Although pandemic restrictions have loosened, ripple effects still cause staffing shortages across every industry. According to Stephanie Ferguson, director of global policy for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, “The pandemic caused major disruption in America’s labor force. In 2021, more than 47 million workers quit their jobs in search of an improved work-life balance.”
Ferguson’s February 2023 report says leisure and hospitality have “had the highest quit rate above all other industries since July 2021, consistently above 5.2 percent, but the hiring rate is now outpacing quit rates. Hospitality lost 860,000 workers in November 2022, but 1.1 million people were hired into the industry that same month.”
While healthier hiring rates are good news for hoteliers, other industries also grapple with staffing shortages. Understaffing in the supply chain cause delays for goods and services when there are not enough workers or supplies to fulfill orders. Hoteliers need to constantly maximize resources, supplies, and other assets. Complicating the worker shortage crisis is full-boil inflation, leaving hoteliers with the task of placing valuable hotel assets out of the hands of thieves under lock and key.
Investing in security and safety policies, procedures, and technology ultimately keeps guests and employees safe during the continual ebb and flow of staffing attrition and retention, while maximizing profit margins. Training hotel employees on security policies and procedures and on how to use security equipment empowers them with efficiencies in job performance with greater accountability.
There is no better security technology to keep assets under lock and key than an electronic key control system. Key control protects hundreds of hotel property keys and provides access control to numerous doors, supply closets, entryways, cabinets, and fleet vehicles by releasing them to authorized users only. It’s easy to train employees how to use electronic key control systems and they are easy to install.
Let’s examine some key control features and benefits, which help hoteliers when supplies run low, staffing is short, and guests need a seamless hotel experience:
- Provides Accountable Access Control—Ensure that keys are used only by authorized users and provide asset management for valuable inventory, 24 and 7.
- Modular and Expandable—Customize with key modules, locker modules for smaller assets, and card modules to secure access or credit cards. When needs change, the system can be expanded or reconfigured.
- Integration Capabilities—Integrate with access control and other security systems. The networked systems share data and provide a big picture of what is always going on in the building.
- Streamlined Workflow—Keys are no longer misplaced, lost, or used by unauthorized individuals. Automatic prompts remind employees to return keys at the end of their work shifts so they are ready for employees on the next shifts.
These are a few of the many benefits of electronic key control systems, which also provide valuable inter-departmental hotel security for:
- Security Offices—Secure expensive two-way radios, transportation vehicle keys, weapons, and personal items, and allow only authorized personnel to use keys.
- Hospitality Fleet Vehicles—Program authorized users to specific keys and vehicles and prevent unauthorized individuals from abusing them.
- Mechanical and Storage Rooms—Protect hotel infrastructure from mechanical system sabotage. Secure tools such as heavy flashlights, boxcutter blades, crow bars, and wrenches can be used as weapons.
- Administration and Server Rooms—Protect financial, employment, payroll records, and hotel server rooms so criminals can’t access an IP port or steal hardware. Key control also secures cash drawers, safes, and personal property.
- Housekeeping—Schedule and authorize keys to housekeeping staff members for their shifts only and have keys available for the next shifts. Protect personal items such as cell phones, car keys, wallets, and panic buttons.
- Food Services—Secure food supplies, dishes, flatware, liquor, and kitchen knives, making them available only to specific employees of the food and beverage department.
For hoteliers, key control keeps employees and authorized vendors accountable for their tasks and actions and provides a safer and more secure environment. Key control systems save time, prevent theft, protect assets, and boost hotel profitability. Key control systems provide additional “hands on deck” during periods of understaffing, or when current staff calls out for the day. Key control is there all day and every day.
Sponsored by Morse Watchmans.
