7 Pandemic Era Skill Sets Every Hotel Manager Must Acquire

Understanding how things work in a pandemic era is the new skill set that is urgently required of hotel managers.

Organizations are looking for this in a covid-19 ravaged environment.

Have you built those new skill sets in yourself?

Are you ready for this new normal?

I will lay out 7 skill sets born out of the pandemic which are critical to your success.

These are skills you will need to exhibit to your employer.

You are likely to fall behind in the race if you do not update yourself.

This blog post will cover 7 skill set areas for a hotel manager in what can only be described as a pandemic era:

Skill Set 1 - Flexibility & Adaptability

Hotel managers traditionally are used to pressure situations caused by a constantly busy operation.

However, those situations have become pretty standard and more of a repetitive scenario.

As long as they apply a planned method, they could handle the situation well.

But the new normal is something entirely different.

It defies plans.

There is not much to plan for in this state of flux.

It is more about the ability to pivot fast and act even faster.

It is about being nimble.

How quickly can you assess, regroup and implement?

Do you have an open mindset?

Can you adjust to new and unexpected deadlines?

Can you wear multiple hats at the same time?

The standard strategies work when you consider that business was generally brisk and in reality taken for granted.

You knew you had good business, you only had to prepare to execute.

What do you do when there’s no business?

When occupancies are sometimes in single digits.

Revenue is drying up fast.

This is not a situation for boiler plate solutions.

It requires one to acknowledge something which in our life time we possibly never confronted.

The absence of customers!

Your success here will depend on your adaptability.

How fast can you unlearn all those traditional strategies?

Which are of no use now!

It will test your ability no end.

Running a full house is one thing.

Having no customers in your hotel is totally something else.

Your flexibility will be determined by how action oriented you are.

Theory will not work any more.

It is time to act and fast.

How will you make yourself more flexible and adaptable?

Think about it carefully.

Survival of your business depends on it.

And now on to the next skill set.

Skill Set 2 - Critical Thinking & Problem Solving

Becoming flexible is a good thing.

But it is not good enough.

What is required is workable solutions.

For that, you need the ability to problem solve.

Did you notice the last part of that sentence?

The study concluded that 37% of employers thought managers lacked the top soft skill set of critical thinking and problem solving!

Imagine the importance of this skill set for employers!

Good critical thinkers ask questions that can help them dig a little deeper.

Why is this important?

What is happening?

Who is being affected?

What can I do differently and so on.

It is about getting to the bottom of things.

Are you a problem solver?

Can you dig deep into a situation quickly first?

And then analyze the problem.

Figuring out options.

Selecting the best option.

Take decisions based on that.

Measure results and compare with strategy.

What went wrong?

What is working?

Course correct and change tactics where necessary.

All in quick time.

In the end, it is getting the job done, solving the problem.

For example, your first priority is bringing the customer back to your hotel!

Just think about that!

How alien it sounds.

Even in normally low months of occupancy you had some business coming in.

You never had to think about bringing the customer to your hotel most times.

Well, now that will define your survival and success now.

Let us get to the third skill set.

Skill Set 3 - Data Literacy & Tech Savvy

82% of job vacancies now require some kind of digital skills.

This is now not just an investment in technologies by organizations.

More critically it is an investment in people who understand and embrace technology.

This is about you being data literate.

Hotel managers have traditionally been used to technology a great deal.

With the Property, Yield, Sales, Inventory and more management systems they dealt with on a day to day basis.

But now the situation demands something totally different.

In the past, hotel managers used the system to basically run the operation.

Even the yield management system threw up options for pricing and room inventory management which were utilized.

So, how is now different, you ask?

Well, for starters, you now had to use technology to bring back the customer to your hotel.

You never did that before.

Of course, you increased occupancy levels by bringing in more customers.

But now you have to start from scratch.

Your customers have also drastically changed during the pandemic.

They will need phenomenal convincing.

They are afraid of traveling.

How will you convince them to travel and then come to your hotel?

Are you data literate enough?

What is data literacy you ask?

This includes an understanding of data sources and more

Do you have to become an Information Technology expert, you ask?

Not entirely.

But you need to understand information much much more for the major priority: customer acquisition.

For those of us who have studiously avoided getting involved with technology, there are no other options.

So, ask yourself how data literate you are.

Remember what we said earlier, you will need to wear hats you have never worn before.

Let us march to skill set four.

Skill Set 4 - Emotional Intelligence & Empathy

It is ironical.

On the one hand you need to be data literate.

But equally or perhaps even more, you must exhibit emotional intelligence.

How empathetic are you?

How well do you understand the problems and predicaments of your employees?

Are you good at making genuine human connections?

These are just some of the basic questions you need to ask yourself.

You may be thinking: but what is new about this?

Well, what is new is that your employees have gone through the pandemic as much as you and the hotel have.

They have suffered a lot too.

Many of them lost their jobs.

Tragically, many lost their lives.

Does your empathy recognize the trauma of all this?

So, now you need to be even more considerate of your employee problems.

Even while you are trying to motivate them to do their best!

Business tends to be driven a lot by deadlines.

Deadlines which are often given more priority than challenges faced by employees.

Now you cannot take the same approach.

You have to be sensitive, empathetic and understanding.

And on to the fifth skill set.

Skill Set 5 - Thinking Outside the Box

Remember critical thinking and problem solving earlier?

When was the last time you applied critical thinking to bring back customers?

It is a weird thought.

We always assumed the basic customer base of our business is a given!

Well, covid-19 has done a major reset of our assumptions!

It is not any more a given.

Nothing is.

You are expected now to not just be a critical thinker but one who is an innovator as well.

Be it customer acquisition, service or any other area.

You must come up with solutions which did not exist before.

You have no choice.

Your competitor is doing it faster than you.

And taking away business from you.

Can you keep up or get ahead?

Thinking outside the box is all about not assuming anything.

It is beginning with a clean slate.

You must now begin afresh to build up your hotel occupancy.

Negotiate room rates all over again.

Look for customer sources which you never ventured into before.

Provide incentives and benefits to employee you never did before.

It is a new normal and it is a scary one.

But being inside the box will not cut it.

Let us now move to skill set six.

Skill Set 6 - Coaching & Communication

The need for strong, visible leadership qualities has surfaced like never before.

In this stressed environment which is the new normal, your employees need you more than ever.

You must keep communication lines going all the time.

Your ability to coach and guide will be in demand more than ever.

To do this, you must first be on top of what is happening in the hotel operation.

What challenges are your employees going through?

Shortage of supplies?

Shortage of staff?

Fatigue?

Fear?

How can you assist and support your employees in this trying time?

Are you geared for this?

Many managers are not good at coaching and guidance which are essential leadership traits.

They delegate but forget to follow up.

Well, in the pandemic era, leaders will be required to show up and guide.

There is no other way.

And in all of this communication will be key.

More and more you will be required to seek employee feedback.

Of what is working.

And what is not.

How to change course if not working.

Flexibility in leadership will also be tested.

And now to the final skill set.

Skill Set 7 - Financial Savvy & Decisions

Last but certainly not least, this is often a revenue strapped environment you are operating in with single digit occupancies.

It will require you to update your financial and business skills sets like never before.

You will come across figures in your Profit and Loss Statement you have never seen before.

You will see expenses exceed revenue like never before.

You will see monthly results showing losses like never before.

In this scenario, your understanding of new sources of revenue and business will be invaluable.

Not to mention identifying sources of wastage, breakage, pilferage, and excess expenses.

Every dollar of expense saved will make the bottom line better (even if it is still in the red!).

Do you understand revenue behavior?

How do your fixed expenses work?

What is your break even point?

And so on.

More than ever, you will be required to analyze and take decisions that boost revenue and profit.

Are you ready?

Is It All Gloom & Doom? Hardly...

I want to make a couple of points clear.

I am not being a doomsday merchant.

Nor am I suggesting that hotel managers do not or cannot be all of these things.

Or some of you may even feel that I am not talking about any new skill sets at all.

All I am saying is that the pandemic has jolted everyone out of their inertia.

And made prominent things we had taken for granted!

Practices we had stopped using.

Become complacent.

If you have continued to espouse all the seven skill sets, good for you!

You may become a valuable member of the management team like never before.

To forge new paths.

And reach new targets.

That is needed more than ever.

Key Takeaways

What are your thoughts on the 7 pandemic era skill sets I laid out?

Did I miss any major skill set?

Do you think these are indeed skill sets you must now exhibit?

Do you have any suggestions to deal with the Pandemic era?

Comment below on these and any other thoughts.

I am keen to know what your thoughts are.

If you liked the post, please share it with your colleagues or any one who may benefit from it.

See you in the next blog post.

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