Innovation in hospitality

Innovation can start, for example, by motivating your employees, who most often know your company and its problems better than anyone else. Encourage them to participate in a corporate innovation program that goes far beyond the famous “suggestion box” in the cafeteria of your hotel or near human resources.

Often employees yearn to have a more active voice in the company, but find no room for it. And after failed attempts, they end up settling down to do only what is expected of them, according to their role or position. Engaging your employee to participate in the day-to-day decisions of the company requires good planning and the interest in listening to the employee needs to be valued. It is of no use asking for suggestions if they are not properly analyzed.

INNOVATIVE ACTIONS

There are several ways to engage employees to participate in a corporate innovation program. One way is to start with small actions to introduce the culture of innovation into the company – always keep in mind that changes can generate a lot of resistance. You can, for example, launch an “innovation challenge”, dividing your employees into teams, mixing people from all departments, so that they solve a particular problem in your hotel, for example: how to reduce paper costs in maintenance? In reserves? You can start with a simple problem, and as employees feel more engaged and familiar with the challenges, complexity can increase. The prize may be to give the winner an extra day off, for example. Or not having to go to work on your birthday. But before you start innovation actions in your company, it is important to ask yourself:

IS MY HOTEL CHAIN INNOVATIVE?

It is not because on the homepage of the site it is written that your company is innovative, that your employees, suppliers, customers and also competitors perceive it that way. Do an exercise by answering the following questions:

– What is the DNA of my company, my hotel, my hotel chain and the perception of the market and employees in relation to it? Do an exploration job by interviewing your target audience;

– What is my differential against my competitors?

– How is innovation applied in my hotel chain today?

– How is the inclusion and engagement of employees in the company’s decisions?

– My company really has an interest in giving employees a voice to give suggestions for process improvements and problem solving, or deep down I’m adept at the saying “do you really need it?”.

If your company is innovative, excellent! Your employees will already be familiar with the culture of innovation and actions can be more consistent.

If the company is seen as a traditional company, start introducing the culture of innovation gradually, with a well-structured strategic planning and test actions, to evaluate the results. Remember: the introduction of a new culture takes a long time and should be consistent to the point of not giving up this focus. How about we set up an innovation management committee?

Don’t underestimate the value your employees can have in the innovation process in your company. After all, good ideas come out of everywhere, but you need to be open and create these opportunities to listen to your employees. Seek approvals to put them into practice.

Remember, who shares, grows!!!!

A hug,

Bernal