Skift Take
Introducing technology on devices with household names helps with implementing change faster and more efficiently, and it continues the dominant trend of letting employees use the consumer tech they already know in their daily work lives.
The past year saw plenty of new technology hitting the hands of travelers — from keyless hotel entry to Apple Watch flight notifications — and many brands let their employees join in with this new gadget and mobile love.
United Airlines is the latest example--it gave 6,000 airport employees the iPhone 6 plus in an effort to empower employees on devices they've used for years. Thinking of employees as guests, in that they value continuity and using tools familiar to them, makes other strategies seem illogical at the dawn of 2016.
"Traditionally what has happened on the marketing side with the guest experience feels very disconnected from what happens on the employee engagement side," said Mohammad Gaber, Adobe's head of travel. Adobe works with Delta, Etihad, and a few large hotels on improving employee-facing technology. "We definitely see those two worlds merging because these employees are like customers. First and foremost that merger is a cultural transition in terms of frontline employees and the technology is an enabler and a follower to that transformation."
"What makes devices like mobile phones useful is the software data content component. Where we often fall with this component is that the rigor that a company evolves those applications is not as fast as it should be. There is that void between the customer and employee applications."
Three hotels Skift spoke to share these sentiments and plan to introduce employees to new tools in the coming year that go beyond tracking guests' preferences or facilitating mobile check-in. These tools free staff from engaging with guests through gratuitous tasks when that's not required that in turn show guests the greater value of employees.
Tracking Guest Complaints
Palm Beach, Florida's Eau Palm Beach Resor
