Dive Brief:
- Hospitality employers and individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities can mutually benefit when hotels employ these workers, according to new research from Penn State University’s School of Hospitality Management.
- According to the research, individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities can fill much-needed jobs in hospitality, but hotel employers must offer them adequate support to succeed in their roles.
- The benefits of hiring individuals with intellectual disabilities go beyond addressing the labor shortage, the researchers found, citing greater workplace diversity, improved loyalty and reduced turnover.
Dive Insight:
In the report “Exploring Untapped Workforce Potential of Employees With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities in the Hotel Industry: Where To Start,” Penn State researchers Yoko Negoro, Sydney Pons, Thomas Little, Michael Tews, Donna Quadri-Felitti and Phillip Jolly noted that hiring individuals with intellectual disabilities “offers a solution” to high industry turnover and labor shortages.
But for hotels and employees to mutually benefit, employers should consider offering job coaches who provide on-the-job training and support and facilitate communication between staff and supervisors, the researchers found.
“Hiring someone with an intellectual disability is a great first step but supporting them well when they are on the team is just as important,” Jolly said in a statement. “That can mean adjusting communication approaches, setting up tasks in a clear and consistent way or making sure there is a support system in place. When organizations put thought into these things, it is not just the employee with a disability who benefits — the whole team gets stronger.”
Job design is key when hiring individuals with intellectual disabilities and should allow for “autonomy, meaningful work, and social support from coworkers and supervisors,” according to a release announcing the report.
To ensure success, hotel managers should also take advantage of government incentives, facilitate socialization opportunities for employees, tailor their training programs and incorporate inclusion into their recruitment messaging, according to the report.
Though the hotel industry labor gap has narrowed since the pandemic, when the industry was down roughly 600,000 jobs, hotels are still short approximately 200,000 workers, American Hotel & Lodging Association President and CEO Rosanna Maietta said at last month’s NYU International Hospitality Investment Forum.
Increased deportations are also impacting hotel labor, according to hospitality industry experts.
