteliers keep exercising caution on bringing back staff levels that were reduced owing to the set-backs encountered at the height of the pandemic. The mood is to wait until the trajectory of recovery moves upward and a sustainable level of demand returns. Operating with leaner staff levels is not just observed in the hospitality industry but in many other business sectors as well.
In fairness to some hoteliers – particularly those who are prepared to hire the optimum staff levels; the unsurprising reluctance of people to join the industry including those who were laid-off, has proved to be a major obstacle to filling the vacancy gaps.
Meantime, operating with minimal staffing in the face of rising demand is proving to be a double-edged sword – putting a strain on operations and leaving guests unhappy. Some of the declines in benefits were owing to COVID- related safety and health protocols. One area of concern was where check-in / check out were found wanting and actually appeared to drop below pre-COVID satisfaction levels.
A cursory study as to what precipitated this dissatisfaction revealed a ‘perceived’ lack of welcoming warmth and courtesy. Perceived because a shortened interaction during the check-in / check out process (owing to health and safety guidelines), provided by fewer than required ‘masked’ staff (reduced staff), had compelled staff to shift from that openly welcoming interaction with guests to simply processing guests check- ins /-outs. All of this further aggravated, with steeply declining speed of check-in during peak times.
Another emerging ‘dissatisfier’ is the prolonged time, that staff - be it hotel operators or receptionists, take to answer incoming calls. During my stint as Front Office Manager at a 5-star hotel I used to periodically dial the hotel’s telephone number from my office within the hotel, to keep tab on how soon my unidentified incoming call was answered.
The current scenario brings with it the challenge of striking the correct balance between a cost-reducing approach and service efficiency. What is occurring now is that the majority of hotels are placing that all important fulcrum incorrectly – pushing guest satisfaction downwards at the expense of excessive cost savings.
The Mckinsey report recommends that hoteliers to regularly evaluate certain key drivers that can elevate or sink guest satisfaction levels. A rapid litmus test if one might call it and some examples would include verifying; (a). How staff is coping during busy periods of check-ins / outs? (b). Are guest expectations met during such times? (c). Are staff ‘rushed’ when faced with high guest interventions? (d). Which of the desired interactions are they skipping during such times? (e). Will the sum of one’s above findings reinforce the positive connection the hotel seeks with its guests or cause discord between them?
Hoteliers who master the art of balancing the fulcrum between cost-reducing efficiencies and service in the correct spot will stand to gain a distinctive advantage over the competition.
Shafeek Wahab – Editor, Hospitality Sri Lanka, Consultant, Trainer, Ex-Hotelier
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