Given how much a subpar employee can cost a business (upwards of 10 times as much as hiring a recruiter), hospitality and hotel businesses need to know how to attract the best talent in the industry and how to keep from settling for candidates that are just 'okay.'

According to a tenure summary released via the Bureau of Labor Statistics, individuals in this industry, on average, spend little more than two years in one position before being promoted or choosing to quit, compared with the average four-year tenure for private sector workers (including hospitality and leisure employees).

For ambitious hospitality employees, this is hugely positive, and for hospitality firms, this means extra emphasis must be placed on employee retention and finding new talent to replace those moving on or moving up. However, one question remains, and that is, “What are some new ways to find top talent in the hospitality industry?”

Training Managers on Promoting Your Company

With the economy rebounding, the Baby Boomer generation is starting to retire, leading to many open jobs and candidates with more choices when it comes to working. The days of most people simply wanting a job are gone, and this means that if they are really top candidates, your hiring managers need to show the candidates why they want to join your company over others. The best method for this is by using the culture within your company. While some hiring managers might know how to promote the company, there are those who might not know how, so it is vital you train those unsure managers on positioning crucial selling points for potential candidates.

Building a Better Brand

A key method for attracting and engaging top talent in the hospitality industry is developing a consistent employment brand which reflects the organization’s vision and creates something people actively hope to be part of. For instance, Google, Apple, Amazon, etc. have unmistakable, unique 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,” stated one recruiting manager. Growing awareness of your organization’s employment brand is one of the key steps toward improving talent acquisition as well as fighting employee turnover.

Distinguishing from the Competition

A guest staying in one of your hotels likely knows what distinguishes yours from the competition, but how about the employee perspective? Why would an individual choose to work at your business? What do employees get from you that they do not get from the competition? Whether it’s stock options, company perks, or other opportunities, setting your hotel apart from competitors will attract not only top industry talent but also leading hotel executives, directors, and managers.

Offering Relevant Employee Perks

With the battle for top talent raging on, it is getting more difficult and costly for many businesses in the hospitality/hotel industry to find good job candidates. There is a large age difference between old and young employees in this industry, and oftentimes the job benefits that employees believe to be the most important are often different. To attract young, fresh graduates and tenured hotel directors, managers, and c-level execs, hotels must offer benefits targeted to Y-Gen, X-Gen, and Baby Boomer employees.

According to David Lewin, who is a speaker and renowned expert on employee engagement, “There is little question that more and more [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.”

At JDI, we realize attracting the top talent in the hospitality industry is challenging, which is why we use the C.L.A.M.P.S. method to attract candidates, identify the best candidates, as well as making your particular operation more appealing to these candidates. To learn more about this philosophy, watch the video below…

If you are interested in letting JDI help you recruit the top talent in the industry or want to learn more about our hotel recruiting services, please click here.