Staff issues...

Sorry to hear about your loss man I really am ... to be honest two out of the three I can understand, I have worked with people like the one that never stays in one place to long ... they work all day long as if they were fighting a brush fire and then one day for what ever reason their gone, the one that got her dream apprenticeship, to be honest you and I both would have probably done the same thing.

The one that sent the SMS, now to me that was just wrong.

You say that you run a motel in the middle of nowhere .... how far of a drive is it on average for your workers to get there?

Mimogram, you're probably not doing anything wrong. But you better get used to it just the same. Motel workers are the most mobile there are in the hospitality industries. And being out in the sticks has little to do with it. Rural or urban, big city or small town, motel staffing seems to be a swinging door everywhere.

The sad thing is, management has little to do with it. Sure, if you were a crappy boss, loss of staff would be understandable. But the fact is, the most well-run motels in the world suffer pretty much the same attrition rates as do poorly run ones.

Ironically, this topic came up at lunch today. I was with a friend who's the general manager of a motel here in town. Among other things, he made the comment that three months (to hold an employee) is a pretty good run.

BTW, what, please, is SMS?

It would annoy me, too. But at least she gave you some kind of notice.

More and more, here in the States, they don't give any sort of notice. They just don't show up, and that's the last you ever hear from them.

Kids today. What are you going to do? BDL

I do not really know how things are run where you are at (local business wise) but just tried to think of ideas on how to make things work... it did not seem like your problem was the lack of business but the retention rate of staff. Well, paying more always helps but you could also think of other things you can offer.

Can you do anything outside of the box? As in making the place more appealing a choice for customers (thus creating more clients/demand > more work and better pay > more enticement for folks to acually stay employed there)?

You wrote that there is a mining boom close by. It is not likely to disappear any time soon, is there any way to capitalize on that? Is there traffic going through there where you are at? Are there any ways it could be directed/deviated to your motel? Are there any services that you could cost effectively offer to the companies/people employed by the mining industry (it could also help establish a brand name and bring the paying customers to your motel)? Things like that... I really do not have any ready made solutions available as I do not have the data/know how/experience but those were just a few things/ideas that popped into my mind. I hope things work out and you find reliable employees.

In the states more and more companies are hireing older workers and seniors. More stable and reliable, and more life experience. I am 70 and get calls daily.,for part and full time. They claim many not all  of the younger workers have no ethics and don't give a darn.