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Series: Recruiting, AI & HR in the Hospitality Industry · Post #16 of 90 

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Implementing flexible staffing models in hotels – step by step

Flexible. Fair. Future-proof. How modern workforce models are saving – or ruining – the hotel industry.

A shortage of skilled workers, fluctuating occupancy, and skyrocketing staff costs. Anyone who runs a hotel today is all too familiar with this combination. The industry's response, increasingly, is flexible workforce models. More part-time staff here, seasonal workers there, maybe a scheduling app on top of that, and things will improve. It doesn't. At least, not automatically.

Flexible workforce models are not a sure-fire success. If implemented incorrectly, they produce exactly what you wanted to avoid: insecurity, mistrust and, ultimately, even higher staff turnover. When implemented correctly, they combine economic stability with genuine improvements for employees. This article explains how to do it – step by step, with a focus on what really works in practice.

Measure first, then design

Before anything is changed, a clear look in the mirror is needed. How much overtime is worked in which departments, and when? Where are there regular periods of idle time? In which areas is staff turnover particularly high, and why do employees leave the company?

These questions may sound obvious. However, a surprisingly large number of businesses revise their workforce structure on the basis of gut feeling rather than reliable figures. If you don't know the starting point, you also don't know whether the new model has actually made a difference.

In concrete terms, this means evaluating overtime rates by department, analysing seasonal staffing patterns over the past two to three years, and comparing sickness rates and staff turnover figures. Only by doing this can a realistic picture emerge of where flexibility makes sense and which objective should be prioritised in the process. Cost reduction, improved service quality and employee satisfaction are not mutually exclusive, but priorities need to be set. A model that aims to solve everything at once usually solves nothing at all.

A real-world example: Marriott International

Like other international hotel groups, Marriott has invested in AI recruitment tools, flexible scheduling systems and sustainable HR policies. The 'Work Anywhere' initiative enables employees to take on hybrid or location-flexible roles within the group. The idea originally stemmed from a service offered to guests during the COVID-19 pandemic. The option of changing work location was extended to the workforce and adapted to the various roles within the different teams. 

A core workforce and a flexible team – not a contradiction in terms if structured correctly

A stable, reliable core team is the foundation for everything else. Reception, housekeeping management, front-of-house restaurant service – these are roles that require continuity. Guests build trust with people, not with systems. A hotel that has different faces at reception every month loses its character.

The core team – based on experience, around 60 to 70 per cent of the workforce – ensures quality and culture. The rest can be covered by a flexible team of part-time staff, seasonal workers or permanently scheduled temporary workers: for breakfast peak periods, events, banquet bookings or the busy summer months.

The key factor here is training for deployment in multiple areas. Someone who has learned to set a table during breakfast service can assist with room service during quieter periods. Someone who has checked guests in at reception can lend a hand with concierge duties. This requires managers to be open to such arrangements – and for such assignments to be fairly remunerated and clearly regulated.

A real-world example: Hotel Kristberg in Lech am Arlberg (Austria)

This family-run boutique hotel in Arlberg faces a classic challenge: seasonal operations, high quality expectations, and a small team. For years, the hotel has been operating according to a model that is rarely applied so consistently in the industry: staff are explicitly encouraged to gain experience at other hotels during the off-season – from Switzerland to Thailand. Hotelier Michael Zimmermann supports team members in taking this step, drawing on his extensive network. Those who leave come back. Many long-serving staff members return season after season. The result is a workforce that identifies with the hotel, is motivated and experienced – and keeps staff turnover at a level that is unusually low for the Alpine hotel industry. This model works because it is based on trust: seasonal work is not treated as a problem, but as an investment in development. And this investment is then also made in the product, the service and the concept of the boutique hotel; not in a top-down manner, but in collaboration with the staff, who contribute the experience they have gained over the summer and, through this active staff involvement, help to improve the hotel in all its facets, season after season. 

Real-world example 2: Hilton Hotels & Resorts

Hilton uses so-called predictive staffing algorithms to combine a stable core team with variable, flexibly deployable staff in order to ensure optimal use of resources during peak periods. 

Workforce planning: guesswork is a losing game

Flexible workforce planning without reliable forecasts is like flying blind. Fortunately, most hotel management systems today provide enough data to enable informed workforce planning: historical occupancy figures, booking and cancellation patterns, events calendars, and occupancy data from the food and beverage department.

By consistently analysing this data, it is possible to predict staffing requirements for the next two to four weeks with a realistic level of accuracy – and thereby significantly reduce both overstaffing and understaffing. Understaffing is more costly than its reputation suggests: a shortage of staff during peak periods leads to pressure, mistakes and poor guest reviews. Overstaffing costs money and demotivates staff who are on call for eight hours but are hardly needed.

Real-world experience: Digital rota planning in Austrian seasonal businesses

For small and medium-sized businesses in the DACH region, software such as rota or Planday has proven its worth – both tools were developed specifically for the hotel and hospitality industry and comply with the legal requirements in Germany and Austria. Businesses that use these tools report a significant reduction in the time and effort required for rostering and, more importantly, fewer rostering errors. Shifts are no longer allocated based on memory, gut feeling, personal liking or 'goodwill', but on the basis of actual demand data. This saves costs and makes the rota clear to everyone involved.

From practice 2: POS and AI

Tools such as Deputy or Claude for Hospitality analyse POS data to produce AI-powered forecasts and align staffing levels with actual guest numbers. Alternatives on the German market include Personio, ATOSS, tamigo, Dyflexis, Zenjob and HeyJobs. The various providers and software programs differ in terms of their functionality. Therefore, it is important to take a close look at what the focus is and what exactly your business needs: roster planning and time tracking, staffing software for short-term temporary workers, or medium- to long-term pipeline development and recruitment. 

Which type of contract is required for which role?

Not every role is equally suitable for every type of contract. This may sound like an obvious point, but in practice, it is often overlooked.

Roles that require in-depth product knowledge, strong hospitality skills and continuity belong to the core team: reception staff who know regular guests by name. Service staff who know the menu inside out. Housekeeping staff and housekeeping managers who set and monitor standards.

On the other hand, tasks that depend heavily on volume and less on relationships can be effectively covered by flexible staff: room cleaning at peak times, breakfast service on bank holiday weekends, and setting up and clearing away at events.

The key term here is the level of skills. Anyone who is to be employed as a temporary worker must be trained for the role. The key word here is induction: a successful first day at work is not a luxury but a prerequisite for ensuring that flexible workers actually reduce the workload rather than adding to it.

What employment law says, and why it is essential to know it

Flexible working hours are expressly permitted in the hotel industry and make sense in many establishments. However, it is subject to clear legal frameworks, which vary from country to country.

In Germany, the Working Hours Act (Arbeitszeitgesetz) applies, setting a maximum working time of eight hours per day, which may be extended to ten hours if time off in lieu is guaranteed within six months. In addition, DEHOGA collective agreements govern minimum hours, overtime and notice periods for duty rosters. Failure to comply with these rules risks not only legal repercussions but also the trust of one's team.

In Austria, the hospitality sector uses the 'averaged working hours' model – under this system, weekly working hours may vary over a defined period (up to 26 weeks), as long as the average is correct. This gives businesses genuine flexibility in their planning, but it also requires transparent record-keeping.

Flexible contracts must contain clear provisions: How many hours are guaranteed? How is overtime paid or compensated? What applies in the event of short-notice changes to working hours? Leaving these questions unanswered in the contract creates uncertainty – and uncertainty is the enemy of employee retention.

Real-world experience: Ensuring compliance through automated contracts

Platforms such as Qwick and Instawork ensure compliance through automated contracts for gig workers in the hospitality sector. Alternative providers in German-speaking countries are listed above. In addition to Zenjob and HeyJobs, GigWork and Mynextgig are also worth mentioning. These platforms handle collective agreements (e.g., DEHOGA), the Working Hours Act and tax processing natively (in contrast to US platforms such as Qwick).

Digital scheduling: Not because it's modern, but because it helps

Any business that still uses Excel or notice boards to plan duty rosters today is squandering potential. Not because it's trendy, but because it's practical: digital scheduling tools enable employees to request preferred shifts, swap shifts and apply for time off without having to call their manager every time. This takes pressure off managers and gives employees the feeling that they can play an active role in shaping things.

For the business, this means less retroactive scheduling, fewer last-minute absences, and greater transparency. When shifts are managed digitally, managers also always have an up-to-date view of working time accounts – which in turn helps them to offset overtime in good time, before it becomes a problem.

Important: The tool is not the plan. Technology does not replace leadership. It makes leadership more efficient.

Communication determines whether flexible models are accepted or fail

This is the most underestimated success factor. A new staffing model introduced without explanation will generate mistrust – no matter how well-intentioned it may be. 'What's behind this?' is the first question employees ask themselves. If there is no answer, rumours fill the void.

Therefore: Communicate early, directly and honestly. What is changing? Why is it being changed? What does this mean in practical terms for individual employees – for their rota, their salary, their days off? And what improvements does the model bring: more predictable shifts, less overtime, more preferred shifts?

Managers need special support in this regard. Planning fairly under flexible conditions is a skill that cannot be taken for granted. Anyone who has previously allocated shifts based on personal preference or habit will need to learn to work in a rule-based and transparent manner. This requires training and, at times, a change in attitude.

Regular feedback from the team, for example through short surveys after the first quarter or after peak seasonal periods, helps to identify problems at an early stage, before they lead to staff leaving.

Pilot phase: Try it out first, then roll it out

No sensible business would introduce a new staffing model across the entire organisation in one go. Instead, it is advisable to choose an area that is, on the one hand, large enough to deliver meaningful results and, on the other hand, manageable enough to allow for the correction of errors.

Housekeeping or the breakfast service are classic areas to start in – high staffing requirements, clear workload patterns, and easily measurable results. Before you start, define how you will measure success: How are overtime hours evolving? How is the sick leave rate changing? How satisfied are staff in the pilot area? How are guests reacting?

After three to six months, this information can be used to decide what is working well, what needs to be adjusted, and whether the model can be rolled out to other departments.

Conclusion: Flexibility is not a cost-cutting model

This is the misconception that most often leads to the failure of flexible workforce models: the belief that the main benefit of flexibility is cost savings. Of course, a well-planned model can reduce staff costs – by cutting down on overtime, avoiding idle periods and covering seasonal peaks more efficiently. However, this is a side effect, not the goal.

The real goal is to run a business that works for both customers and staff. Predictable shifts. Fair conditions. A team that stays – because it has a reason to stay.

Any business that introduces flexible workforce models purely as a cost-cutting measure will notice the impact during the next wave of staff turnover. Those who view them as part of a genuine HR strategy and implement them accordingly will gain something that hardly anyone in today's hotel industry has any more: stability.

Translated with https://laratranslate.com