By Vanessa Cavasinni, editor Australian Hotelier
Sarah-Ellen Maxwell, group human resources manager for Solotel, gave us some of her tips as to how to motivate your staff and keep them inspired to work for your business.
Maxwell has held the group HR position Solotel for nearly two years, and her previous experience includes six years at Merivale and in the club industry – both groups where the team culture is renowned. Here are Maxwell’s tip on keeping staff motivated:
- Make expectations clear – it sounds so simple, but so often they are not transparent.
- Share the big picture, make sure your employees understand how their role fits in to achieving the team’s and the broader business’ goals.
- Empower people to have a go – give them a voice and ownership.
- Reward and recognition; whether it’s financial, more autonomy or just praise, give credit where credit is due.
- Ask your staff what they actually want, what will help them to feel motivated and excited to come to work and inspire others around them.
- Listen to their thoughts, ask questions, understand the why of their ideas – what would the outcomes be, how would that motivate them?
- Have honest, informative and transparent conversations with employees at every level. Not only feedback on the performance of the individual, but also about the business as a whole.
Maxwell will be speaking in a session on training and the retention of staff at the Pub Leaders Summit on Monday 20 March in Sydney, alongside Jahnavi Hall of Hotel Harry and The Dolphin Hotel; and Alistair Flower, licensee of Settlers Inn in Port Macquarie. Flower will be adding a regional perspective to the issues surrounding HR.
To hear what Maxwell, Hall and Flower have to say on their experiences with staffing, along with perspectives on other operational issues from operators within Merivale, Colonial Leisure Group, O’Hara Group and Redcape among others, make sure you book your tickets now at www.publeaders.com.au as time is running out.
