Good things come in hotel technology awards packages! We are honored to have been chosen as Most Innovative Hotel Technology at HX: The Hotel Experience 2018, at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York. From front-of-house concerns and guest-centric amenities to the latest hotel technologies and back-of-house workforce management, HX Conference is the largest North American-based hospitality show that provides a 360° view of the hospitality experience with the guest in mind.
The HX TECHPitch Award marks the third hotel technology award garnered by Beekeeper this year for our easy-to-use, mobile operational communication platform that improves the guest-facing and staff hospitality experience with streamlined employee communication. Previous hospitality-specific recognition includes HITEC’s 2018 E20X People’s Choice Award and the HTNG 2018 TechOvation Award.
Beekeeper: The Future of Mobile Operational Communication for Innovative Hotels
As one of five finalists with five minutes to present how their hotel technology is re-envisioning the hospitality experience, Beekeeper’s VP of Hospitality, Connie Rheams, demonstrated to a full house of hospitality thought leaders and HX conference attendees alike. TECHPitch Award judges included Valerie Ferguson, Regional General Manager, Walt Disney Co.; Are Morch, Hotel Blogger and Social Media Consultant; Gregory J Pesik, Managing Director, Applied Intelligence, Accenture; and Vijay Dandapani, President & CEO, HANYC.
“Beekeeper is designed to engage non-desk workers in a modern way who typically do not have an email address,” noted Rheams during her pitch. “It gives them a voice, breaks down silos between departments, recognizes them for doing an outstanding job, creates loyalty, and drives job retention. Rheams also cited the mutually-beneficial relationship between employee and guest satisfaction, and that happy hotel employees lead to more guest loyalty because of the overall enhanced hospitality experience. She concluded the presentation by identifying the growing need for digital transformation, specifically via mobile communication apps for employees, in the hospitality industry.
Digital Hospitality Tools Give Non-desk Hotel Teams a Voice
Accepting the 2018 HX TechPITCH Most Innovative Hotel Technology award on Beekeeper’s behalf, Connie Rheams, VP of Hospitality, presented on the benefits of mobile apps for employees and how Beekeeper was built for the kind of 24/7/365 operational communication necessary to keep hotel workforces connected and engaged.
“It’s truly an honor to be recognized by these industry leaders as having the most innovative hotel technology,” said Rheams. She further cited Beekeeper’s goal to help hoteliers improve employee interaction, noting that when employees feel part of a’ hotel family’ they forge relationships, making attrition less likely.
Better Employee Communication Drives Hotel Staff Retention
Many HX 2018 conference panel sessions addressed the timely topic of current low unemployment numbers, a core area that Beekeeper addresses for hoteliers. Though retention is a common challenge for the hospitality industry, Rheams noted the renewed urgency to focus on this issue, “with unemployment at an all-time low, employee retention is top of mind.” The best way hoteliers can engage their deskless employees, and get them to embrace a hotel’s culture, Rheams said, is to effectively connect them digitally to the organization. What’s more, connecting employees across locations and departments via real-time mobile devices ensures employees stay informed and engaged with management – and importantly, with each other.
