I looked around and I couldn't find any topics about this... But I have a major situation here right now...
Staff comes and goes, I think thats pretty normal in most hostels, specially when you wanna have a young staff, that is probably studying something else at uni, and they are just working at your hostel because its a fun job where they can interact with travelers from around the world and make some money on the side...
Right now I have a very good staff, but they don't seem too much energetic... They do perform well their tasks but they don't seem to go beyond that...
We all know that most hostels doesn't really pay well... I tend to think that I pay slightly better than most hostels in the city, because I pay about the same than the others, but here they only work 6 hours a day (36 hours) while at others they work 8 hours a day (48 hours).
My hostel is focused on making the guests have a great time specially at night, we have a bar, and we have deals with most clubs in town, and this is the trick, get them drunk, get them out, and get them to stay another night. SP doesn't have much to offer during the day, and is one of those cities that you're not supposed to stay for too long (Dublin? Manchester? Chicago?)
So there are a few things I ask my staff to do:
1. Always keep the hostel mood elevated. Music on all the time, talk to them, get them excited for the night out, get them to come down to the bar, don't let them forget we give free caipirinhas.
2. Always try to keep them. don't let them check out. Ask why they are leaving, tell them they weren't here for long enough, that the party at that night will be better than last night.
3. Do more, care more about the hostel. Walk around, keep things organized.
4. Know about the guests, help them with their trip, book them other hostels, and so...
Recently I started giving them bonuses based on occupancy rates and on our reviews on HW, HB and Tripadvisor. And its significant amounts if they reach their goals... (I can give more details later) But not even that seems to make them excited about going the extra mile...
I know about hostels where the boss is a ****.... I have one guy that works here that worked at another hostel in the city, and the topic of conversation of the staff on a daily basis was how the boss was an ass hole... they certainly don't have this here... So for me its a great place to work...
Well, any inputs on this? Hope we have a magical solution! :P
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