The hospitality sector is continuously evolving, and managers face a variety of issues daily, including burnout and increased client expectations, poor tipping rates, and obsolete training programs.
According to a recent Axonify survey, nearly half (47%) of managers feel burnout due to their roles' responsibilities. Additionally, 68% of them claim that their team members have voiced emotions of burnout, and 64% say that employees have quit their jobs due to burnout.
"Hospitality has seen its ups and downs over the last decade, often hit hard by varying socioeconomic factors like worker shortages and increased cost of living. Our data highlights the urgent need for companies to take a modern and agile approach to training that provides workers with the knowledge and skills to successfully handle the tasks and challenges of their jobs today while also keeping them engaged and motivated at work," said Carol Leaman, CEO and Co-Founder at Axonify.
Several major factors are contributing to the rise in burnout among hospitality managers, including high-stress levels (73%), understaffing (70%), long working hours (67%), customer or guest volatility (53%), a lack of stress management and well-being initiatives (52%), and changing guest expectations (52%). Moreover, over half (54%) of frontline managers said their organizations don't currently offer mental health and well-being training.
In addition to fatigue, over two-thirds (61%) of front-line hospitality managers have noticed a decrease in the average tip provided by customers this year. This tendency has raised worker discontent, generating a variety of behaviors, including 49% quitting, 47% leaving shifts early, 46% having emotional outbursts such as sobbing or yelling, and 41% posting their experiences on social media.
The need for training
The poll also emphasizes the need for more comprehensive training in the hospitality business. More than one-third (38%) of managers say that they and their employees sometimes face circumstances at work for which they feel unprepared or undertrained. Furthermore, 19% of frontline managers said their company's present training programs don't keep employees interested and motivated in their jobs.
To improve the learning experience and work happiness, businesses should focus on establishing training programs that increase employee engagement. According to the survey, 17% of managers believe that having more engaged employees would greatly improve overall worker well-being.
Technological advancements have led to "unskilling "
Over half (54%) of frontline hospitality managers believe that "unskilling"—the decline or deletion of job-specific skills due to technological advancements—is taking place in the hospitality and food & beverage industries.
Despite the obstacles, two-thirds (66%) of managers are positive about the hotel and food and beverage industries' future, especially in terms of labor satisfaction and stability.
In addition, almost half (48%) of frontline managers have had to ask a guest to leave or ban a guest from returning in the last year owing to bad staff treatment, and over a quarter (28%) of managers are concerned that they and their teams are now failing to meet the needs of customers and guests.
