Survey of More Than 10,000 HSS Workers Shows Impact of COVID-19 and Eagerness to Return to Hospitality
ATLANTA (November 20, 2020) — Hospitality Staffing Solutions (HSS), the largest hospitality staffing firm in the United States, has released the initial 2020 results of its annual Survey of Hospitality Staff. The survey includes key findings around the impact of COVID and workforce inclination to returning to work safely during a long recovery ahead. The survey was initially conducted among deployed HSS staff prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, and then updated in October 2020 to measure the impact of COVID-19. The survey includes responses from more than 10,000 back-of-house HSS employees surveyed across North America — primarily housekeepers, food service employees and janitorial staff.
“This survey reveals both the resilience of the hospitality workforce and their stated desire to return to the industry during the recovery period,” said Tim McPherson, President of HSS. “Throughout the pandemic, HSS has maintained and even grown its pool of workers and continues to employ people through a mix of hospitality and other sectors. Listening closely to this team and answering their needs will be an important factor moving ahead as the hotel industry continues its recovery in 2021.”
Some of the key findings from the report related to the huge impact that the global pandemic has had on the hospitality industry:
● 68% said that they saw a reduction or elimination of hours ● 45% said they found work in other industry sectors
The survey also shows that hospitality workers strongly align their career aspirations with the hotel industry and are very much looking forward to returning to work:
● 87% of respondents said they would like to return to work in a hotel or resort ● 81% said they would feel safe returning to work in a hotel HSS workers still employed in hospitality, generally feel safe in their day-to-day work at hotels and resorts: ● 91% said that they have received adequate training to work safely. ● 90% said they have the supplies needed to perform their jobs safely and effectively
HSS worked with with ClearlyRated to compile the data for this study. ClearlyRated (formerly known as Inavero) administers more staffing agency client and talent satisfaction surveys than any other firm in the world, reporting on more than 1.2 million satisfaction surveys from staffing agency clients and job seekers each year. The complete survey and analysis covering job satisfaction, pay, and other factors will be will be made available later in Q4 of 2020. # # # About Hospitality Staffing Solutions Founded in 1990 in Atlanta, Hospitality Staffing Solutions, LLC (“HSS”) proudly claims a leading market share at the world’s leading hotel brands and management companies, and looks to continue its expansion into new geographies through organic expansion of its branch office network, strategic acquisitions, and further development of its service capabilities. Hospitality Staffing Solutions earned the 2019 & 2020 Best of Staffing Client Award for service excellence based on client ratings. Learn more about Hospitality Staffing Solutions at www.hssstaffing.com.
HSS was acquired in 2020 by Kellermeyer Bergensons Services, LLC (“KBS”) KBS is a trusted partner to leading operations and facility managers across 75,000 client locations throughout North America. We provide essential facility services that deliver healthy operations to businesses through scalable solutions customized to meet client-specific requirements. Our expertise and technology enable our teams to anticipate issues, ensure quality, and maximize efficiency. With decades of experience in facility hygiene, including being on the front lines throughout the COVID-19 crisis, KBS is committed to partnering with clients to Stay Ahead of the Curve™ with the latest advances for maintaining healthy operations. For more information, visit www.kbs-services.com.
The hotel industry is going to come back online. We know this for sure. It’s really just a question of when and, more importantly, how. HSS is already working with major hotel brands across the country to get properties back up and running and we’ve have seen some trends emerge. These include meeting a new expectation for cleaning, consolidating vendors to maximize efficiency, and communicating clean processes and materials. Here’s a quick presentation outlining 5 of the most important trends hotel operators need to know about cleaning as we emerge from this crisis.
Every year, HSS participates in a survey of our customers so that we can improve on our service. While we primarily do these surveys to see where we can improve, a side result is seeing customer testimonials come in
We’re happy to say that Hospitality Staffing Solutions has a 4.5 star rating from its clients displayed live on its profile page for clearlyrated.com
We’re looking to building on this in the future. Staffing can be challenging today, but we’ve never let that stand in the way of putting our clients’ needs first and being a partner in their success!
Finding competitive pay rates is one of the most challenging aspects of maintaining an effective workforce. HSS is here to help with a guide that helps determine payrates in your state, region, and city.
How do we determine pay rates?
Pay rates can vary greatly in the same region for different industries. It’s important to consider this factor in determining pay rates for hospitality.
HSS consults with different sources and also relies on its field organization to determine competitive pay rates. Looking at sources such as Payscale and CareerBuilder, we combine research with actual pay in our markets. With more that 80 locations nationwide HSS has a live database to enhance existing data and determine what will be effective in the markets we serve. In addition, we have a dedicated corporate team tasked with investigating federal, state, and local laws and provide information on minimum wage increases.
Factors for Effective Calculations
There are many factors that impact pay rates and many factors particular to the hospitality industry. A few of these factors include:
Experience
Service Offering of Hotels
Turnover Rate
Geography
Available Transportation
Many of these factors are particularly meaningful in California where regulations can often change the landscape of pay dramatically between local municipalities.
Big Players, Big Changes
When a large scale employers increases pay, this can have a dramatic impact on prevailing wages. For example, when Amazon increased its minimum wage to $15 an hour nationwide, the impact on many markets large and small was significant.
Many hotels and resorts require housekeepers and other staff that have experience. This can increase pay rates depending on the number of year’s of experience a worker has.
The Cost of Poor Wage Calculations
While increased wages can seem like a challenge to keep up with, there is a silver lining. Information can help determine an effective wage, reduce turnover and increase productivity. Many of these factors are more costly to solve in turnover, loss of efficiency and low quality scores. HSS recognizes the need for accurate pay rates in markets and uses this information to work with clients to supply the right level of staff at the right experience levels.
When it comes to media marketing, it’s often hard to keep abreast of all the constant new developments. Being able to direct the travel intent of potential customers is a goal that’s been on the agenda for many years, but some of the newer programs aren’t as easy to understand. This article discusses several different tools for guiding travel intent, which ones that are the best to utilize and each of their strengths and weaknesses.
Here is an excerpt:
Travel Intent Targeting is essentially the ability to find users who have decided on a destination but have not yet chosen a specific hotel in that destination. Targeting travelers who aren’t necessarily familiar with your property but are headed to your city is the next logical step up the booking funnel, opening up an entire ecosystem of potential guests.
Travel Intent is nothing new. But some of the tools are.
The concept of travel intent marketing has been around for years, but new tools and platforms boasting intent-based targeting have hoteliers more than a little overwhelmed, unsure which tools to pay attention to and which tools to ignore.
Successful hotel managers are often on the lookout for little ways that can improve their service every day. While some tasks take longer to complete than others, there are plenty of savings you can put into practice that profit you in the short term. Here are four ways that you can increase the short term savings of your hotel:
High Turnover
Low bill rates can lead to high turnover in staff because of payrates that simply do not reflect the market reality. While there may be workers willing to accept low rates in the short term, they are far more likely to find work elsewhere. Low pay rates also often mean lower quality; less experienced workers. Your staffing partner should work with you to determine payrates that meet your overall goals – not a low number to grab short term business.
Screening Proper background checks and skills screening are an essential part of professional staffing. But agencies that pitch rock-bottom bill rates may have lower standards for hiring. With a shrinking pool of talent and rising pay rates, some agencies lower their standards to find workers. HSS follows a stringent set of rules throughout its organization for experience and background. These policies protect our company and the interests of the properties we serve.
Proper Classification
HSS workers are all W2 employees of HSS. This ensures that taxes are properly reported and withheld. In order to achieve low bill rates, many staffing companies issue 1099s to employees, classifying them as contract labor. Short term, this seems like good news to employees who don’t have taxes withheld. Many are then willing to work for a lower rate. But employees do eventually have to pay taxes and may have been misled about this responsibility. This can result in a financial burden on employees could also lead to an investigation into misclassification of labor. Staffing agencies often hastily shut their doors leaving serious repercussions for the hotel and its brand.
Safety
Staffing companies are required to follow state and federal OSHA regulations. Clients of staffing companies are also required to ensure that these safety trainings are occurring. This can be a significant investment on the part of a staffing company. For example, HSS has a national team of safety experts that regularly train workers and ensure compliance. A low bill rate may mean that safety training either isn’t happening or not in a way that is compliant.
Summary
In the end, every GM needs to look at what is best for their property. However, a low bill rate may indicate that some essentials in staffing are simply not present. This can cause serious financial, branding, and legal issues for a hotel. Many times safety issues not addressed by a staffing company can impact a hotel’s standing with state and federal agencies. A misclassification of workers can invite the scrutiny of the IRS. And a less-than-robust screening process can lead to higher turnover, compromised guest safety and lower guest satisfaction scores.
Every year, HSS participates in a survey of our customers so that we can improve on our service. While we primarily do these surveys to see where we can improve, a side result is seeing customer testimonials come in
