Critical Recovery Strategies: Staff Appreciation and Engagement

CEO Blog

Sep 8

PATA CEO Liz Ortiguera shared a message with the PATA community on September 9, 2022, with perspectives on boosting the travel staff’s engagement and retention and updates on PATA’s recent work. The full message has been reposted below:

Dear PATA Members and Industry Colleagues,

Last evening I participated in a panel in Singapore with the theme "The Future of Luxury Travel". While we discussed luxury, sustainability, and innovation - as with all travel discussions/panels/conferences of late the topic moved to the issue of the industry staffing gap. It has been impacting North America and Europe most acutely as we all know, but now the challenge is emerging in Asia Pacific.

The issue of travel staff engagement and retention is one that has been brewing for years but became exacerbated with the pandemic-driven industry downturn. Many workers moved back home and found viable work options either in their home towns or virtually. The concerns with returning back into travel /hospitality range from - challenging work hours, angry customers, inadequate pay, long hours, concerns about job security, preference to work from home and others. Many graduates of hospitality schools are opting for retail and property development. A myriad of solutions are needed to address this complex gap.

But I'll share a few that should be considered here:

Foundational is fair wages - business models in travel need to incorporate more fair financial inclusion through the ranks. MNCs are feeling the ramifications of not doing so now. Taking care of staff is just as important as taking care of the customer. Your value proposition is in their hands.

Beyond fair wages, there are other critical elements that can be equally as important.

Celebrate and acknowledge great service delivery.
I worked for many years at American Express. It was and still is a culture that rewards and celebrates great service delivered by its customer-facing staff. As written in the iconic business book "Good to Great", the culture is one of celebrating "heroic rescues". Every day travel and hospitality staff around the globe are conducting big and small "rescues" aiding travellers and customers in need. Let's bring honour and pride back into servicing by supporting our staff in celebrating these efforts and successes. Create the right environment and your teams will have a sense of purpose and pride.
Ensure a Culture of Respect for Staff.
This includes zero tolerance of abuse by customers, management, and colleagues. Front-line travel staff more than ever are being confronted with the pent-up stresses of customers. Ensure there are measures to mitigate and protect staff from abuse and anger. Ritz-Carlton had a great mantra - "Ladies and Gentlemen serving Ladies and Gentlemen". Respect your staff as much as you respect your customers - and your customers will be well cared for.

Staff Feedback and Engagement
Industry staff often face issues with client/manager behaviour, challenging work conditions, discrimination on the basis of gender/nationality. Creating a strong, neutral communication and feedback process that safeguards the interests and well being of staff can go a long way.
Demonstrate a Concern for Your Staff's Welfare.
While travel businesses globally went into survival mode - the businesses that communicated well and worked hard to retain and take care of their staff would have earned great loyalty. I've heard hospitality staff wax lyrical and express strong loyalty about their property Owner/GM when they felt the concerns were taken to heart during the business' most challenging times. Deliver a sense of community and "family”.

Support Their Development.
Prior to joining PATA, I worked in EdTech - specifically mobile-first microlearning. During the pandemic, the Singapore Government provided subsidised mobile learning continuing education for impacted travel, hospitality, MICE, and F&B staff. Our industry should explore and embrace mobile learning since it democratises access to learning and reaches every level of staffing. It's effectiveness in learning is science-based too - we all consume information most readily in bite-sized form. Critical health, safety and compliance information with confirmation is best delivered this way. Develop structured training and career development programmes to hone talent.

Create Clear and Fair Career Paths.
Create career paths from entry level / front line roles to management. The great hospitality management staff that I know always mention the importance of their entry level stints cleaning rooms, working food service and the front desk. Give equal opportunity. Create diversity and inclusion at every level.
Introduce Staff to Leaders They can Relate to.
Our industry is comprised of an estimated 60% women in Asia Pacific. But vast majority of them are in lower level roles. I've noticed that Asian women leaders in particular - already few and far between - tend to shy away from public speaking roles. For International Women's Day, my staff inspired me to run a series of micro-interviews of women leaders for our social media. We endeavoured to profile women leaders who represented the local nationality of their business market - so that the young women of that nation could see leaders that looked like them. This approach should be applied more broadly as well - so diversity and inclusion across segments is mirrored at multiple levels. An ambitious goal but an important one.

And lastly, an appeal to customers everywhere - treat the service staff you interact with day to day with respect and appreciation. No one is "below" you and should not be the vent for anyone's built up pandemic stress. Treat them the same way you'd like to be treated.

I made the comment yesterday predicting that great human servicing experiences will become more of a rarity and a more elusive luxury. Great caring and empathetic service is a hallmark of Asian hospitality. It's a product of the local culture in many markets coupled with great training. Let's not erode this incredible strength and asset - but reinforce it. Asia should be the future global center of excellence for service standards. Legions of talented service staff are expatriated to other regions but this human capital asset is not formally branded, recognised or valued at a premium. It's time to celebrate and appreciate our great service staff - it will encourage more to join their ranks.

I'll end with a quick rundown of some of the work PATA updates: