8 Issues cause Hotel Manager Stress

Hotel Management has its share of perks and rewards. Hotel Managers are usually paid better salaries. Hotel Managers are usually in a better position to influence and lead change. Most importantly, there’s nothing like the satisfaction of helping an individual or Hotel team reach their goals and perform at their best.

However, there’s a price to pay for the status and those extra rewards and perks. Being a manager means you also have to deal with all the tough issues. Here are the top issues that causes a Hotel Manager stress or to lose sleep.

Confronting an Employee Performance Problem has been and always will be the major source of a Hotel Manager's stress. Many performance problems can be prevented with better selection practices and then by setting clear performance expectations. The sooner you engage in constructive feedback the faster you can facilitate a change in behaviour. Postponing discussions just prolong the problems.

Terminating an Employee is always going to be stressful. No Hotel Manager will ever get comfortable with this responsibility. When having to terminate somebody’s employment, make sure you use a fair consistent process, get training on how to conduct the discussion in a respectful way, and provide a fair package. And always make sure that you follow the legislation within your country.

Making the Right Hiring Decision Choosing between your final candidates can be difficult. If you choose wrong, you’re going to end up dealing with a few of the other problems on this list. The cure? Always use a good selection process. Get trained in selection interviewing; always get someone else’s second opinion.

Doing Something Unethical or Wrong Here’s a tip somebody gave me early on in my career: when making a decision, ask yourself, “How comfortable would I be reading about my decision in the newspaper the next day”? That’s a far better question than “What are the chances of being caught?” However, if you mess things up (and we all do), then the best thing is to come clean and own up. Learn from mistakes. 

Confronting Your own Manager Most Hotel Managers are reasonably competent with good intentions (and they are). But Managers and people, in general, don’t like being told they are wrong. Try putting yourself in your Manager’s position and offer your idea as an alternative to help them achieve their objectives. Also, listen and keep an open mind. Who knows, your Manager may have information that would lead you to reconsider your thoughts.

Team Conflicts As Hotel Managers, we all want our employees to collaborate and work as a team. But sometimes one employee comes to you with complaints about another employee, putting you in a difficult position. It is important to distinguish between task or personal conflict when alerted to a situation between team members. Task conflict is proven to be healthy and lead to the consideration and development of alternative ideas. Personal conflict, however, is toxic to teams and must be eliminated immediately. 

Losing a High Potential Employee Keep in mind, star performers will eventually get promoted or leave for better opportunities. But don’t wait until your employee shows up with an offer letter. By then, it’s too late. Make sure your high potential employees are paid what they are worth, are challenged, supported, and are learning. Let them know you care and how much you appreciate them.

Burnout Take care of your health and always keep a perspective on the things in life that really matter. Hotel Managers that don’t take vacations are not benefiting from the opportunity to rest they are deserved. They also set terrible examples for their employees, which can lead to burning them out as well. A primary cause of burnout is job satisfaction, not hard work. If you’re doing something you truly hate, then make a plan to transition to something else. Life is too short. We don’t need to settle for a Hotel job we hate.

Through his electronic writing, Stephen attempts to help those without the time or often the money to attend College by providing them with Learning.

Watching these vlogs and reading these blogs will assist hospitality students and workers in the Global Hospitality Industry to train and develop using Social Media.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Stephen Sawyers brings 20-years of Hotels and Hospitality Management to his book writing.

These blogs and vlogs are intended for hotel workers, supervisors and managers who are (or want to become) actively engaged in learning and development around the world. 

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