Controlling Wages the Right Way

Managing labor costs in the rooms department of a hotel is no small feat. As we established in one of our previous posts (Behind the Numbers), controlling wages isn’t just about cutting hours. Keeping the bottom line healthy requires a delicate balance: motivating your team, standardizing processes, and consistently tracking the numbers.

In this post, we’ll explore real scenarios and practical strategies you can implement to keep this critical line of your Profit and Loss Statement (P&L) under control without sacrificing service quality or team morale.

Before we dive into specific actions for lowering and controlling wages, we need to set the record straight with a few important points:

All hotels are different. Some have service elevators, others don’t. Some have five floors, others twenty. Some operate without an in house laundry. Some have linen shutters, others don’t. Some properties have one check in podium, others three. My point is simple: one strategy does not fit all. Every hotel has its own setup and operational rhythm. Be cautious about adopting strategies from people who don’t know your property inside out, as this often ends in chaos.

Results are what matter. Upper management will focus on you only when you fail to meet budgeted numbers. When you hit your targets, you’re in the clear. But if you miss them, expect opinions from outsiders who often haven’t seen the full picture. Be ready to explain, with detail and data, why results fell short. Don’t take it personally, it’s your responsibility to understand and explain the outcome, because your numbers are ultimately your scorecard.

Strategies

1. Everyone Has to Eat

This strategy focuses on controlling wages through smarter management, not by cutting hours. Too often, supervisors claim they need more staff while their existing employees barely work enough to earn a living. Instead of hiring, the focus should be on giving current team members more hours through a creative and intentional process. By aligning available work with employees’ desired hours, hotels can reduce turnover, save outsourcing costs, and strengthen morale, all while keeping labor within budget. In short, it’s about respecting people’s time, protecting their income, and managing smarter, because at the end of the day, everyone has to eat. This is one of the strategies I truly value, since team morale is almost everything. I dive deeper into this topic in one of my posts (Everyone Has to Eat).

2. Bring Operations to Standards, Not Overdo It

I get it, you like to overperform and be the best out there. But here’s the thing: franchises don’t appreciate it when you go too far beyond brand expectations. There are many small adjustments you can make that will protect your bottom line.

Since COVID, most hotel brands have updated and relaxed their standards. Are you cleaning rooms at the correct frequency? Are you still offering extra amenities that are no longer required? Do you have coffee on every floor or bottled water at the desk? These details add up.

• Room cleaning: Doing refreshers every other day instead of daily can save significant labor cost.

• Extra in room amenities: More items mean more time for housepersons to restock, housekeepers to maintain, inspectors to check, and front desk staff to handle guest requests. Minute by minute, that becomes real labor cost.

• Extra amenities around the hotel: Setups, upkeep, and cleaning all take time, and time equals payroll.

In short, bring your hotel to brand standards, not beyond them. Overdelivering on non essential details can quietly drain your labor budget.

3. Stagger Responsibilities: Cross Train

Cross training isn’t just about flexibility; it’s about smart scheduling. Staggering responsibilities allows employees to shift between tasks as business levels change, keeping hours steady without adding new positions. A laundry attendant can start early to help with breakfast, or a housekeeper can finish their board and move to public spaces. This approach reduces idle time, fills labor gaps, and builds a stronger, more adaptable team.

4. Communication with the Front Desk

Strong communication between the front desk and back of house teams can save more labor hours than most people realize. When the front desk updates room statuses in real time, coordinates late checkouts, or reports maintenance issues promptly, it prevents unnecessary trips, double work, and confusion. Clear communication ensures that housekeepers clean what’s truly needed, maintenance tackles real priorities, and everyone’s time is used efficiently. A few minutes of coordination can translate into hours saved each day.

5. Ergonomics and Idle Time

Every minute counts. In many hotels, employees spend more time waiting than working, waiting for elevators, equipment, or supplies. That idle time adds up fast. The solution often comes down to improving ergonomics and designing smarter workflows.

In one of my hotels, the employee elevator opened right next to the laundry room. I placed a rack of towels in front of it and made a simple rule: if you’re waiting for the elevator, you’re folding towels and restocking the rack. That small change turned idle time into productive time.

Another issue came from laundry. Housekeepers struggled to fold oversized sheets alone, so they often needed two people. The fix was simple: a folding pole. It allowed one person to do the job efficiently.

Even the front desk benefited from ergonomic tweaks. Staff complained about neck pain from monitor height, so I replaced the monitor bases. The discomfort disappeared, morale went up, and productivity followed.

Small adjustments like these might not seem major, but together they reduce wasted time, improve efficiency, and create a more comfortable, motivated team, all without spending more on labor.

6. Housekeepers Inspecting Each Other

Not every day requires a dedicated inspector. On slower days, you can save labor costs and still maintain standards by letting housekeepers inspect each other’s rooms. Many supervisors hesitate to use this approach because they don’t fully trust it, but the secret is in how you present it. Make it a game, not a punishment.

Assign each housekeeper to inspect another’s rooms (never their own). The one who finds the most “off” items, even small details, wins a small recognition or reward. This keeps everyone sharp, encourages consistency, and builds teamwork instead of tension.

On busy days like Sundays or holidays, you’ll still need a dedicated inspector to keep up with volume. But on slower days, this peer inspection strategy keeps quality under control, reduces idle time, and turns routine work into friendly competition.

7. Keep Linen Inventory at Par Levels

One of the simplest ways to control labor is to make sure your linen inventory stays at proper par levels. When linen is short, every department pays the price. Housekeepers wait for laundry to finish, housepersons make extra trips, and laundry staff rush loads that aren’t full. All of that translates directly into wasted time and overtime hours.

Maintaining the right par levels (ideally three pars: one in use, one in process, and one in storage or resting) keeps the operation flowing smoothly. It prevents bottlenecks, reduces stress, and allows your team to stay productive instead of waiting around for sheets or towels. Proper linen control isn’t just about laundry; it’s essential to the entire hotel’s efficiency and wage management.

8. Standardize Everything

Standardization is one of the simplest ways to reduce confusion, mistakes, and wasted time, yet it’s often overlooked. When every team member follows a different method or sequence, tasks take longer, communication breaks down, and training never ends.

Create clear standards for how rooms are cleaned, carts are stocked, reports are filled out, and equipment is used. The goal isn’t to limit people’s judgment but to make sure everyone starts from the same baseline. Once processes are standardized, cross-training becomes easier, results become more consistent, and your team can focus on doing things well instead of figuring out how to do them.

In the long run, consistency saves hours, improves quality, and makes managing labor far simpler.

Final Thoughts

Controlling labor costs isn’t about squeezing hours or cutting corners; it’s about running smarter. Every small improvement, from cross training and communication to ergonomics and proper inventory levels, adds up to meaningful savings and a stronger, more motivated team. When leaders focus on process, trust, and respect for people’s time, the numbers naturally follow. A well managed department doesn’t just meet the budget; it builds loyalty, consistency, and pride in the work. At the end of the day, that’s what truly sustains a successful hotel operation.

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Until next time—keep making things work better.