There is a proven link between loyalty programs and customer satisfaction. And just as guests respond well to encouragement to remain loyal, so do hotel employees. Today, more and more hoteliers are turning to employee incentive programs to raise morale and promote positive habits.
Robert Habeeb, president and chief executive officer of First Hospitality Group (FHG), has proof that these programs are key in shaping a healthy company culture. For the past 12 years, he has seen the benefits of employee rewards programs with FHG’s “People First” employee incentive program.
“Rewards are a very effective way to model employee behavior and a very powerful way to help with turnover and retain good employees,” he says. “What we have found is that marketing to the employees is as important as marketing to potential guests. We put a lot of effort behind making sure everyone knows about these programs.”
Habeeb and Steve Schwartz, chairman of FHG, decided to launch “People First” in 2003 as a creative way to attract, retain, and motivate team members to stay engaged and perform at the highest level. It concludes with an annual awards dinner in Chicago where the grand prize is a year of paid living expenses or a free vehicle. Habeeb says that in the first two years of the program, the company was able to cut unnecessary overtime by 75 percent, because fewer people were calling out.
The company also sponsors an annual Inner Circle trip where the top 10 performing general managers across the country are whisked away on an adventure to destinations such as England or Portugal. And according to Habeeb, the prospect of earning a luxurious prize has yielded impressive results when it comes to employee retention. At a rate of only 12.5 percent, “our turnover statistics are well ahead of the industry,” Habeeb says.
