Whenever you go to a hotel, you will find that the hotel staff will manage the task given to time with utmost care so that the guest will get a satisfying experience. If the staff members are motivated and bright, the engagement level with the customer increases.
This will eventually turn their mood; even if they don’t like anything, they will leave a positive review. As a manager of a hotel or the staff, it’s important that you should look after the work of each employee. This is important as they are the reason behind the guest’s happiness.
But it is important to get Online reviews from the customer so that you will get an idea of how your employees at doing. Online hotel reviews are an excellent way to improve work and positively motivate employees.
How do online reviews affect the morale and motivation of hotel employees?
Job satisfaction is very important for the retention of employees. Not only that, but it is also important to fulfil or complete the customers’ demands. It displays the gratification which the employees get while they are working in the workplace.
Online reviews play an important role in the productivity of the employee. Unsatisfied customers will leave a negative review which can lower employees’ morale. But such circumstances can become dangerous, especially in the hotel or similar industry, as the inferior services offered by the hotel can directly impact customer satisfaction and eventually degrade the brand’s reputation. Given that low ratings and a negative review can erode the business.
The online reviews impact on hotel employee performance can be positive or negative. A positive review can boost the level of confidence and motivate the employees to work harder. In comparison, a negative review can sometimes lower their morale.
Also, there could be multiple other reasons for the negative review, including lack of employee training, lack of staff members, lack of rewards and unskilled coworkers. It must be important for all the employees to learn how to progress in the role given to them.
However, if they don’t have sufficient training, they won’t be able to work well. So, it’s important to motivate the employees and track their work through their reviews.
How can hotel managers leverage online reviews to improve employee performance?
Here are a few steps which the hotel manager can take to leverage online hotel reviews to improve employee performance:
- Respond and monitor the reviews
The guest voice has become quite prominent online. It’s essential to understand what your customer is saying. And this could be done by interacting with them.
Online reviews can be used to improve employee performance by monitoring and responding to the given customer reviews regularly. It has been found that your responding to the reviews can increase the demand for the hotel by 50%.
The hotel manager should take the necessary steps to ensure employees work properly. The best way to do so is by responding to and monitoring the online reviews, and it should be the topmost priority of all hotels.
Moreover, it has been found that responding to lesser reviews can result in lower scores for the hotel. Whether you want to develop any new approach or make any creative response, it can help to retain and win guests.
- Collection and analysis of data
Online reviews consist of dozens of information about the customers and what they are criticizing appraising about the hotel’s, way of getting customer feedback to improve the course of work. Online reviews act as free-form text. Now the main job of the hotel manager is to analyse the information and discover the latest trend by evaluating the data.
Moreover, with the help of online review technology, it has become easier to analyse free-form text. It will also help gain insight into the guest’s feelings, dislikes, and likes.
To get a clear picture of how your employees work after getting a negative review, you can ask as much as possible for regular feedback from the guest. Every hotel must contain a guest satisfaction solution which should be emailed to every guest so they can tell about their experience at checkout. With the digital survey, one can combine the data to get a clear picture of guest satisfaction.
Submitting the survey reviews whenever a person visits the hotel is important. This will rank the hotel in the popularity index. The popularity index can later be used to compare the hotels in one geographical area. The hotels that are close and topmost in the list should be reflected first whenever a person searches for a hotel in a specific area. The hotel manager should take responsibility for checking the reviews given to the hotel. You can check the hotel employee performance appraisal sample to motivate your employees. The survey should contain ratings of the quality and recency of the hotel.
The best a manager can do is to motivate and encourage the employees working under him. Even if that particular employee didn’t get a positive customer review or the hotel didn’t get a good service score, the staff manager should ensure that none of its employees gets hampered by the reviews given to them or the hotel.
Do positive online reviews impact hotel employee performance more than negative reviews? Why or why not?
The chances of getting a positive review could be more evident. It depends upon the more and the services provided to the customers. However, the type of review given to the employees, whether positive or negative, can surely impact the hotel staff.
However, studies have revealed that positive ratings are most likely given to hospitality businesses rather than negative reviews. Online reviews positively affect hotel booking so they can communicate between employees and customers. Positive feedback or review will surely positively impact the employees, motivating them to work harder.
On the other hand, a negative review will result in lower self-esteem and eventually result in poor employee performance. However, it is still important to show the negative report to the employees, and the manager should tend to help them so they won’t get motivated. But in comparison, a positive review will always have a greater impact on the performance of the employees.
How do hotel employees respond to negative online reviews, and how does this impact their performance?
It’s important to maintain the employee retention rate even if the hotel gets a negative customer response. It’s important to act wisely and positively take criticism.
Here are a few things which hotel employees should do after getting a negative review:
- The employee should respond to the customer within a few days of getting the review
- Thank the guest for raising their concern
- Address the guest by taking their name
- Apologise for poor facilities provided or not meeting customer standards
- Address that your organisation will work on that
- Give the guest credit, refund, or any other perm
- Do not say too much while addressing the concerns
Moreover, employees must work on themselves after getting a negative review. Always try to figure out where the problem lies.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, online hotel reviews are crucial in improving hotel employee performance. The Online reviews can be positive or negative. It completely depends on the customer experience. It is only sometimes possible that the employees will get positive reviews, but the manager should always motivate their employees for continuous improvement of the employees.
