Mentoring in Tourism and Hospitality Mentoring in Tourism and Hospitality
How hotels and tourism companies can use mentoring to keep staff and grow supervisors.
What this presentation covers
What this presentation covers
What this presentation covers
Who works in tourism
Tourism runs on young frontline staff
Before the pandemic, tourism held one in ten jobs, and most workers were under 35.
What turnover costs hotels
Every departure costs the hotel money
Hotel studies in Australia and the US found turnover to be a major cost.
Where turnover costs most
Complex jobs cost most to replace
Costs were higher for complex jobs and for large, busy, upscale properties.
- Complex jobs
- Independent hotels
- High room rates
- Large properties
- High occupancy
Working with the season
Decide how you handle the season
Seasonal employers can embrace the season or push against it, and HR follows that choice.
- Embrace the season staff come and go with it
- Middle ground a core team plus seasonal hires
- Challenge the season longer seasons, longer contracts
Keeping seasonal staff
Plan the end of the season too
Restaurant managers kept seasonal staff with practices in four groups.
- Recruiting
- Orientation and training
- A good goodbye
- Staying in touch
Mentors for frontline staff
Give frontline staff a mentor too
Frontline employees with mentors were more committed and less likely to plan a move.
Why mentored staff stay
Mentoring ties people to the job
Among 354 hotel employees, mentoring built stronger ties to the hotel and lowered quit intentions.
- Career support
- Personal support
- Ties to hotel and trade
- Fewer plans to quit
From frontline to supervisor
Show the path from frontline to supervisor
In Mauritius, food and beverage was the main route to hotel general manager.
- Frontline reception, service, housekeeping
- Shift lead runs a shift
- Supervisor leads a team
- Department head owns a budget
Fitting the program to the season
Build the program around the season
Match people before the rush and close each match before the season ends.
- Matches made in the first week
- Returning staff as mentors
- Short meetings in quiet hours
- A supervisor track for those who stay
- A closing talk that invites them back
Sources
The research behind this presentation
- ILO (International Labour Organization) (2022) Tourism has potential to play a major role in global pandemic recovery International Labour Organization, news release, 6 May 2022
- Davidson, M. C. G., Timo, N. & Wang, Y. (2010) How much does labour turnover cost? International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 22(4), 451-466
- Tracey, J. B. & Hinkin, T. R. (2008) Contextual factors and cost profiles associated with employee turnover Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 49(1), 12-27
- Jolliffe, L. & Farnsworth, R. (2003) Seasonality in tourism employment: human resource challenges International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 15(6), 312-316
- Reynolds, D., Merritt, E. A. & Gladstein, A. (2004) Retention tactics for seasonal employers: An exploratory study of U.S.-based restaurants Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 28(2), 230-241
- Lankau, M. J. & Chung, B. G. (1998) Mentoring for line-level employees Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, 39(6), 14-19
- Yang, C., Guo, N., Wang, Y. & Li, C. (2019) The effects of mentoring on hotel staff turnover International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 31(10), 4086-4104
- Ladkin, A. & Juwaheer, T. D. (2000) The career paths of hotel general managers in Mauritius International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 12(2), 119-125
Start before the season does
Give each new hire a mentor in week one, and plan who comes back next year.