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Our pay model is no longer competitive

The applicant accepted and two days later withdrew. The house next door doesn’t pay much more, but differently.

Typical for: family-run houses paying collective-agreement rates plus gut feeling · seasonal properties in regions competing for the same people · businesses running the same pay structure for years

Documented by Hospis

Updated: 23 October 2026

How you recognize it

  • In the last twelve months several applicants withdrew after accepting because of a better offer
  • We don’t know the pay and benefits of our three main competitors for staff
  • Two employees in the same position earn differently, and nobody can say why
  • There is no rule for when and how salaries are adjusted
  • Staff housing, meals and ski pass aren’t quantified in the offer
  • Working hours, days off and season length aren’t positioned as an advantage in interviews

Matching Hospis

Javier Torrente

Javier Torrente

Operations · Processes · Team structure
Works with protel · Mews · Mews POS · Smart Host
AdviseImplement

Builds pay bands, total package and adjustment rules with properties, so that the team understands them and management can use them in interviews.

Mapped to root cause
The market is unknownSalaries without structureThe package isn’t calculated
View profilePersonally vetted · independent match
SF

Sophia Marie Fehr

Concept · Brand core & positioning
Works with Adobe Creative Cloud · Mews
Advise

Sharpens what the house stands for as an employer, so that the offer is more than a number.

Mapped to root cause
Only money is offered
View profilePersonally vetted · independent match

Matching software

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Which path fits your situation?

01

Diagnosis

390 € fixed price

A vetted Hospi analyses your situation in a structured way, in conversation and with a written result. Every statement clearly labelled: FACT, BENCHMARK, HYPOTHESIS or CONCLUSION. You get a concrete path, not a sales meeting.

  • A legitimate outcome is also: no engagement needed.
  • If an engagement follows, the diagnosis fee is fully credited.
02

Urgent support

Acute situation? Your case is reviewed with priority, with a response within 48 hours.

Cause fields and how to tell them apart

“Not competitive” rarely means “too little”. Usually the model is unclear, the package incompletely calculated or the offer badly explained. All three cost applicants without more money being needed.

These fields are complete, and many properties get there on their own. That is what this page is for. The cost simply does not appear on an invoice: internal hours, a few attempts, and a season that keeps running in the meantime.

01

The market is unknown

How you spot it

What the house pays is known. What the three businesses in the same valley offer (base pay, housing, bonuses, days off) nobody knows. So the offer gets improved by gut feeling whenever someone declines.

The way out

Survey the local market for your key positions once a year: through applicant interviews, exit interviews, colleagues in the village. Not a study, a table, but maintained.

02

Salaries without structure

How you spot it

Every salary is the result of a negotiation at a particular moment. Whoever negotiated well earns more than whoever has been there longer. Once the team finds out, it costs more than any structure would.

The way out

A few bands per function, with clear criteria for moving up: experience, responsibility, returning seasons. That makes pay explainable, internally and in interviews.

03

The package isn’t calculated

How you spot it

Staff room, three meals, ski pass, use of the spa: all taken for granted, none quantified. The applicant compares gross salaries, and the house loses a comparison it would actually win.

The way out

The total package as a number: salary plus in-kind benefits plus bonuses, per position, on one page. Whoever can show that in an interview negotiates differently.

04

Only money is offered

How you spot it

The conversation revolves around salary because nothing else is on the table. Working hours, time off, training, a stable team: the house has much of that but doesn’t mention it.

The way out

Position the offer as a whole: what makes the house as an employer, concretely and honestly. Whoever only talks about money loses to whoever has more of it.

Frequently asked

Do we simply have to pay more in the end?
Sometimes for individual positions. Usually the diagnosis shows that structure, package and positioning achieve more than a raise, and that targeted adjustments are cheaper than across-the-board ones.
What about collective agreements, tariffs and minimum wage?
They are the floor, not the model, and they are rising: in Austria, hotel and hospitality collective-agreement wages and salaries rise by an average of 3 percent from 1 October 2026, plus a one-off bonus of up to 275 euros gross, Germany's minimum wage is 13.90 euros in 2026 and 14.60 euros in 2027, and Swiss L-GAV minimum wages rise by 0.19 percent in 2026. Whoever pays only the floor competes with everyone who does the same. Your model builds on top of that.
How do we explain a new structure to the existing team?
Openly and with transition rules. A transparent structure is accepted more readily than the status quo. The condition: nobody loses out.

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Problem
Our pay model is no longer competitive

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