Hotel staff reports constant understaffing, which is causing high check-in wait times and issues with impatient guests—the manager has a solution: 'My manager pulled me aside and told me to change "understaffed" to "unexpected high guest volume"'

Brad Dickson • Managing Editor

Oct 13, 2026 10:30 AM EDT

Need a solution to your team constantly complaining about how understaffed they are? Simple: just tell your team to stop using the word. Problem solved.

"Unexpected high guest volume"

A woman works at the front desk of a hotel — *_{Actor performance of story events.}*

This hotel worker, who works the front desk of a busy hotel, must write reports to their manager documenting what happened during a shift and any worker complaints. When the hotel worker wrote that check-in times had been delayed due to the fact that the team was understaffed (there was literally one person working the desk at any given point) their manager worried that this was going to make them look bad. After all, the regional management read these reports.

Rather than actually being good at their job and fixing the issue, they decided to sweep the issue under the rug, prohibiting staff from writing that they were “understaffed” and instead instructing them to write that they were experiencing “unexpected high guest volume.”

While the proposition is somewhat hilarious for anyone not having to experience dealing with disgruntled, impatient customers firsthand, this new directive presented a ridiculous problem for staff.

Keep reading to see the hotel worker's own account of events, followed by some key reactions and a look at the issues on display here.

My manager told us to stop using the word understaffed in our shift reports

Story/

I work at a hotel front desk and we have to write reports whenever guests complain about long waits or other issues.
Last weekend I wrote that check ins were delayed because we were understaffed. There was literally one person working the desk with a fully booked hotel.

My manager pulled me aside and told me to change it to "unexpected high guest volume" because regional management reads these reports.
We had two weddings booked that weekend for months. They also chose not to replace a coworker who quit because they're trying to save money on payroll.

There was nothing unexpected about any of this lol.
So now we're supposed to document problems, but not the actual reasons those problems happen.

A long line of customers wait to be served at a hotel desk. — *_{Picture does not depict real parties.}*

The "Always Understaffed" Issue

I think a lot of us know how this one goes.

Your team is constantly understaffed to the point where “understaffed” is just “normal,” and your manager is reluctant to lift a finger. Calling out is impossible because your manager demands that you find cover for yourself rather than doing their job and managing the schedule. Meanwhile, burnout is mounting, in no small part due to the fact that customers are constantly bearing the brunt of their displeasure.

The "Unexpected High Guest Volume"

Seasonal increase in feet through the door or “guest volume,” as this manager put it, should be no unexpected thing. It's a hotel. Depending on where you are, there are going to be more people around for whatever season your area is known for recreationally. It's probably the most predictable business trend you could possibly hope for.

This is true for lots of services and anywhere that sees seasonally high trade. But in retail, at least, it's excusable that the occasional weekend might be insane for any combination of a number of reasons, including whatever the weather decided to do that day.

But when I say “hotel,” you think of the next word that comes to mind. Ready?

“Hotel”

Was it booking? Well, whether it was or wasn't, the idea of being booked in advance is just something that goes hand in hand with hotels and travelling. Where you're staying for the night is kind of the thing you'd like to be sure is ironed out before you set out on your adventure.

So, when it comes to staffing for hotels… is there really anything “unexpected” about a busy weekend? I think it's pretty clear, but you can be the judge.

The Spin Doctor

In organizations, framing is everything. A disappointing business plan or quarter can be made into a successful one if you put the right spin on it. At the end of the day, whether or not you get promoted or get to keep your job doesn't necessarily depend on your performance… it depends on how people feel about it.

You see a lot of business leaders who are exceptionally good at this. It really has to make you wonder… is that how they got there in the first place?

But it stands to reason that, rather than fixing the issue, it's much easier to put some spin on things or just totally sweep it under the rug and pretend it didn't happen. So, that's what this manager did, forcing the front-line staff to contend with the hordes of disgruntled guests.

Another hard day's work as a manager done. Simply dust off your hands and hang up your collared shirt for the day, you legend.

APater6076 'Lacking in available Human Resources' 'Staffing levels not at the required level' 'Shortage of man-hours'

LordMoos3 "My manager pulled me aside and told me to change it to "unexpected high guest volume" because regional management reads these reports." "So you want me to lie to corporate? That feels dishonest, and I could lose my job for that."

tehjoz "Human capital needs were woefully inadequate" "Unable to maximize profits due to minimal manpower" Just keep finding different ways to say it.

Cador0223 Sounds like someone's bonus is tied to labor cost. So they are running skeleton crews. Last time I checked, a skeleton has 206 bones. There's just one of you. And the term skeleton crew implies more than one person. Depending on the number of guests you have in your facility, it might be against fire code to only have one employee on staff. I bet the Fire Marshall wouldn't find your situation humerus.

CarmenxXxWaldo Isnt the whole point of that kind of report so they can identify and correct issues? It may be seen as drawing conclusion that the issue is staffing regardless of how obvious it is. Like if two people called out you might call that understaffed but they would say it was adequately staffed but people didnt show.

So now we're supposed to document problems, but not the actual reasons those problems happen Exactly, basically stick to this to a T. document problems but dont give reason why. you can say, "we found the juice machine was not working" and then if its 3 days later and you cant serve juice say "customers complained there is no juice". If they ask why tell them all of the information is in the reports and not your responsibility to draw any conclusions. They should have seen it documented in the f

strangebru Businesses need to stop looking at employee pay as a cut in the profits, but rather the cost of doing business at the quality level of service you wish to maintain. When you have the attitude "if you don't like what you're being paid here go look for a job elsewhere," then don't be upset that you can't find people to do the work up to your expectations.

spiritfiend Those reports are to make management feel like they are doing something. If they needed a report to know what's going on, they are not actually managing.

Talwar3000 Sub-optimal staff-to-client ratios were encountered.

Atophy Reword it then... "Events were booked months in advance but scheduling manager did not expect high guest volume"

taylor914 Go southern. "Staff is spread thinner than butter on a 100 degree sidewalk"

ChasingPotatoes17 Just use the actual numbers. "Check-ins delayed due to inadequate bandwidth as the single staff member scheduled to work at this time handled unexpected high guest volumes." I've been writing up similar stuff at my job. "Support volume has doubled in the last X months; team size has not changed." Etc.

OSpiderBox When i was a production lead, at one point we were between supervisors on my shift. In the interim, I was basically the supervisor without any of the pay/benefits. Long story short, I also had to write up shift reports at the end of the day. I was always trying to be detailed. about issues, how they were resolved, etc etc because I figure if the issue comes back up the next shifts will know one way of dealing with it. I got told to stop being so detailed because corporate reads them a

Woffingshire Regional reading the reports is exactly why you need to say understaffed

whereisbeezy That's devious af and I'm suddenly realizing how often I see those words. Unexpectedly busy, unusually high guest volume, sudden surge... An economy built on endless growth is unsustainable. Rising profits every quarter is ridiculous.

jcoddinc "I was the only person scheduled and working as the other employees quit. The guest turnout was higher than what the scheduler anticipated after confirming multiple parties stay for the same day."

shanksisevil Common synonyms for understaffed include: • Short- handed Short-staffed • Undermanned Understrength • Undercrewed Below strength ⚫ Inadequate

hateborne That's likely because their bonus is tied to bring understaffed. Malicious compliance time: replaced understaffed with new phrases each time. Terrible examples below. Lacking adequate workforce Three fingers short of full glove Over committed staff A few people short of a skeleton crew Glass half empty headcount

375InStroke "Check ins delayed due to incompetent management not realizing a fully booked hotel plus two weddings that had been scheduled for months would cause high guest volume."

hypotheticalkazoos write the exact number of employees working at the time then

ReeveStodgers "Staffing was not sufficient to serve the fully booked hotel." "Preventable service slowdown due to staff attrition." "Skilled staff did exemplary work. under the conditions (i.e. one clerk for a fully booked hotel)."

thenord321 Sounds like regional management needs a direct email about the failute of local management to staff appropriately and it leading to customer complaints....especially when you're leaving too because you're probably over worked for the minimum pay.

flyingwingbat1 "Workloads are exceeding duty cycle allocations of the meat robots on-station, leading to excess robotic wear and damage, turning into control system fatigue failures"

Oredditusername0 Lol I basically got let go once over this, management kept asking me why wait times were so long and I was blunt and was like because there's only one person here. I was getting two hours a week after that. Jokes on them because once I quit they had one employee, good luck and good bye.

MendlebrotsCat "as a direct result of excessively lean staffing strategy"

Away-Quote-408 Sorry I literally laughed out loud. That is ridiculous!? Assuming you have no power to go over his head or quit or risk getting fired, I suggest just say that same phrase every single time. (Maybe even more than once in the same report). At some point with 10 consecutive "unexpected high guest volume"s, they have to conclude that their projections are wrong.

OhNoltsAndrew3 "Management's refusal to keep an adequate number of staff on duty"

persilja "Expectedly unexpected high guest volume"

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.