labour management & canadian hospitality industry

Labour Management Challenges

Mark Patte, Account Executive - Canada

Synerion Workforce Management Solutions

In the Hospitality Industry

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Agenda

• Hospitality Industry – Defined

• Current State of the Hospitality Industry

• Rising Challenge/ Issues

• The Role of WFM for Hospitality

• The Benefits and Features of WFM for Hospitality

• Areas of Opportunity

• Areas of Risk

• The Future of Hospitality and WFM

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Hospitality Industry - Defined

The Hospitality industry

“The scope of the hospitality industry comprises of a range of

businesses that provide services and facilities such as

accommodation, food and beverage, entertainment, gaming and

related products.

The term ‘Hospitality’ has become accepted over the years a generic

word, which describes the well being of services and facilities

related to tourists and travellers”

Source: OTAGO Polytechnic University

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Current State of the Hospitality IndustryMarket Trends

• Highly diverse sector with many segments – presenting a huge contrast and variety of businesses and establishments

• Success often depends on differentiation and appeal to the target market

• The Hospitality industry is one of the most dynamic and competitive sectors of the national economy

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2011 Facts

• Generated revenues of $16.4 billion

• Generated “value-added” of $15.2 billion

• Generated Government Revenues of $7.2 billion

• Employed 283,000 people

• Total wages estimated at $8 billion

(Source, Hotel Association of Canada and PFK Consulting)

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These industry identified issues have proven to be too complex for one organization to solve alone, and require the aid of workforce management solutions.

The set of workforce solutions is based on the hospitality industry's priorities that address issues such as:• Image• Recruitment• Retention• Language Skills• Employability/Soft Skills • Consistent Training Models and Skills Certifications

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Current State of the Hospitality IndustryComposition of the Workforce

Additional Statistics

• Huge growth in revenues over the last decade• As much as 50% growth in Revenues in some sectors since 1999

• Hospitality industries provide many young people with their first jobs

• In 2004 more than 21 percent of workers in these establishments (specifically food services) were aged 16 to 19, about 5 times the proportion for all industries

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Workforce Representation

• With a young workforce comes increasingly high turnover and

skill problems, resulting in high levels of:• Vacant posts• Hard to fill vacancies • Skill Shortage Vacancies • Internal Skills Gaps (where current employees lack necessary

skills for the job) affecting a large proportion of the current workforce


(Source, Managing an Aging Workforce in Hospitality – The Centre of Research into the Older Workforce )

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Labor Demands of the Hospitality Industry

• Hospitality operations operate on slim margins

• The control of labor costs is critical to being competitive and to the survival of an operation

• As they commonly represent at least 30 percent of gross income

• Hospitality careers are often stereotyped as low-wage and entry-level with little opportunity for advancement

• As a result, high turnover is a key challenge due to poor image, low wages and relying heavily on the youth labor pool


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Rising Challenges/ Issues

• The Hospitality Industry is facing pressure to generate revenue in order to be in a position to contribute back to to the overall growth of the economy

• Domestic and global uncertainties, such as 9/11, overseas issues, health epidemics, and the fluctuating value of the American dollar has put pressure and strains on the industries ability to flourish

• With the right WFM strategies in place, the industry has the potential to expand to open more businesses, create more jobs and in turn contribute to the vitality of every local economy

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Rising Challenges/ Issues

Hospitality is a Labor-Intensive Sector

• Need to: • Exceed Customer Expectations• Control Labor Costs • Retain Skilled WorkforceProfitability and success is rightly dependent on these factors

• Gaining efficiency in workforce productivity is about simply planning: making sure the right numbers of people are in the right place at the right time, doing the right job to be most effective while preserving the desired service level

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The Role of WFM in Hospitality

• To maximize yield and operate at full efficiency,

hospitality organizations must:

• Manage Excessive Labor costs • Hospitality’s largest operating expense

• Balance Payroll Costs without compromising Guest

Services and Satisfaction

• Equip management with real time information to:

• Monitor staffing• Analyze budget performance• Control labor costs• Focus on outstanding guest service

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Top WFM Labour Challenges in Hospitality

1. Coping with the dynamics of workforce planning• Understanding if there is a variance between the forecast and the actual planning is

crucial for budget control

2. Balancing between the different budget perspectives by the divisional manager versus the department managers • The divisional manager should be obligated to achieve the planned budget goals

whereas the department heads priority is to be prepared to uphold a high level of service at all times by effectively allocating and supporting resources

3. Lacking visibility into the exact labor costs • Differences between costs of employees can vary from 5-25% (dependent on skills and

experience)• There is a need to schedule employees while being aware of the costs according to

budget

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Top WFM Labour Challenges in Hospitality

4. Facing the risk of non-compliance with work regulations/ agreements • Negligence to this can cost operations penalties at the end of the year and additional

labor expenses

5. Making inaccurate and unnecessary payments of attended hours • Unauthorized early entries and late exists, outside of the schedule result in an

undesired increase of the budget• Manual processing managed on spreadsheets and papers and manually typed into the

payroll system is time consuming and prone to error

6. Controlling outsource expenses • Overpayments can results from direct, automatic payments to outsource providers as

there is limited control over the actual work that was provided

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The Benefits of WFM for Hospitality

Key Benefits

Adopting WFM Solutions for Hospitality simplifies management of the

workforce, resulting in:

• Cut Costs, Increased Yield Management and Improved Guest Services • Automate complex time and attendance calculations• Provide integrated scheduling tools which match employees with the demands specific

to the operation Example: Revenue peaks and valleys, seasonal occupancy trends, special event fluctuations

• Reduction in the time required to manage the workforce

• Reduced time it takes to schedule labor resources in adherence with staffing guidelines• Increasing manager and employee productivity spend on guest related function

(increasing yield and guest satisfaction).

• Efficiency - Controlled and reduced labour costs• Quickly identify gaps between the budget forecast and planned schedules • Alerts to warn of deviation to work hours, exceeding overtime thresholds, number of

shifts, rest time between shifts, number of consecutive days worked, etc…

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The Benefits of WFM for Hospitality

Key Benefits

• Mitigate Risk and Ensure Compliance Administration

• Ensure compliance with complex federal, provincial and union requirements• Reduced risk of statutory and/or union non-compliance and prevention of grievances

and penalties

• Automate Multiple and Unique Scheduling Challenges

WFM provides robust scheduling features focusing on areas such as:

• Occupancy/ Volume Forecasts, Arrivals, Departures • F&B Outlet and Banquet Forecasts/ Covers• Historical Analysis, Special Events, Weather Conditions • Employee Availability (School schedules, minor rules, etc.)• Employee Skill Ratings or Certifications • Company and Unions Rules• Best Practices

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Time and Attendance

Features of WFM for Hospitality

• Flexible work rules

• Fair, consistent and real time

calculation of pay polices, payroll

hours and gross pay for hourly and

salaried staff

• Complex wage calculations,

premiums, overtime, OT

distribution, holiday pay, and more

are automated

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Workforce Scheduling


• Automate labor scheduling process

• Help ensure adequate coverage for

all departments and positions

• Accommodates forecasted

demand, employee preferences,

labor standards and special

conditions, etc.

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Accrual and Leave

Management


• Automatically accrues and tracks

employee benefits• Example: Vacation and Sick

• Automates complex eligibility

requirements and scheduling• Supports unlimited vacation, sick,

or lieu time plans, bank carry-overs and forfeitures

• Provides scheduling features to fill vacancies with optimal staff

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Activity Tracking and

Costing


• Employees may hold multiple job

positions • With each position having different

rules, rates and manager approval.

• Tracks labor costs to departments,

projects, cost centers, work orders,

etc.• Supports multiple job positions at

the time clock device.

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Point Tracking and

Alert Manager

Policy Compliance


• Automatically alerts managers when

labor thresholds or events occur so

disciplinary action can be taken

immediately.

• Helps ensure compliance by applying

Government regulations• Including multiple pay rates, proper

overtime accounting, minor laws, meal penalties, tips distribution, Union policies, etc.

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Flexible Data

Collection Options

Seamless Payroll

Integration


• Accommodates hourly, salaried, and

remote employees by providing a wide

array of time collection methods;• Including badge terminal, biometric terminal,

telephone, web timesheet, smart phones/PDAs, POS, etc.

• Interfaces with POS systems used to

capture employee punches and number

of covers.

• Automatic transfer of pay data to your

payroll system. Speeds payroll

preparation, increases accuracy, and

eliminates data duplication.

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Areas of Opportunity

The key areas of opportunity of using automated workforce

management solutions within the hospitality industry are as

follows:

• Reduced labour costs by improving workforce productivity

• Visibility into labour costs, specifically planned costs vs. actual costs

• Comply with regulation and working agreements

• Pay based on more efficient schedules and compared to actual hours

worked

• Control Outsource expenses

• Reduce administrative work

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Areas of Risk

• Significant consequences can result from failing to address

the hospitality workforce management challenges and issues,

such as:• Higher Operating Costs

• Lack of visibility into exact labour costs • Exceeding budgets due to mismanaged planned vs. actual schedules • Inaccurate and unnecessary payments to employees• Uncontrolled outsourcing expenses

• Fines• Regulatory non-compliance or union grievances

• Poor Image• Reduction in customer service and satisfaction• Creates a bad reputation within the industry – no repeat business

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The Future of Hospitality and WFM

• Hospitality operations are starting to see an upward trend.

Dire need to implement WFM solutions to:• Direct Improvement of Bottom Line• Cut Largest Operating Expense: Labor • Leverage Areas of Opportunity

• WFM solutions can be utilized to:• Achieve optimum service levels and reduce staff costs. A WFM

system can ensure the right levels of staff are scheduled against the right tasks at the right time to ensure optimum service levels

• This prevents wasteful overstaffing and reduced customer service and satisfaction and sales through understaffing

Mark [email protected]

labour management & canadian hospitality industry

Documents

hospitality industries

term hospitality

future of hospitality

hospitality organizations

agenda hospitality industry

hospitality industrymark

current state

current workforce source