Mediaboss Marketing

With the New Year just around the corner, Dr. Cristian Grossmann, CEO and Co-Founder of Beekeeper, looks at the big five trends the hospitality industry can expect in 2020.

In 2020 more hospitality companies (including hotels) are set to introduce a mobile, real-time, operational communication platform, which is now becoming a vital management tool. For many HR professionals and senior management in hospitality, communicating with the entire team can be incredibly tough as many workers dont have access to a desktop PC or email. A digital workspace accessible on a mobile device via an app means that for the first time, everyone can receive company-wide communication and updates quickly, with the ability to respond in real time.

This tool empowers workers to feel valued and have a voice. It also enables the team to provide a better service for guests. Since information can be instantly shared, issues can be resolved quickly and changes made swiftly. Staff can also access best practice guides or procedures if theyre unsure, which helps perform well in their roles.

In 2020, more hotels will invest in risk management. It has become an increasingly important priority for hotels to have a robust crisis communications plan in place due to the ongoing threat of terrorist attacks and natural disasters like flooding.

If a company experiences a local natural disaster, has a PR crisis, or suspects that competition is about to launch a negative narrative, advanced internal communication methods are necessary. This is important both to ensure your staff members are informed, they know what to do in the event of emergency, and they can clearly and quickly advise customers on evacuation routes and other crisis contingencies.

For international, diverse hotel teams, inline translation tools will also become more prevalent across mobile internal communications strategies in 2020. Inline translation uses artificial intelligence to instantly translate content, ensuring that all employees are able to fully comprehend, respond to, and post their own important messages in the language they feel most comfortable speaking.

Did you know that 50% of hotel employees dont feel like their career in hospitality is something they can be proud of? As part of a holistic employee retention strategy that includes hotel leadership, in 2020 we can expect to see more and more hotels launching internal marketing campaigns to help their employees feel more engaged and enthusiastic about their workplace.

Influencer-based marketing isnt going anywhere in 2020, which is why going the extra mile with selfie-ready aesthetics and amenities could be game-changing for your hospitality business. Interesting backdrops and curated art installations can take many forms. If you wish to lean into this trend in 2020, you should plan to budget for social marketing to make the biggest splash. Allocating resources to explore the current roster of popular social apps allows hospitality businesses to constantly put their best creative foot forward.

Expect to see hospitality companies invest heavily in recruitment in 2020 to combat the predicted labour shortages in the industry after Brexit (depending on subsequent new UK immigration laws). Hospitality companies like hotels are now going above and beyond simply posting a job online to find new employees. 2020 will continue to see the rise of companies recruiting employees through hospitality job fairs and hospitality-specific recruiting agencies, whilst offering more competitive pay and benefits.

Along with renewed efforts around recruitment, retaining employees through initiatives like digitising shift scheduling for hourly employees will prove to be just as important as attracting employees for the hospitality sector in 2020. This matters greatly because research that being able to access a shift schedule at least two weeks in advance makes a huge difference to shift workers, including those in hospitality.

Also, a survey of UK hospitality industry workers showed that 55% of workers would be less likely to leave the sector if they had more control over work life and shift patterns. Using a digital communications platform means workers have much quicker access to shift schedules and the ability to request changes as quickly as possible, so they have more chance of success in swapping shifts, when needed.

Dr. Cristian Grossmann is CEO and Co-Founder of Beekeeper. Beekeeper is an internal communications platform that helps hospitality companies like hotels streamline their operations and connect with their frontline employees.

Link:
The five key trends you can expect in hospitality in 2020 - Premier Construction Magazine