The once fairly predictable world of hospitality has become more unpredictable than ever. With hotels grappling with labor shortages, rising costs, and changing demands, it’s a challenge to deliver the kind of service guests expect.
But it’s not all doom and gloom and you’re certainly not in this alone. Advanced software tools are ushering in a new era of optimized workforces and lower operational costs. One of the most powerful ways to use these tools is for labor forecasting, a process that helps you make more precise staffing decisions informed by your business goals.
Must-have hotel management software
With so much choice out there, it can be hard to know where to start. Our clients in the hospitality industry agree that together, the following four solutions are the winning formula for hotel staffing success:
- Workforce management software: AI-powered hotel workforce management software is at the heart of accurate labor forecasting. These platforms help to streamline scheduling to ensure the right number of employees are always available, manage labor costs and help hotels stay within budget, and ensure compliance with local labor laws. Key features often include automated scheduling, real-time data integration, and advanced analytics.
- Property management software (PMS): A PMS is the backbone of a hotel’s daily operations, centralizing everything from reservations to check-ins and check-outs. By predicting occupancy levels, you can make more accurate hotel staffing decisions and avoid both under- or overstaffing.
- Revenue management system (RMS): An RMS is a specialized software that analyzes all the data your hotel needs to operate like a well-oiled (and profitable) machine. Data-driven insights help you make tactical decisions that maximize revenue, such as setting room rates best on anticipated demand. These systems often include channel management functionality to manage rates on hotel booking websites and forecast management based on past performance data.
- Point-of-sale (POS) system: For hotels with on-site restaurants or other retail services, a POS streamlines and manages transactions between the property and guests. This data can be used to generate reports on peak times and customer spending habits that inform your labor forecast and staff scheduling.
Key metrics for labor forecasting
It’s no good having all the gear if you have no idea how to use it to your advantage. Focusing on the following metrics can help you to optimize operations and more accurately forecast labor needs:
- Occupancy rates: Starting off simple, your hotel’s historic and projected occupancy rates form the blueprint for labor forecasting. Periods of higher occupancy call for more staff, while lower occupancy requires fewer frontline workers to maintain service quality.
- Average daily rate (ADR) and revenue per available room (RevPAR): These key metrics offer insight into your hotel’s financial performance and can point to periods of high demand. Understanding these trends can help you to create a financially-savvy plan for your staffing needs.
- Guest arrival and departure patterns: Identify busier periods that require more front desk and housekeeping staff.
- Service times: Tracking the time it takes to perform certain services, like room cleaning or meal prep, helps you estimate the number of staff members needed on different shifts. This metric is essential for maintaining operational standards without overstaffing.
- Labor costs: Keeping track of labor costs as a percentage of overall revenue empowers you to make smarter budget decisions and staffing adjustments.
- Employee productivity: Digging into metrics such as rooms cleaned per hour or meals served per shift provides greater insight into your workforce's efficiency. A higher rate of productivity might allow for slimmed-down staffing, while lower rates indicate a need for extra staffing or training.
Make the data work for you
With all the data you could ever need at your fingertips, it’s up to you to use it wisely. Integrating your hotel management software (i.e. combining data from your hotel workforce management software, PMS, RMS, and POS) will give you the best overview of demand patterns and hotel staffing needs. By analyzing large datasets, these tools can help you to make more informed decisions and accurately plan for your hotel’s future labor needs.
Automated scheduling helps you bear the managerial load, ensuring staffing is aligned with demand forecasts. At just the click of a button, you can account for employee availability and skills with the added confidence that you’re fully compliant with local labor laws. Taking this more data-driven approach to tracking performance and productivity empowers you to make better decisions that result in more streamlined operations.
Takeaways
It’s official – labor forecasting is the not-so-secret key to running an efficient and profitable hotel. With specialized software readily available, it’s never been simpler to get the most out of your workforce and keep operational costs in check. But don’t just take our word for it – businesses across hospitality, retail, and corporate sectors are seeing improved labor forecasting as one of the many benefits of these advanced tools.
Take your hotel staffing strategy to effective new heights. Discover how Quinyx Workforce Management platform for Hospitality can help you to make smarter hotel staffing decisions.
