Require the same service assumptions before comparing payroll or management fees. The recommended output is an employee-and-service schedule attached to the operator comparison, not a single payroll percentage.
Ask each bidder for:
- [ ] A position-by-position chart showing property, shared and outsourced roles.
- [ ] Salary or hourly rate, expected hours, bonus assumptions and benefit treatment.
- [ ] Opening dates for vacant positions and the interim coverage plan.
- [ ] Peak-, shoulder- and low-season schedules under the same occupancy scenarios.
- [ ] The named person responsible for pricing, distribution, digital marketing and data quality.
- [ ] The number of properties supported by each shared specialist.
- [ ] Every corporate allocation and whether it sits inside or outside other fees.
- [ ] Separate media, systems, recruitment, relocation and task-force budgets.
- [ ] Property-specific employment and collective-agreement review where relevant.
- [ ] A reporting pack that ties operating outcomes to the owner’s approved budget.
What should the first 90-day scorecard measure?
The following are proposed monitoring measures, not published industry thresholds:
| Function | Owner-side measures to agree before appointment |
|---|---|
| GM and operating leadership | Budget variance, unresolved service failures, vacancy coverage and action completion |
| Revenue management | Forecast error, realized pricing decisions and contribution by relevant channel or segment |
| Marketing and sales | Incremental business evidence, acquisition costs, cancellations and contracted shoulder-period business |
| Housekeeping and rooms | Paid hours by workload, inspection results, room readiness and overtime |
| F&B | Contribution by outlet and service period, payroll, waste and event profitability |
| Engineering | Preventive-maintenance completion, work-order aging, room downtime and approved capital milestones |
| Finance and asset management | Close timeliness, reconciliations, cash forecast accuracy and explanations of allocation changes |
Avoid rewarding an employee solely for a metric that can improve while another department bears the cost. Agree on definitions, data sources and review frequency before setting targets.