A major issue in the vacation rental industry is the shortage of labor. While the surge in demand for travel has provided some relief to hospitality business owners, a nationwide labor shortage has made it difficult for many to return to pre-pandemic levels of operation. With this challenge hitting vacation destinations particularly hard, travelers have been asked to pack some patience, and property managers seek solutions.
Here are a few of the challenges facing vacation rental property managers as they look to add to their staff:
- Workers are seeking jobs in other industries
A Pew Research study found that 66 percent of unemployed adults had thought seriously about changing their field of work over the past year. With last year’s job losses hitting our industry particularly hard—leisure and hospitality account for 39 percent of jobs lost to the pandemic—some of the workforce members traditionally working on vacation rental teams began looking for work in other industries.
Hospitality and leisure industry workers are quitting at the highest rates of any industry with a record number of job openings in 2021.
- Many reasons for unhappiness
According to an FIU News article, some of the reasons include challenging hours often involving nights and weekends and holidays, the need to suppress emotions because you want to provide good service to guests “with a smile”, safety concerns with COVID-19, and much more.
- Hiring and retaining staff is costly
As the demand for labor has increased, so has the cost—for example, wages in the hospitality industry increased 2.8 percent from March to June of 2021. Hospitality is challenging work, with higher guest expectations than ever, and it can be more difficult to retain overworked staff. In addition, employee turnover is costly to small businesses, as studies find that it can cost employers one-fifth of an employee’s annual salary to find their replacement.
How technology offers a solution
Business owners have been automating tasks for years to free up talented and skilled people to do their jobs better. For example, instead of speaking with an operator who manually transfers aspiring travelers to the reservations department, callers can press 1 for reservations, or better yet, book directly on a website without requiring valuable staff hours. To combat the challenges of understaffing, jumpstart the process of integrating technology that helps you allocate team hours where they are most valuable: providing a fantastic experience for your guests. Here are a few ideas:
- Reduce or replace repetitive tasks
Technology can facilitate asynchronous communication on arrival time, cleaning preferences, maintenance issues, etc., and allow your team to focus on performing the task. Consider the check-out process that happens at the end of every stay. When it is automated, guests receive a checklist of tasks to complete. Once they have checked off each item, you and other designated members of your team, from housekeeping to property inspection, are notified so you can prepare and prioritize more efficiently ahead of the next group’s arrival.
- Improve the experience for guests and staff
Ease your support burden by providing valuable and timely information to your guests. If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video must be worth a million. A digital guidebook allows you to record and upload videos of basic info like how to access the wi-fi, use the TV, or unlock the hot tub. Pairing this strategy with real-time communication through a messaging platform results in fewer phone calls for your staff to juggle and helps you dispatch the right person for the job when issues arise. For example, suppose a guest’s coffee maker stops working mid-stay. In that case, you can gather enough info via a digital messaging platform to assess whether it can be solved with a quick call to troubleshoot, if your staff can bring in a replacement, or if a maintenance person may need to evaluate an issue with the power in the kitchen.
- Earn more from each stay
It’s also a great time to evaluate additional revenue streams that can help balance increased labor costs. For example, can you charge for services you already offer? Can you partner with local businesses or earn ad revenue? GuestView Guide makes it more straightforward than you might imagine to increase bookings and earn more while guests are on-site.
Job satisfaction is paramount. You want to make sure your staff is happy and stays. That they don’t experience burnout. The people you recruit will find your company appealing. Technology that makes their job easier, more efficient, is simple to learn and reduces repetitive tasks can help make them and you happier.
