1As many of you here today have worked in the hotel industry for some time,
2I'm sure you have experienced the problem of high staff turnover in your hotels.
3Every hotel relies on having loyal and experienced members of staff
4who make sure that everything runs smoothly.
5If staff are constantly changing,
6it can make life difficult for everyone.
7But why do staff leave frequently in many hotels?
8Of course, many hotel jobs, such as cleaning, are low-skilled and are not well-paid.
9A lot of managers think it's this and the long hours that are the main causes of high staff turnover -
10but what they don't realise is that it's the lack of training in many hotel jobs which is a huge factor.
11So, what kind of problems does a high turnover of staff cause?
12Well, having to recruit new staff all the time can be very time-consuming,
13and managers may have to cover some duties while waiting for new staff to arrive.
14This means they don't have time to think about less immediate problems
15such as how to improve their service.
16When staff leave, it can also severely affect the colleagues they leave behind.
17It has a negative effect on remaining staff,
18who may start to feel that they too should be thinking about leaving.
19So, what can be done to change this situation?
20Firstly, managers should stop making basic errors
21which leave their staff feeling upset and resentful.
22When organising shifts, for example,
23make sure you never give certain staff preferential treatment.
24All staff should be given some choice about when they work,
25and everyone should have to work some evening and weekend shifts.
26If you treat staff fairly,
27they'll be more likely to step in and help when extra staff are needed.
28Keeping staff happy has other tangible benefits for the business.
29Take the Dunwich Hotel as an example.
30It had been experiencing a problem with staff complaints
31and in order to deal with this,
32invested in staff training
33and improved staff conditions.
34Not only did the level of complaints fall,
35but they also noticed a significant increase in the amount each customer spent during their stay.
36They have now introduced a customer loyalty scheme
37which is going really well.
38Now I'd like to look at some ways you can reduce staff turnover in your hotels,
39and I'll do this by giving some examples of hotels where I've done some training recently.
40The Sun Club received feedback which showed that staff thought managers didn't value their opinions.
41They weren't made to feel they were partners who were contributing to the success of the business as a whole.
42This situation has changed.
43Junior staff at all levels are regularly invited to meetings where their ideas are welcomed.
44A year ago, The Portland recognised the need to invest in staff retention.
45Their first step was to introduce a scheme for recognising talent amongst their employees.
46The hope is that organising training for individuals with management potential will encourage them to stay with the business.
47At Bluewater, managers decided to recognise 50 high achievers from across the company's huge hotel chain.
48As a reward, they're sent on an all-expenses-paid trip abroad every year.
49Fun is an important element in the trips,
50but there's also the opportunity to learn something useful.
51This year's trip included a visit to a brewery,
52where staff learned about the new beer that would be served in the hotel.
53Pentlow Hotels identified that retention of junior reception staff was an issue.
54In order to encourage them to see that working in a hotel could be worthwhile and rewarding, with good prospects,
55they introduced a management programme.
56These staff were given additional responsibilities and the chance to work in various roles in the hotel.
57Green Planets wanted to be seen as a caring employer.
58To make life easier for staff, many of whom had childcare responsibilities,
59the hotel began issuing vouchers to help cover the cost of childcare.
60Louise Marsh at The Amesbury has one of the best staff retention rates in the business.
61Since she joined the company,
62she's made a huge effort to achieve this by creating a co-operative and supportive environment.
63For her, the staff are part of a large family where everyone is valued.
64OK, now I'd like to...