Hotels have been on an upward sweep and rebound since the pandemic ended. According to data from Visit Britain, room occupancy has been on the up and up. Hotel occupancy rates hit 81% in 2022, and in May 2023, room occupancy rates hit 78% — the exact figure it sat at in 2019, pre-pandemic. What does this mean? To put it mildly, hotels are busy, and as a hotel manager, you know it. The stats simply verify your daily operational reality.
Challenge Faced by Hotel Managers
This resurgence underscores a critical operational question for hotel managers: How can you efficiently staff your hotel to meet fluctuating customer demand without incurring unnecessary labour costs?
This challenge is precisely where Deputy’s workforce management solution comes into play. During this bustling post-pandemic period, Deputy can be your reliable partner. With our user-friendly workforce management tool, you can forecast the demand coming your way and create perfect staff rotas to match.
Optimising Operations with Labour Forecasting
This approach, known as labour forecasting, not only optimises rota coverage and cost reduction but also adapts your workforce to changing dynamic demand fluctuations, all while minimising administrative time. The result? A more efficient and cost-effective hotel operation and a sigh of relief for you, the hotel manager.
Steve Woods, Deputy’s Director of Customer Success, EME, elaborates on Deputy’s benefits:
“Deputy enables clients to fine-tune their rota planning by accurately determining shift lengths and timings based on comprehensive labour demand forecasts. We then streamline the shift allocation process, considering each employee's qualifications, availability, and specific requirements, ensuring managers assign the right person to each shift.”
The Financial Impact of Accurate Staffing
Labour expenses account for up to 25% of a hotel's operating expenses and are pivotal in managing costs and enhancing your hotel’s overall financial performance.
But here's the exciting part: accurate staffing levels directly influence the quality of service and overall guest experience your hotel can deliver.
By adjusting labour in accordance with forecasted customer demand, your hotel can deliver consistent and high-quality service, increasing customer loyalty, retention and referrals.
Innovating with Technology
A noteworthy advancement in this area is Deputy’s latest integration with Lightspeed, which elevates labour forecasting to a new level. The Deputy and Lightspeed integration syncs sales data in real-time from the Lightspeed K system into Deputy’s sales metrics, allowing for immediate tracking of real-time sales vs labour costs in Deputy’s smart scheduling feature.
This integration empowers hotel managers to devise the most cost-effective staff schedules by providing insights into sales trends and labour expenditure. And with our intuitive sales vs wages graph the data is so easy to understand at a glance, so you can efficiently schedule the right amount of staff per shift according to real-time insights.
We also integrate with Predelo, a predictive workforce management platform, to analyse vast amounts of data, identify trends, and predict future demand accurately. This technological leverage will help transform how you schedule your staff, manage resources and serve your guests. Predictive workforce management technology takes the guesswork out of labour forecasting so you can make data-driven decisions that benefit both your guests and your bottom line.
Embracing Deputy for Future-Ready Hotel Operations
Deputy’s role in demand planning is crucial for future-proofing hotel operations. With the post-pandemic uptick in hotel occupancy rates, it can be challenging to strike the right balance between labour costs and customer demand.
That’s where we come in - our user-friendly workforce management tool allows you to create flexible and precise staffing models tailored to your hotel’s needs. You can optimise rota coverage and reduce costs by utilising labour forecasting while seamlessly adjusting shift schedules to meet changing demand. Find out more in our guide, Ditch Dinosaur Scheduling: Why Digital Tools Give Your Hotel a Competitive Edge
Don’t just take our word for it - listen to our satisfied clients who have seen significant improvements in their labour management thanks to Deputy. So what are you waiting for? Sign up for a free trial now and experience the benefits of Deputy firsthand. Trust us, your hotel operations will thank you.
