Lodging Magazine

Hotel Labor & Scheduling Insights | Inn-Flow’s Kelsey Higginbotham | LODGING OnDemand Ep. 64

In this Lodging on Demand episode, Inflow’s Vice President of Customer Operations Kelsey Higginbotham explains how hotel labor decisions often default to gut instinct, especially when occupancy fluctuates, and why that reactive approach hampers both service quality and profitability. Higginbotham argues that treating labor as a performance lever rather than a mere expense unlocks revenue: aligning housekeeping shifts with arrival patterns reduces check‑in bottlenecks, while precise staffing of breakfast and bar services captures upsell opportunities. She warns that the ubiquitous labor‑cost‑percentage metric is misleading; true insight comes from productivity per occupied room, department‑level coverage, and forecast variance. Key examples illustrate the point: owners who rely on static Excel schedules face “no‑show” fire drills and overtime surprises, whereas AI‑enhanced forecasting flags projected overtime before the week starts, allowing managers to adjust cross‑trained teams proactively. Centralized dashboards pull real‑time clock data across properties, exposing inconsistencies such as 18 rooms per housekeeper at one hotel versus 14 at another, and enabling best‑practice sharing without eroding local autonomy. The takeaway for operators and multi‑property owners is clear: invest in data‑driven scheduling tools that provide granular productivity metrics, AI‑powered forecasts, and real‑time visibility. Doing so reduces burnout, curtails hidden overtime costs, and elevates the guest experience from the moment they check in, ultimately driving top‑line growth and margin expansion.