Solving the Frontline Disconnect for Hospitality and Retail

At Beekeeper, we believe that frontline workers are the engine that drives hospitality and retail. However, there is currently a massive disconnect between frontline workers and management.

This Frontline Success Summit session covered what’s causing the frontline disconnect for hospitality and retail, as well as how Beekeeper:

• Boosts guest and customer satisfaction
• Improves employee productivity
• Increases employee retention

Our discussion was led by Beekeeper’s hospitality experts:

• Andrada Paraschiv, Vice President of Hospitality
• Emily Hawkins, Product Manager

“Many retail and hospitality businesses stick to the way they’ve always been doing things, resulting in frontline workers remaining out of touch with the rest of the organization. This leads to frontline workers feeling unheard and unappreciated. And that makes it more likely for employees to experience burnout and leave, which, in turn, makes it harder for the ones staying.”

Andrada Paraschiv, VP of Hospitality, Beekeeper

Let’s recap the key points of the discussion.

Frontline Work is Not Office Work

One of the mistakes many organizations make is trying to extend the technology their office workers use to their frontline teams.

“Office work is fundamentally different from frontline work. Your sales retail associates, housekeeping, and restaurant staff experience a different reality when they come to work.”

Andrada Paraschiv, VP Hospitality, Beekeeper

The reality is that frontline workers are:

• Multilingual
• On their feet for most of the workday
• Deskless
• Changing jobs frequently

Many Hospitality Organizations Run On Paper-Based, Manual Processes

Part of the status quo that hospitality and retail organizations are sticking to involves using traditional methods that haven’t changed much in decades.

These include paper-based:

• Shift schedules and pay stubs
• Manager notes
• Forms, checklists, and training documents

“The same workers in their private lives are using their phones every day to access and share information, communicate with friends, watch videos, manage their calendar, and much more.” 

Andrada Paraschiv, VP Hospitality, Beekeeper

Companies That Don’t Change Will Lose

At the end of 2022, it’s becoming more clear that sticking to the status quo will cost organizations their staff, customers, and competitive edge. 

“The good news is that by changing the way they operate, and enabling their frontline workers, these organizations will see tremendous ROI.”

Andrada Paraschiv, VP Hospitality, Beekeeper

Let’s look at 3 ways Beekeeper can enable frontline workers.

1) Boost Guest & Customer Satisfaction

With Beekeeper, frontline workers can:

• Share operational information in real-time
• Complete training to improve interactions and sales
• Make documents digitally accessible

2) Improve Employee Productivity

Analog processes can often slow down productivity. As a mobile, digital solution, Beekeeper: 

• Digitizes forms and checklists
• Automates manual processes to make them faster
• Gives centralized access to other tools and info

3) Increase Employee Retention

Retention has always been a sore point for hospitality businesses.

Beekeeper increases employee retention by helping to:

• Improve the onboarding experience
• Foster a culture of recognition
• Check in about job satisfaction and concerns

Want to see how Beekeeper is enabling frontline workers and helping solve the frontline disconnect? Watch the full session for demos of how Beekeeper works in practice.