When Digital Doesn’t Deliver: The Do’s and Don’ts Rule Book for Hotels
Last year, our Global Head of Hospitality, Aaron Belton wrote an advisory piece about the digital drive in our hospitality industry. He reflected that automation and digital transformation are no longer buzzwords for the future, and change is already happening in new and established hotels across the world.
If 2023 is anything to go by – digital transformation progressed at a pace even we hadn’t anticipated! Over 350 new hotels across our expanding client portfolio onboarded DocMX – from Hilton Worldwide in APAC and China, InterContinental Hotels & Resorts in US, EU, IMEA and China to Langham Hotels & Resorts and Stamford in Australia and New Zealand. Our DocMX towers of technology are now driving operational, financial and environmental efficiencies across dispersed locations around the world.
However, sometimes the idea of keeping pace, upgrading standard ways into much needed innovation can look daunting. “Not knowing where to start, what type of automation software is available or how best to implement are all common and associated fear factors” , explained Aaron.
But never more than now has digital adoption been so urgent. Staff shortages can be mitigated by supporting local and remote teams with DocMX, automating daily administration tasks to help teams become more connected and focus on what they do best.
Reducing environmental impact is also an important factor for all hotel groups. Not only are our DocMX property innovators reducing pretty significant costs by eliminating print related expenditure, but also enhancing compliance and data security with financial information no longer stored on paper. Just a few reasons why hospitality organisations should be looking at innovative and cost-effective ways to future-proof their business through digitisation.
So for 2024, Aaron has refreshed his rulebook for implementing successful digital transformation. For any business undertaking change, it’s important to recognise best practice and avoid the mistakes that many may have already made!
1. DON’T make a bad process electronic
Persisting with the old ways of working and simply digitising an inefficient paper-based process doesn’t make good business sense – especially if you are going to replicate it across several functions or properties.
So the first tip is a simple one. Don’t make a time-consuming and disconnected process a digital one. Start by reviewing your policies and ask questions: does this document need to be approved by one manager, then another, or can we save time doing it in parallel? Could we reduce the time to complete the task whilst enabling access to critical information faster? Why is this done differently in each department or property? You will often find that the answer is simply because “that’s the way it’s always been done”. However there has never been a more critical time for hospitality businesses to learn to adapt, and fast. Review, analyse, automate, measure and repeat… and then and only then, streamline; set in stone and standardise across all departments, properties and regions.
At DocMX, we work with organisations to ensure the technology is tailored to their clients exacting needs, ensuring they’re fully benefiting from this opportunity to automate, standardise and ultimately see tangible financial savings. And this doesn’t have to be a lengthy or complex project, taking just a few short weeks.
2. DO collaborate and share resources across properties
Perhaps the second most important piece of advice is about collaboration. Hotels under the same ownership or brand should not work in silo, running off different software platforms. While digitising one property at a time is already well worth it – expanding to several properties can yield exponential savings for everyone.
Clustering, also known as complexing or shared service centres, allows organisations to make the most of standardisation and automation by pooling resources in a digital shared environment. Technology can be tailored to hotels or hospitality groups’ own specific processes and policies. With several properties using a standard process and common system, finance or HR staff can support several properties at once.
Organisations currently using DocMX software have been able to automate up to 70% of revenue auditing, accounts receivable and accounts payable, thus enabling a staff member from one location to service up to three properties, and in some cases even more. In a time of staff shortages, this is a great opportunity to drive smart efficiency within your organisation.
3. DON’T neglect data security and traceability
In today’s world of remote working, emails and video calls, sensitive financial or HR information can be open to security and processing issues. Handling this information in a secure structured system with a full ISO-accredited audit trail will solve many of these concerns.
Implement clear data security ‘best practices’ within the organisation and choose a technology platform with strong protections against any unauthorised access and data loss. In the case of cloud systems, verify where the data will be stored and under what conditions – especially because many countries require storage on local ground.
In an increasingly digital world, where the threats from hackers and malware are greater than ever before, choosing the right partner who takes security seriously should be a key consideration.
At DocMX we continually invest in our clients’ security and meet the most stringent data security, storage and recovery standards with a yearly ISO certification for Information Security. As an AWS Partner we also leverage Amazon’s best-in-class network security tools.
4. DO look at ways to save paper and the environment
While the guest experience is, in many hotels, already paperless, the back-office can be the forgotten piece of the puzzle. Night Audit reports with hundreds of pages, HR forms, invoices and other paperwork passed between departments, copies for reconciliation and approvals, storing all this paperwork for 5 to 20 years in line with local legislation…
This all represents many man-hours of unnecessary admin work and inefficient communication, as well as significant costs for paper, printer leasing, document archiving and long-term storage. Not to mention the environmental impact.
Based on our decade of experience, a typical 300-room hotel spends over £30,000 on print related activity each year, felling on average, one tree every week. One of DocMX’s clients, the exclusive 5-Star FourPoints Darlington Harbour Hotel in Sydney saved 2.5 million printed pages yearly, equating to $1.5million in savings over five years… as well as 1,500 trees saved!
FourPoints Darlington Harbour Hotel in Sydney saved 2.5 million printed pages yearly, equating to $1.5million savings over five years… as well as 1,500 trees saved!— Photo by DocMX
5. DON’T reinvent the wheel – partner with someone who has done it before
There is no need for costly consultants or long-winded projects in order to digitise. Capitalise on years of innovation and expertise developed and proven by hospitality and technology professionals. Choose a technology and team with a great track record, developed specifically for the hotel industry worldwide.
There are many process automation solutions out there, typically costly, ill-adapted or developed at great expense to satisfy only a handful of hotel processes. You may also end up having to purchase several different software packages, reducing efficiencies and ultimately less savings.
Instead opt for a ready to go, all-in-one solution customised to your organisation’s exact requirements, easily integrated with other hospitality systems, affordable, quick to implement and scalable to one or many of your properties without complication.
Aaron Belton
Head of Hospitality
