Training Your Hotel Staff On A New PMS Should Take Minutes, Not Days

Time is an incredibly valuable currency, especially in the hospitality world. Running a hotel effectively requires efficiency and guest-focus to always be top of mind — which means your staff, internal processes, guest observations (and more) all have to be firmly intact, supported and operating smoothly to ensure ongoing success. While aiming to work smarter, not harder, hoteliers frequently find themselves searching for advanced solutions to enhance daily operations and streamline management efforts. After all, the more time these solutions can save a hotel, the better.

This is where the consideration of PMS solutions comes into play, as hoteliers are faced with the choice between the new generation of property management systems and older, legacy systems. The ideal PMS system will help you raise service levels, drive revenues, reduce costs, and ultimately change the way you connect with your guests. So which PMS will achieve that most effectively? New school hotel technology.

High Turnover Calls For PMS Tools That Make Onboarding Easy

The hospitality industry has long been known for high staff turnover rates and a high volume of employees fitting a younger demographic.  Some studies measure the turnover between 31% and 34% as the industry norm. Other studies show employee turnover rates level among non-management hotel employees are up to 50%. This places additional importance on the on-boarding process each hotel has in place, demanding systems and processes that are easy for new staff to learn and master as they embrace their new role.

Legacy and current PMS solutions are often limiting in this capacity, as they tend to be rather difficult and time consuming to learn, even when these solutions offer cloud-based or mobile versions. This creates a need for external trainers to come onsite simply to train staff on a solution that, quite frankly, often isn’t intuitive enough to keep up with the demand of modern day hotel infrastructure. In fact, this has become a common complaint amongst industry professionals over the years —.

Hotel staff are increasingly younger and more tech-savvy- with a preference for mobile devices. They will not only respond and adapt positively to technologically forward solutions that prioritize ease-of-use, but it will reduce the pressure on management to set aside additional time for extensive system training whenever they bring on a new hire. After all, training your staff on your new PMS should take minutes, not days.

The new generation of PMS software is easy to use and created specifically to streamline processes such as front desk demands, rate management, reservation, housekeeping and financials. This helps to increase revenue, reduce costs, increase guest service and increase staff efficiency, all whilst also ensuring that your PMS software can connect to all technology partnerships that your hotel has in place (web booking APIs, channel management software etc.), or hopes to implement in the future.

Support Your Team with Ultimate Ease-of-Use

In today’s hospitality landscape, ease-of-use becomes the primary factor predicting the internal adoption and success of your PMS tool. So it comes as no surprise, that a recent study conducted by Capterra revealed that 74% of field service companies counted functionality or ease of use as a top priority for choosing new software. This means the emphasis of modern-day software and technology should be usability — hoteliers need a system which enables fast implementation, quick learning curve, great support and comprehensive training materials to support ongoing adoption.

The PMS system in place should either enable the user to do something they weren’t able to do before, or allow them to complete a certain activity in less time and with less expended effort. If the tool in place doesn’t meet these standards, your employees will not perceive the system as being easy to use or efficient.

Ultimately, your employees want to feel supported, and providing them with the right tools will not only enable them to do their best work, but will help to increase internal morale, job satisfaction and productivity as they feel confident and well-equipped in their role.

An Easy to Use PMS Will Enhance Guest Service

In a recent study, 70% of staff said poorly performing technology is a drain on their productivity rates. Poor technology is also demotivating and results in a drain which directly alters the level of guest service they feel enabled to provide. With a high-performing, intuitive and easy to use system in place, your employees can spend more time focusing on what matters: your guests. With advanced, mobile solutions, you can free your staff from the front desk or their respective posts and allow them to interact with guests on a more personal level. This not only enhances guest service, but also allows for efficient, responsive action when unique needs (or even set-backs) present themselves.

Here are some hallmarks of usability you should look for in a hotel property management system:

• Instinctual and easy to learn
• Speed
• Quick implementation and setup
• Mobile and cloud access
• Easy integrations
• Reliability without disruptions

With these integral considerations in mind, the choice between old and new generation PMS technology becomes simple. Enable your hotel to reach optimal functionality and efficiency with an easy to use, intuitive solution that will grow with you — not slow you down.