Please don’t leave me: Sure, Pink was likely not referring to her Maintenance Supervisor, but I wonder how many Hotel GM’s sings this song to themselves when someone hands in their resignation if they are given the luxury of a notice. According to Compensation Force, the Hospitality Industry is one that ranks in the top 5 of highest employee turnover. In fact, according to Compensation Force, Hospitality suffered a staggering turnover rate of over 25% last year alone! While there are various positions within a hotel, and even more reasons given highlighting why so many employees leave, one thing I have seen throughout my day-to-day interaction with hotels, in particular, is that the majority of this turnover is suffered in the maintenance department.

Bye…Bye…Bye: Because it’s Meh or May for those not impersonating JT. As I eluded to above, there are many opinions regarding the “why” of this turnover issue. While it is important for management within hospitality to take these reasons seriously if they hope to improve retention, this article is geared more toward providing a solution specific to maintenance employees leaving, and the impact it has.

Dirty Water: Although this 1965 song from The Standells has become a stadium anthem in Boston, dirty water is a revenue killer for hotels! Often, personnel within a hotel’s maintenance department is responsible for the management of their pool or spa or both. So why is this tidbit relevant? This individual is directly responsible for one of the top attention-gaining amenities a hotel can boast. Whether or not a hotel has a pool and the aesthetics of a pool area directly influences a potential guest’s decision to book a room with you or just down the road with your competition. In fact, according to Myrtle Beach Hotels’ website, an outdoor pool ranks second, trailing only comfortable beds, as a “must-have” feature when booking a hotel.

With Great Power, Comes an Even Greater Responsibility: An aesthetically pleasing pool aquatic facility, when accompanied by proper daily maintenance, is a powerful tool to attract guests to a hotel. That said, the décor will matter very little if the appearance of the pool itself and its water are less than impressive. Allowing your commercial pool and spa to slip is one way of ensuring first-time guest converts to a one-time guest. Think about it; aside from needing a place to stay, how many of us enjoy being taken care of and having little responsibility when staying in a hotel? A key trait that motivates people to stay in a hotel is to be taken care of, right?

Since You’ve Been Gone: Ever give a catchy song a remix that is more in line with your current situation? If I’m not alone on this, I imagine several hotels GM’s ad lib this song, dedicating it to their previous maintenance guy or gal. I’m convinced Ms. Clarkson belted this song when she came to terms with the fact that someone left. So too then will hotel GMs eventually recognize the fact that their maintenance person has gone. If not, it will be glaringly obvious when the hotel’s pool begins to look like a glass of water after an alka-seltzer tab has been dropped in it. So, now what? The same maintenance person that left was also the keeper of your pool and spa, expertly managing the daily checklist of “must do’s”. A GM is now left with three choices (four if you include assuming the fetal position and crying): 1) delegate this responsibility to another employee, 2) bring in a newly hired maintenance employee, or 3) take over the task themselves.

Break Down: True, Jack Johnson was referring to a train coming to a halt so he could see what there is to see, but let’s do exactly what the song says, let’s break down the three measures identified in the previous paragraph.

Delegating: As the GM, you choose to grab an employee from, let’s say a closely related department, housekeeping; at this point, your housekeeping department is likely falling behind, and/or not performing at the same level required to ensure the maximum enjoyment of your guests. Why? Let’s assume the person you pulled from housekeeping was your all-star. After all, why would you grab someone who provides average work in their primary role and gives them even more responsibility? What you have now done is you have taken a top performer from an area crucial to keeping your hotel full. What could this mean? Simply, with a slower, less than impressive room turnover rate and quality, you likely cannot maintain the same high guest turnover rate you once enjoyed. Additionally, what continues to happen to your pool while this person is trained and brought up to speed on how to properly maintain a commercial pool? Now, how much time and effort will it take to get your pool back to a satisfactory level, and keep it that way?

Hiring New: Sure, this is always an option and one that is an obvious contributor to the high turnover rate within the hospitality industry; but let’s consider the cost of bringing in a new maintenance person. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the mean salary of a maintenance worker in 2016 was $36,940 per year. Now, assuming this individual will accept the title of “Maintenance Director” or “Facilities Manager,” let’s look at the cost of losing an employee and hiring a new one. According to Zane Benefits, every time you replace a salaried employee, it costs your company 6-9 months’ salary on average. For a Maintenance Director salaried at $40,000 per year, it costs your company $20,000 to $30,000 in recruiting and training! Oh, by the way, during your search, the hiring process, and the training required for your new employee, your pool is not maintaining itself.

Assuming the Responsibility Yourself: Likely, I don’t even need to touch on this one in great detail; if you are the GM of a hotel, the last thing you have is more time to wear yet another hat!

Remedy: Giving my best impersonation of Mr. Mraz, with no one else around to blackmail me with a recording of it, I’m here to remedy one of the staffing leaks greatly affecting the hospitality industry. While it is nowhere near a new term, many hotel chains have not considered (or have given little consideration to) outsourcing the maintenance of their commercial pool and/or spa. True, I cannot help in your housekeeping department…or, can I? By bringing in a professional, you can be sure of two things: 1) we won’t up and quit on you and 2) your pool will be professionally cared for and potential issues will be diagnosed and remedied early and efficiently. Back to housekeeping, I won’t promise you that I will help turn over a room, but I can promise that the superstar housekeeper will be focused on exactly that, keeping the house! Plus, and perhaps most important to your company’s P&L, you can save money by bypassing the new hire process, a cycle you have rinsed through over and over. As identified above, your first-year cost, on average, of hiring a new maintenance director is anywhere from $60,000-$70,000. My company, Leisure Pool & Spa Supply, Inc., can open and close your pool, provide a weekly service package, handle bacteriological water testing (as required weekly in the state of IN), supply all chemicals and equipment, and even take care of any repairs, upgrades, and remodelling projects. Leaving out the unknown costs, your pool can be professionally managed and maintained for roughly $1500 annually (depending on the size of your pool and required maintenance/service repairs)!

Call Me, Maybe: Whether you are a hotel, apartment complex, or a parks department, my goal is to develop a relationship that brings value beyond the products we sell.

Should you see the value in bringing in a commercial aquatic expert to maintain your pool and/or spa, please feel free to reach out. Get in contact with the information provided below, and I would love to discuss if we can help fix your maintenance employee turnover leak! [Contact us!]