Anti-social behaviour is unfortunately something that crops up from time to time in the accommodation industry. No one enjoys it, but it is part and parcel of running that type of business. It can risk damaging your property and, more importantly, upsetting your other guests and ruining their experience. So, it’s vital that you have measures in place to try and prevent it, and deal with it in the best possible way when it does occur.
In this article, I’m going to be running through a few tips and tricks that I’ve picked up that will hopefully help you to minimise anti-social behaviour, and keep the perpetrators in check while remaining calm and professional.
Checks and Measures
You’re not the only one responsible for dealing with anti-social behaviour, and while the ramifications may ultimately fall on your head, you need to ensure that your staff are well-prepared to deal with anything or anyone that might pose a threat to your business or guests.
Brief your staff and come up with a plan so that the situation can be dealt with as quickly as possible. This could be identifying potential trouble-groups i.e. those who start drinking early in the day, as well as having a system so you know when a problem is happening and you can be the first to arrive on the scene.
The number one thing to remember is not to leave your staff with the job of calming down a heated situation if they’re not 100% sure what protocol to follow. If you don’t have a plan in place, you risk aggravating the scenario more, and that’s the last thing you want.
Expectations and the One-strike Rule
The key to dealing with anti-social groups is to pounce on any bad behaviour immediately. You don’t have to be too authoritarian here, just make sure that the group are aware of the fact that you’re running a business and that you don’t tolerate any behaviour that might upset other guests. Let them know that you have a one-strike rule, and that if they go beyond that then they’re out.
In my experience, this normally neutralises the situation immediately. The troublesome guests understand that you’re running a business, and you’ve got the concerns and happiness of other clients to think about.
Last Resorts
Of course, laying down the law early on doesn’t always do the trick. And sometimes you have to let the anti-social individuals know what the ramifications for their behaviour could be. If you’ve already explained to them that they may be expelled from the resort and it hasn’t calmed them down, then it can be handy to have more severe deterrences up your sleeve. For instance, in the rare occasion when we have to deal with escalating anti-social behaviour, we have the possibility of threatening to black-list the rowdy group from all accommodation businesses in the surrounding area. This is a serious implication and usually has the desired effect.
Knowing Who to Address
When groups are being anti-social and causing problems for you and your guests, there are sometimes individuals within that group who will simply not be reasoned with. The key here is not to try and fight a losing battle. Find a calm member of the group and explain to them that the actions of the group as a whole are unacceptable, and let them know of the potential implications that we’ve discussed above.
Obviously, these are issues that you never want to have to deal with, but the reality is that they do occur in the accommodation industry. The important thing to remember is to deal with them seriously and quickly, trying to sort out the problem before it gets out of hand.
By using the above measures, we’ve managed to massively curb the amount of anti-social behaviour we have, meaning that all the guests enjoy their experience as much as possible. Don’t let a few individuals threaten your business and its reputation, and don’t let it ruin your experience of running a successful business.