This article was first published in Hosteltur
In this op-ed in Hosteltur, BCG's Juan Ferrer, Managing Director and Partner and leader of the Travel & Tourism practice in Spain and Portugal, examines a persistent imbalance in hotel management. While the sector has developed highly sophisticated capabilities to measure and optimize revenue, workforce management still lacks an equivalent level of data and analytical discipline.
Juan argues that this gap is particularly relevant in a seasonal market such as Spain, where conventional turnover metrics provide only a partial view of workforce dynamics. He highlights the need to measure indicators such as employee return rates, the full cost of replacement, schedule predictability and internal promotion, noting that lost productivity can represent between 47% and 68% of replacement costs. He concludes that applying greater management discipline to workforce decisions would allow hotel operators to better assess and prioritize investments in retention and productivity.