Episode 283: Matt and Josh talk about the evolving role of the frontline team member

The role of the frontline team member in the attractions industry is changing. As technology continues to evolve, fewer team members are needed to complete certain functions than before. This isn’t a new phenomenon, but certainly accelerated in recent years, in part due to trends coming from the pandemic where more functions were made contactless and self-service. Additionally, with the labor challenges that the industry has been facing, there are more and more conversations being had about how to do mre with less, as many businesses are hiring fewer team members and at a higher wage. In this episode, Matt and Josh put their minds together to discuss the evolving role of the frontline team member.

 

The role of the frontline team member is evolving due to a combination of technology and wage increases.

It’s no surprise that the pandemic drastically changed many unique aspects of the industry, but one of the sizable changes observed has impacted the entire workforce. Wage increases have been happening across the world as a result of the impact that the pandemic had on the labor market. Since our frontline employees are demanding higher wages and are also having many aspects of their job changed by the incorporation of technology, their role needs to evolve so we can keep providing a great guest and employee experience.

 

If you have fewer team members and are paying them more, this raises their standards and your expectations from them to deliver a superior guest experience.

If a guest were to go to a park and interact with 10 team members, and 9 delivered a great interaction, most would say that they had a great overall experience. However, with fewer team members and less interaction with them due to the use of technology, that 1 ‘dud’ team member may be the only interaction a guest has in their day, resulting in the guest developing a completely different perspective. 

With fewer team members, there is less of a chance to make a good impression. To combat this, our frontline team members need to become well equipped and have fewer barriers so that when they interact with guests, they can have a great interaction and solve problems with ease. 

 

With less in the way, team members can exceed guests' expectations by proactively anticipating needs and create "wow" moments more easily.

As technology and automation help to remove many functions of your team members’ job duties, this enables them to have more opportunities to facilitate personal interactions.  Leaders should take a close look at their job descriptions and employee handbooks and determine if “exceeding expectations” is part of their daily routine, or if it is considered an afterthought.

 

By fully focusing on the guest experience, frontline team members can gain a higher sense of fulfillment and satisfaction with their jobs.

Since technology has the ability to handle many redundant aspects of the industry such as ticket selling or front of line passes, we can allow our employees to become guest experience ambassadors. By giving them a strong purpose and equipping them with the proper toolset, they can make guests happy every day, one of the main reasons many people work in the industry. 

By giving team members fulfillment and purpose, they begin to develop a sense of excitement when coming to work, and a fun drive home after their day is over. Instead of creating stressful environments where our frontline team members are doing the same actions, they can instead be trusted to create memories and feel excited about who they’ll interact with the next day. 

 

How are you keeping up with the inevitable evolution of your frontline team members in the attractions industry?

This podcast wouldn't be possible without the incredible work of our amazing team:

• Summary by Mason Nichols
• Video editing by Abigail Giganan

To connect with AttractionPros: attractionpros@gmail.com

 

This episode is kindly sponsored by Attractions.io, the guest experience platform behind Merlin Entertainments’, San Diego Zoo’s, and the PGA Championship’s branded mobile apps. 

Like us, the team at Attractions.io are on a mission to elevate our guest experiences and ensure they exceed the expectations of today’s digitally native guests. By combining a branded mobile app with an operator console that consolidates behavioral data from every touchpoint in the guest journey, the Attractions.io platform empowers operators with the tools they need to increase guest satisfaction, spending, and loyalty.

To learn more about how Attractions.io can help you connect your end-to-end guest experience, visit Attractions.io/howitworks.