4 Ways to Attract the Top Talent, that You Didn’t Already Know
In our previous blog post we talked about how much a bad hire really costs (up to 10x as much as working with a recruiter) and how settling for simply an “o.k.” employee can actually do more harm than good to your organization and your employees. Thus, we saw it only fit to share a few tips on how your hotel or hospitality business can attract the top talent, and avoid settling for an “o.k.” candidate.
The hospitality business, in particular the hotel industry boasts one of the lowest median tenure’s out of all occupations according to an employee tenure summary released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This means that on average individuals working in the hospitality industry spend a little over 2 years in a position before they’re promoted or choose to leave, compared to the average tenure of 4 years for private sector employees (which includes leisure and hospitality employees). For hospitality workers looking to quickly climb the ranks this is a huge positive, for hospitality businesses this means that an extra emphasis needs to be placed on employee retention and attracting new ambitious individuals to fill the shoes of those moving up or moving on. However, the question remains, “what are ways to attract the top talent within the hospitality industry, which I didn’t already know?”
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Train your managers how to sell your company
As the economy continues to rebound, baby boomers begin to retire and the number of open jobs continues to increase, now more than ever, candidates have the top choice of where they want to work. Gone are the days of many people just wanting a job, which means if they’re really a top notch candidate you’re hiring managers are going to have to show them why they should want to work at your company, rather than your competition or somewhere else. The best way to do that is by using your company’s culture.
While some of your hiring managers may already know how to sell the company there are others who may not, so training them on how to position those key selling points to the candidate is important.
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Build an employment brand people want to work for
One of the best ways to attract and engage the top hospitality talent is to develop a cohesive employment brand that reflects your organization’s vision, and creates a brand that people want to be a part of. For example, Google, Amazon, Apple, etc., all have unmistakable employment brands. “When you have a perception that precedes experience you can compete beyond compensation, because you’re providing other benefits through an employment opportunity at your company,” [Recruiting]. Increasing awareness around your organizations employment brand is a key step toward improving your company’s talent acquisition and combating employee turnover.
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Distinguish your hotel from competitors
This may sound redundant and trivial considering you may own or work for an international hotel company, but it goes along with building an outstanding employment brand. Consumers and individuals staying at your hotel likely know what distinguishes your hotel from your competitor, but what about from an employee perspective. Why would someone want to work for your hospitality organization? What do you offer your employees that your competitors don’t? Whether it’s the company perks, stock options or opportunities for continuous development (i.e. sending your executives to the hottest hotel conferences) by setting yourself apart from competing hotels, you’ll attract the attention of not only the industries top talent but also the hotel industry’s leading managers, directors and hotel executives.
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Offer perks relevant to your employees
As the war on talent continues to rage, the search for the top talent is becoming a more difficult constant and costly battle. The hotel and hospitality industry has one of the largest age differences between young and old employees, among all industries, and consequently the benefits employees find most important in a job, often differ. As a result, in order for hotels to continue attracting fresh young graduates as well as tenured hotel managers, directors, vice presidents and seasoned c-level executives, hotels must be able to offer employment benefits that are targeted to the X-Gen and Y-Gen employees as well as Baby Boomers.
For example, when it comes to the younger workers in the X-Gen and late Y-Gen, what they’re ultimately looking for is money, where as the Baby Boomers and much of the Y-Gen have a stronger focus on the non-monetary benefits (i.e. work-life-balance, benefits, healthcare, etc). David Lewin, a world-renowned expert and speaker on employee engagement says, “There is little question that more and more employees [mature workers] want to be protected and have some sense of stability, while [young people] have student loans to pay back… and need to have cash in their pocket.”
However your organization decides to go about attracting and hiring new ambitious employees or veteran hotel executives, just remember it’s all about your employment brand and creating a brand that people want to be a part of. Need help finding a new management, director or VP level hotel executive for your hotel group, or to replace an old employee; JDI can help.
Sources:
Peltier, D. (n.d.). Hotels’ college recruitment strategies go beyond hospitality students [Blog post].
How to help hiring managers sell the position [Blog post]. (n.d.).
Employee tenure summary. (2014, September 18). In Bureau of labor statistics. USDL-14-1714