An organization is only as successful as the people who work there and today organizations throughout the hospitality industry understand this return on investment. Organizations know the importance of retaining employees and the added benefit of making them better regardless of position.

Communication is the key to connecting to the staff at all levels which is critical to employee retention and growth. A performance review creates the opportunity to:

1. Identify areas for improvement
2. Reward good performance
3. Identify opportunities for growth
4. Address overall concerns effectively

Typically, managers conduct performance reviews in person on an annual or semi-annual basis. An employee evaluation form is a foundation for the review and it should be filled out by both the employee and the manager prior to the meeting. This form should outline the employee’s job responsibilities, skill requirements, and goals and objectives. It is important to note that although all evaluation forms should have the same rating scale to ensure consistency, each form should be different to reflect each distinct job position to ensure accuracy and fairness.

How to Create Motivated Employees

Many organizations within the hospitality industry suffer from psychological turnover. This occurs when employees abandon productivity and become unmotivated. This can be caused by many things such as:

Without a proper evaluation process, it is difficult to ensure that all of these important employee factors are consistently addressed.

Hourly and seasonal employees can be a transient demographic and are common throughout the hospitality industry. In addition, it is difficult to motivate these employees when growth opportunities are not always available. A performance review is a tool to assist a manager and employee to set goals and objectives that are realistic, attainable, and motivating.

For example, a server or a reservation agent may not have the opportunity to move into a management position quickly. If it is leadership skills that the server is looking to gain, a team lead position may be the interim solution to help retain this individual. Another example may be that the reservation agent may express a technical interest in the POS system and is looking to gain skills in that area. The manager can then use this information to provide the training or opportunity needed to help each employee meet their goals.

Management Performance

In order for managers to successfully motivate employees, they first have to be motivated and committed to the performance appraisal process themselves. Management reviews are just as important if not more to the overall success of an organization because it sets a model of how performance is evaluated at the top level. The investment needs to be higher at the management level because it is not just the positive example that will trickle down to all employees, but the mistakes as well.

Management performance evaluations should concentrate on:

Recognition and respect are the two most important motivating factors in the workplace regardless of position and this can only be created when there are two-way communications. The most effective way to ensure this communication exists is with a consistent and effective performance appraisal process. Once the individual factors that motivate and empower each individual have been identified, managers can use this information to retain top talent within their organization. People inherently want to succeed so by giving your employees the tools and opportunities, you will build a strong foundation for a successful business.