March 29, 2021
I’ve always been a huge fan of the Rocky movies. No matter what gets thrown at Rocky, he always gets back up and keeps fighting. Other fighters were bigger than him; faster than him; more skilled than him. None, though, could match his perseverance or tenacity. I admired Rocky’s grit. You get hit; you keep fighting. You get knocked down; you get back up. Again, and again…and…again.
Wow! What a year we’ve had in the VR industry. This time last year everything came to a grinding halt. Most of us weren’t sure our businesses would make it, but we persevered. We buckled down; we got gritty. We fought through it.
Then, more challenges were thrown our way. In most areas, the demand for vacation rental homes exceeded the available supply. There was pent-up demand for vacations and travelers flooded into resort towns all across the country looking to create some semblance of normal life. Property managers and cleaning companies weren’t prepared for the booming demand; all organizations had to ramp up their staffing. The problem…staff is hard to find.
Areas that normally rely on a boost in staffing from H2Bs and J1s are looking to the local market to find staff. Unfortunately enough for them, much of the local workforce is receiving unemployment benefits and other government aide that disincentivizes them to get back to work. So what do you do in this situation?
Ultimately, you will need to be able to do the same (or more) work with less staff. We’ve put together a short list of ways that ResortCleaning can help you persevere through this tough situation:
a. Effectively communicate your expectations using property and service specific checklists.
b. Inspect what you expect using property photos
i. Use the RC grading system to communicate specific areas for improvement for each housekeeper
c. Stop wasting time texting your staff. Use built in notifications and alerts to handle routine information
a. Auto-generated housekeeping, inspection and maintenance schedules save time typically spent on assigning tasks to staff and contractors
b. Unit statuses should be updated automatically via your housekeeper’s mobile devices
a. Technology should take off the administrative burden where possible. Here are few examples:
i. Guest Checkout notifications so cleaning teams can get started earlier.
b. Reduce wasted time by building and enforcing productivity standards.
a. Do you need housekeepers or housekeeping companies? ResortCleaning can help. We can connect you to housekeeping. companies in your area and, in some cases, send you individual housekeepers.
b. We are also happy to share some techniques we’ve used recruiting in very competitive markets in the past.
This too shall pass but the only way out is through. Let us help you navigate your way through this tough time. Sign up for a free trial of ResortCleaning today!
