A manager regardless of their industry must have an array of soft skills including communication skills, leadership skills, and team-building skills. This is especially true for those managing within the hospitality industry.
Hotel managers tend directly to the customer’s needs, all while managing the entire hotel management staff. Sounds difficult, doesn’t it? Don’t worry! If you are interested in building or improving your career as a hotel manager, we got you covered. Read on to find the best tips to better yourself as a hotel manager.
Read more: How hotel management works
Skills Needed to Be a Successful Hotel Manager
Whether it’s a 5-star hotel, a 2- star hotel, or a motel, all these establishments require the same skills from their managers. The major differences lie only on the operation scale. To be a successful hotel manager, you must possess these skills:
Management Skills
This skill is a given. A hotel manager’s primary duties lie in managing one or more teams of employees. To do that, you must have superb management skills. There are countless free online resources that teach how to improve your management skills.
Communication Skills
All hoteliers expect a good hotel manager to have excellent communication skills. This skill applies to both fronts. Whether it is hotel customers or hotel staff, a manager’s role is to communicate efficiently.
Human Resources Skills
Although hotels usually have a Human Resources department, hotel managers are often the direct point of contact for hotel staff. As a hotel manager, you will deal with payroll, vacation days, scheduling, and sick leave issues. Therefore, having a basic to intermediate level of understanding of HR principles will go a long way.
Basic Business Management Skills
A hotel manager’s roles also include business management. Finance, marketing, and business operations are some business aspects that a hotel manager oversees. For example, as a manager, the hotel expects you to come up with a concrete strategy to increase the number of guests that visit your hotel.
In addition, your role also includes overseeing the billing and accounting department. Therefore, having a background in business management is an excellent aid to your hotel management career.
Leadership Skills
A hotel manager is the leader of the hotel ground staff. Having commendable leadership skills is a must for this job. As a hotel manager, you must use your leadership skills to delegate tasks, boost employee morale, and resolve work-related conflicts.
We know that not everyone is born a leader. If you feel you might lack this skill, then don’t worry, leadership skills are attainable. There are tons of online resources, courses, and books out there that can help you improve your leadership skills.
Hotel Industry Understanding Skills
This knowledge-based skill is one of the most essential skills that a hotel manager needs. You must have an in-depth understanding of the hotel industry and market. This includes understanding market trends, customer demand, industry standards, and upgrades, and much more.
To efficiently manage a hotel, you must know what improvements or changes the hotel requires for sufficient growth.
Tips to Be a Successful Hotel Manager
Now that you know about the important skills required to build a career in hotel management, let’s discuss some helpful tips. Whether you are in the hotel industry or already work as a hotel manager, these tips will help you enhance your management skills.
Tip 1- Be aware of the real-time performance of every department
The majority of a hotel manager’s duties involve multi-tasking and a heavy load of paperwork. Everything from scheduling, customer service, and billing fall under a manager’s duty. This can force you to spend most of your time buried in paperwork at your office.
A great tip to be an excellent manager is to always be aware of the performance and operations of all your departments. As a hotel manager, you must find the time to visit each department station at least three times during the day. For example, if there’s a big housekeeping request, check on the cleaning department to ensure the job is being done in a timely manner.
Tip 2- Show your face to the customers
A great way to improve the hotel’s hospitality and standing among its guests is by being actively involved in customer service. Go to the lobby to meet and greet the hotel’s customers. Facilitate any customer request or demand. Provide a friendly and efficient service.
In addition, by roaming the lobby, you can kill two birds with one stone. Along with offering customer assistance, you can check on the front desk staff and provide them constructive feedback. This boosts employee morale and encourages the staff to work harder.
Tip 3- Host staff meetings
Being a hotel manager isn’t a simple task. It requires understanding the hotel and its employees' needs. An amazing tip for efficient staff and business management is to host daily staff meetings.
Every morning before the day begins, call an employee meeting, where you can discuss and delegate any important tasks for the day. Moreover, use the meetings to get regular feedback from the staff. Incorporate the feedback into improving employee work-life and overall hotel management.
Tip 4- Use booking engines to the fullest
Every hotel manager and hotelier knows the importance of a good booking engine. Use the booking engine’s data information and analysis to make informed decisions on hotel policies. This includes marketing strategies and daily operations.
Your role also includes finding the perfect booking engine for your hotel. You can do that via research on current hotel industry trends and user demands.
Tip 5- Reward your hotel staff
Everyone knows a workplace with happy and motivated employees will yield better results. As a hotel manager, it is your duty to ensure employee workplace welfare. A great reward system uses positive reinforcement. For example, you can award a small incentive such as a Starbucks gift card to the employee of the month.
Key Takeaways
The life of a hotel manager is not an easy one. To be successful, you must exceed management expectations of the hotel customers, the staff, and the hotel owner.
We are offering a 14-day pilot version of our cloud-based PMS app. Check out our comprehensive booking engine, and see how our system can streamline your hotel’s operations. Utilizing modern-day technology will help you run your hotel with efficiency and confidence.