�Hospitality is an industry that is prone to high employee turnover rates,� said
Lori McInerney, Hospitality employment expert at CareerBuilder.com. �If an employee feels valued, they are more apt to stay and grow with a particular company and deliver a higher quality of customer service. With 30 percent of Hospitality workers reporting they feel like �just a number� to their employers, Hospitality organizations will need to upgrade retention strategies this year to keep their top performers, and their guests, from checking out early.�

Two-in-ten Hospitality workers have worked for ten or more employers. One�s relationship with his/her direct supervisor has a significant impact on whether that employee will have a positive work experience. One-in-four Hospitality workers say their supervisor does not make time to review job concerns and does not try to help them develop or improve. Nearly one-in-two feel they can do their supervisor�s job better if given the chance.

Job dissatisfaction amongst Hospitality workers extends to senior management. Forty-three percent of Hospitality workers feel their company leaders do not lead by example and 21 percent feel company leaders play favorites. Hospitality workers also report feeling disconnected with 35 percent stating that company leaders do not keep staff informed about company objectives.

�While there are many Hospitality organizations with inspiring leadership and management techniques, there are others that are unfortunately falling short in this area,� said McInerney. �Forty percent of Hospitality workers feel their company leaders are ineffective in motivating their employees. This carries serious implications for how well those employees and, ultimately the overall business, will perform.�

McInerney recommends the following Hospitality employee retention tips:

1. Define a clear path for upper mobility with training and development opportunities. Employees are more likely to invest in their jobs if they feel the company has invested in them.
2. Communicate often. An informed employee is a connected employee who will feel a personal stake in the success of a company.
3. Implement the �Three R�s Rule�: Recognize, Reward, Repeat. Pat your employees on the back for every job well done to continually reinforce your appreciation of their performance.
4. Ask them about their day. Measure employee satisfaction with the same conviction applied to measuring guest satisfaction as the first will determine the latter.

The CareerBuilder.com survey, �Life at Work 2004: Hospitality,� was conducted from February 17 to February 29, 2004 of more than 120 workers. To collect data for the survey, CareerBuilder.com commissioned SurveySite to use an e-mail methodology whereby individuals who are members of SurveySite Web Panel were randomly selected and approached by e-mail invitation to participate in the online survey. The results of this survey are accurate within +/-8.87 percentage points (19 times out of 20).

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