Part 2 of 3: Lessons from Hotel Industry HTNG 2010 – How to attract Gen-Y guests and keep Gen-Y staff.

by Michael Squires on March 10, 2010

in Hospitality,Hotel marketing,Michael Squires,Views

Gen-Y: We want them in our hotel rooms, and we expect them to do a good job when they work for us. The mature people reading this already know there are challenges here.  A great speaker at the HTNG North American Conference in Orlando last week was the Gen-Y consultant Jason Ryan Dorsey (jasondorsey.com) who decoded several Gen-Y mysteries.
How to attract and please Gen-Y (ages 18-32) guests
  1. Make your hotel blog-worthy. Gen-Y’ers communicate digitally by texting and through blogs. Engage them there.
  2. Make your online booking presence mobile-friendly.  Gen-Y guests are technology dependent; they work from their handhelds, not their PCs.
  3. Give Gen-Y guests something valuable if they have to wait in line.  Since they often have little patience (entitlement culture), have a digital screen near the front desk that lists the cool things to do near your hotel – better yet, display a link where they get the info on their handheld.
How to keep Gen-Y employees productive
  1. Most Gen-Y’ers need real-world experience – so train them.  Do not assume they know what they are doing, even if they say they do.
  2. Gen-Ys usually know their first day on the job if they will stay, and if the do stay, they want to make a difference – so, give them a good experience day one, and offer to make them responsible for something important if they measure up.
  3. Money is not as important as time to Gen-Ys, so offer them an incentive of extra days off, not a financial bonus.
One more thing: Gen-Ys do not value promptness so they frequently show up late. If you want to keep them on the job, be patient.  Need more?  Dorsey has books on Gen-Y peeps available at www.jasondorsey.com.  At Softscribe Inc., we work with Gen-Ys, and as a parent I raised one!
Have interesting Gen-Y stories?  Share them with me.

Tagged as: digital marketing, Gen Y, green tourism, hospitality industry, hotel public relations, HTNG 2010, Michael Squires, Public relations, public relations & marketing, public relations and communication, Softscribe Inc., technology public relations

  • JSS

    Seriously? Be patient when Gen-Y employees are late for work? Regardless of their youth, growing up with instant technological responses and information at their fingertips. How about teaching them to buy a watch, or read the time on their handheld and the importance of getting to business related, and for that matter social events as well “on-time” No employer should be recommended to “be patient” with this type of behavior. Furthermore, why dont we just change our all our business practices to mold Gen-Y's expectations. As an employer, business owner, corporation it is the employer who retains the rights to dictate employee policy and enforce it. Additionally, should employers make “exceptions” to the Gen-Y because they grew up without understanding certain behaviors and consequences? Making a recommendation of “be patient” with them is like saying let's expect all the employees get to work on time, except if you are Gen-Y age group. That is a great area for lawsuits for the older generation based on “unfair” descriminatory, inconsistent labor practices..Correct work behaviors that do not comply with policy with appropriate HR policy & practice, correct undesirable behavior or terminate those who do not within the first 90 days.

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