Planning staffing needs is one of the biggest challenges in the hotel industry. Each establishment must ensure that it has the right staff at the right time, maintaining a balance between service quality and operational costs. However, this task can vary depending on whether the hotel operates under a direct management model or external management under a “mandate” contract.
In this article, we discuss how these models influence staff operations and the key aspects to optimize planning in each case.
Differences Between Direct and External Management
Before delving into staff planning, it is important to understand how these two management models differ:
- Direct Management: In this model, the hotel owner assumes operational management and is directly responsible for all decisions related to staff, from hiring to salaries and work schedules. This approach provides greater control but also involves more complex management and direct financial risk.
- External Management (Mandate): Here, the owner delegates the hotel’s operation to an external manager through a contract (or mandate). The manager is responsible for daily operations, while the owner remains a supervisor or shareholder. Staffing costs are distributed between both parties according to the terms established in the contract, adding a component of transparency and strategic alignment.
Many hotel chains operate in a mixed manner, combining directly managed hotels with others managed externally. This approach requires a separate vision for each model, as staff planning varies significantly depending on who assumes operational responsibility.
Next, we will discuss the implications of these models in staff planning.
Hotel Staff Planning
Managing hotel staff requires a comprehensive approach to maintain the balance between service and cost control. Key aspects include:
Adapting to Seasonality and Seasonal Planning
Hotel occupancy varies by season, requiring dynamic staff planning. Analyzing historical occupancy data and local events is essential to anticipate staffing needs.
Automating work schedules can help optimize shifts, avoiding both staff overages in low seasons and shortages during peak demand periods.
Forecasting and Scenario Simulations
Data analysis allows managers to make informed decisions based on simulations that use historical and real-time data, comparing future scenarios based on different occupancy levels or changes in labor conditions.
For example, a hotel can simulate the financial impact of hiring temporary staff versus redistributing shifts. These tools help make more precise decisions and reduce operational costs.
Skills Development and Internal Staff Promotions
Staff professional growth is a strategic investment. Designing training and promotion plans helps improve service quality and strengthens talent retention, reducing the need for new hires.
In this regard, using systems that map each team member’s skills allows for identifying hidden talent and areas for improvement. This approach facilitates the creation of personalized training plans that benefit employees and align their competencies with the hotel’s strategic needs.
Additionally, this mapping serves as a basis for implementing data-driven promotions, ensuring that higher-responsibility roles are occupied by the most qualified individuals, reinforcing both service quality and staff motivation.
Proper resource planning across departments is also key to maintaining balanced operations. Analyzing historical data and future projections helps identify activity peaks in specific departments, allowing staff to be assigned efficiently and preventing team overload.
This interdepartmental flexibility enables the redistribution of staff based on demand, ensuring that all hotel areas operate optimally, improving both the guest experience and the dynamism of the work environment.
Incentives and Staff Satisfaction
Team motivation is crucial to the success of any hotel. Designing bonuses and incentives tied to performance and objectives (with data provided by the EPM) and conducting integrated surveys to collect and analyze satisfaction are effective practices that enhance both productivity and employee well-being.
Absence, Vacation, and Sick Leave Management
Managing absences, whether planned or unexpected, is essential to avoid service disruptions.
Integrated calendars and monitoring tools allow forecasting the impact of sick leaves to reduce associated costs or analyze absenteeism patterns, providing alerts in these cases.
Additionally, these calendars facilitate the often delicate management of vacations, ensuring that necessary coverage is maintained at all times.
Sustainable Planning
Integrating sustainability objectives into staff operations helps comply with labor regulations (working hours, breaks, shifts, etc.) while enhancing the hotel’s image.
Having tools that measure the social impact of initiatives aimed at promoting diversity, equality, and skills development allows progress toward more ethical management and compliance with social objectives.
Staff Planning in an External Management Model (Mandates)
In hotels operated through mandates, staff planning is influenced by the rules and terms of the contract between the owner and the manager. Given the nature of this relationship, staff management must pay special attention to certain additional aspects.
Cost Distribution
One of the most relevant aspects of this model is labor cost distribution. Management contracts establish what percentage of salaries, benefits, and other personnel expenses each party assumes.
Advanced planning systems allow for automating this allocation, ensuring that each expense meets contractual parameters and simplifying shared expense validation tasks.
Operational Transparency
Regular reports are essential to maintaining trust between the owner and the manager. Through integrated systems, both parties can access key indicators such as occupancy, operating margins, and staff costs, adjusting strategies based on results.
Operational Optimization Based on KPIs
Mandates typically include performance metrics that the manager must meet, such as maintaining a specific occupancy level or keeping staff costs within an agreed range. Automated alerts help detect deviations and allow for proactive adjustments.
Data-Driven Staff Management Solutions
Staffing needs planning in hotels can vary depending on the management model. While directly managed hotels require a more independent and flexible approach, those operated under mandates demand alignment and transparency between owner and manager. In both cases, advanced analytics and planning tools are essential to optimize resources, control costs, and maintain service quality.
If you are looking to optimize staff operations in your hotel, whether under direct or external management, Holistic Data Solutions can help with customized solutions that simplify planning and enhance decision-making. For more information, feel free to contact us.
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