Myth #1: "Productivity is for the GM and Department Heads. HR Handles the Paperwork."
In most hotels, this is the default setting. The Head of Housekeeping is judged on the number of rooms cleaned per shift, and the F&B Director lives and dies by their cost of goods sold and table turnover rates. These are complex, operational metrics. In this environment, HR is often seen as a support function, called upon only when there's a hiring need, a payroll question, or a disciplinary issue that requires documentation. They aren't typically in the room when productivity strategies are being discussed.
The Fact: This siloed approach is a missed opportunity. Gartner's research found that with direct HR involvement, employees can be up to 11% more productive.
Why the disconnect? While a department head has a deep, focused view of their own team, HR is the only function with a bird's-eye view of the entire employee lifecycle across all departments. They see patterns that individual managers, busy with daily operations, might overlook. They act as the glue that connects the different and sometimes conflicting perspectives on productivity held by employees, managers, and senior leaders.
Instead of being relegated to the back office, a strategic HR function drives productivity by:
- Championing Employee Needs: An F&B manager notices a slow server. HR, by conducting exit interviews, might find that high turnover in the restaurant is due to outdated POS systems and a broken ice machine, which cause constant frustration. HR can build the business case for investing in better tools that reduce friction and improve the employee experience, which directly impacts service speed and quality.
- Connecting the Dots Across Functions: HR can identify that the root cause of negative guest reviews about check-in times isn't lazy front-desk agents, but a lack of proper training on the new property management system (PMS). They are perfectly positioned to design and implement a targeted training initiative that solves the operational problem.
- Articulating Talent Tradeoffs: When leadership proposes cutting housekeeping hours to save money, it's HR's job to explain the downstream costs: higher burnout, increased turnover, rushed work leading to lower cleanliness scores, and ultimately, damage to the hotel's reputation. They turn a payroll decision into a brand-risk conversation.
Myth #2: "That New App/AI Chatbot Will Solve All Our Problems."
The hospitality tech landscape is booming. There's a constant flow of new tools promising to revolutionize operations: AI-powered booking engines, sophisticated guest-messaging platforms, and new staff communication apps. It's tempting to believe that purchasing and implementing one of these tools will automatically create efficiency and solve persistent problems.
The Fact: Technology is only as good as its adoption. Gartner's survey revealed that just 8% of employees are fully capturing productivity gains from new tools like Generative AI. When an organization manages the rollout effectively, employees are 2.7 times more likely to experience both speed and quality gains.
A powerful tool that no one uses correctly—or at all—is a wasted investment. Think of the new staff communication app that gets ignored because the housekeeping team still prefers their old walkie-talkie system, or the powerful PMS feature that the front desk team never uses because they weren't adequately trained on it. This is where HR must go beyond its traditional role and become a change management leader.
To achieve the desired productivity benefits from new technology, HR must plug three "productivity leaks":
- Limited Awareness: HR can lead the charge in explaining the "why" behind a new tool. It's not just about telling staff they have to use a new app; it's about showing them how it makes their specific job easier. For a maintenance worker, it means fewer radio interruptions and clearer work orders. For a front desk agent, it means instant updates on room status without having to make a phone call.
- Inconsistent Adoption: HR's expertise in learning and development is critical. Instead of a single, one-hour demo, they can design engaging, role-specific training programs. This could include short video tutorials, quick-reference guides posted at workstations, and a "super-user" program that lets tech-savvy employees champion the new tool among their peers.
- Ineffective Use: After the launch, the work isn't done. HR can create channels for feedback, working with department heads to understand what's working and what isn't. This follow-up ensures that the technology is actually making work easier and allows for additional support and training where needed.
Myth #3: "Productivity Means Being Onsite and Visible."
In a hotel, most jobs—from the front desk to housekeeping to the kitchen—must be performed onsite. This often fosters a culture of "management by walking around," where the most effective employees are believed to be those who are most visible. Such thinking can also create a two-tiered system for hybrid roles, such as sales, marketing, or reservations, where those working remotely are viewed as less dedicated or productive.
The Fact: Productivity is not about where work gets done, but how it gets done. Gartner's survey found that the same percentage of onsite and hybrid employees (21%) were ranked as highly productive. The single most significant driver of productivity for both groups was a supportive team culture, which can increase employee productivity by up to 11%.
Presence does not equal performance. A manager who is constantly looking over their team's shoulder isn't necessarily making them more productive; they may just be making them more anxious. A truly supportive culture trusts employees to do their jobs well, regardless of who is watching. This is about fostering an environment of psychological safety and shared purpose.
HR is central to building this kind of culture by:
- Enabling Managers to Be Coaches, Not Overseers: HR can train managers to shift their focus from monitoring tasks to empowering their teams. This means teaching them how to have positive, forward-looking conversations about performance and how to create an environment where a team member feels safe saying, "I'm falling behind, I need help," without fear of punishment.
- Encouraging Teams to Define Their Own Success: A top-down definition of productivity rarely inspires. HR can facilitate sessions where each team—from maintenance to the front desk—defines its own core productivity values. For housekeeping, it might be "guest readiness." For the kitchen staff, "flawless execution." When the team owns the standard, they are more motivated to hold themselves and their peers accountable to it.
Myth #4: "We Have All the Data We Need—ADR, RevPAR, Occupancy."
The hotel industry runs on numbers. Average Daily Rate (ADR), Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR), occupancy rates, and guest satisfaction scores are the lifeblood of performance management. It's easy to believe that if you have a dashboard with these metrics, you have a complete picture of productivity.
The Fact: Data without context is misleading. Gartner's analysis shows that investing in obtaining detailed, contextual information for a focused set of metrics has almost twice the impact on employee productivity than simply gathering more quantitative data.
The numbers don't tell the whole story. A housekeeper's "time-to-clean-room" metric might be high one day. The data says they were slow. The context shows they spent ten minutes helping an elderly couple figure out the TV and recommending a local restaurant, which led to a glowing online review praising the staff's kindness. That's incredibly high-value work that the spreadsheet completely misses. Relying solely on the numbers can inadvertently punish employees for doing precisely what creates loyal guests.
HR's role is to enrich the data with the human story by:
- Involving the Experts (Your Staff): HR can create structured opportunities, like focus groups or roundtables, to bring line-level employees into the conversation about metrics. Ask them directly: "What does a productive shift feel like? What are the biggest obstacles that get in your way that we can't see on a report?" Their answers will provide invaluable context.
- Training Managers to Look Beyond the Numbers: HR can equip department heads with the skills to have more meaningful performance conversations. Instead of leading with, "Your team's food cost was 2% over budget last week," they can learn to ask, "I saw the food cost numbers. What challenges did the kitchen face last week that might have contributed to that?" This shifts the conversation from accusation to collaborative problem-solving.
Conclusion: Your HR Department Is Not a Cost Center; It's Your Growth Engine.
For too long, the hotel industry has viewed productivity through a purely operational lens, relegating Human Resources to an administrative, back-office function. But as we've seen, this is a costly mistake. Actual productivity isn't just about operational efficiency—it's about building a well-trained, technologically equipped, and culturally supported team. It requires a strategic partner who understands the human element behind the numbers, and that partner is HR.
The Bottom Line: According to Gartner, organizations that proactively address all four of these myths can increase employee productivity by up to 35%.
What would that look like in your hotel? It's not just an abstract number. It's getting the same amount of work done in six hours that used to take eight. It's the equivalent of adding another fully-staffed shift to your day, every day, without increasing your payroll. It's more rooms cleaned, faster check-ins, and higher-quality guest service, all of which lead to better reviews and a healthier bottom line.
The first step is to shift your perspective. It's time to stop viewing your HR department as a cost center and begin recognizing it as the growth engine it truly is.
Your move: Invite your HR leader to your next strategic planning meeting this week. Before you discuss budgets and operational targets, ask for their perspective on your growth goals and the people strategy needed to achieve them. It might be the most productive conversation you have all year.
