Nearly one in three (29.1%) new starters in Irish hotels left within their first 90 days in 2025, according to a study using Alkimii Insights data.
This level of early turnover highlights a challenge that goes beyond recruitment. It suggests that the experience employees have at the very start of their journey is not always setting them up for success.
For many hotels, onboarding is still treated as an administrative step. In reality, it plays a direct role in how quickly employees settle, perform, and decide whether to stay.
In most hospitality environments, new starters begin their first shift quickly. On average, this happens in 5.9 days after being set up in the system on Alkimii.
While this helps maintain operational continuity, it also means that onboarding needs to be completed in a short timeframe.
When that process is not structured, issues can appear early:
These gaps are rarely intentional. They are usually the result of busy teams managing multiple priorities at once.
However, they directly affect how prepared and confident a new starter feels from day one.
Employees form their first impressions of a workplace very quickly.
In hospitality, those impressions are shaped during live service, often under pressure. If onboarding has been inconsistent or incomplete, new starters may spend their first shifts trying to catch up rather than settling into their role.
Over time, this can lead to:
When this happens across multiple hires, it contributes to the level of early turnover seen across the industry.
Hotels that are reducing early turnover are focusing on consistency rather than complexity.
A more structured onboarding approach typically includes:
1. Preparing new starters before day one
Ensuring contracts, documents, and key information are completed in advance.
2. Providing clear expectations
Giving employees a better understanding of their role, responsibilities, and team structure before they begin.
3. Reducing manual follow-up
Minimising the need for managers to chase paperwork or confirm onboarding status during busy periods.
These changes help ensure that the first shift is focused on the role itself, rather than administrative tasks.
Many hotels are moving onboarding processes into a single, centralised system.
This allows teams to:
By having everything in one place, hotels can reduce delays and ensure a more consistent experience for every new starter.
This also supports compliance by ensuring required documentation is completed and stored correctly, without relying on manual processes .
Improving onboarding has a wider impact across hotel operations.
When employees are properly prepared from the start, hotels often see:
These improvements contribute to smoother day-to-day operations and a more consistent guest experience.
Most hotels closely monitor metrics such as labour cost, hours worked, and turnover.
However, fewer look at the quality of onboarding in the first week.
A simple question to consider is: Are new starters fully prepared before their first shift?
Answering this can help identify where small changes could improve both employee experience and retention.
Early turnover in hospitality is not only a recruitment challenge. It is closely linked to how employees are introduced to the business.
By making onboarding more structured and consistent, hotels can improve how quickly new starters settle into their roles and reduce the likelihood of early attrition.
To see how digital onboarding can support your team, explore how Alkimii helps hospitality businesses manage onboarding, compliance, and employee data in one platform.