As the recession eases and companies begin to add to strained staffs, hospitality employers are also taking action to retain existing top talent at their organizations.
According to a new CareerBuilder survey, thirty percent of hospitality employers are concerned about losing their high-performing workers in the second quarter, while nearly half (46 percent) of hospitality workers, the highest among industries surveyed, said it is likely they will start looking for a new job when the economy picks up.
As a result, hospitality employers are turning to a variety of different retention strategies to hold onto those workers and their valuable intellectual capital. The survey was conducted between February 10 and March 2, 2010 among 115 hospitality employers and 365 hospitality workers.
Increased workloads, longer hours and fewer resources related to the recession may be contributing to job dissatisfaction. Looking at key factors that influence job satisfaction and company loyalty, hospitality workers reported the following:
- Pay – Four-in-ten (43 percent) hospitality workers, the highest among industries surveyed, said they are dissatisfied with their pay.
- Work/life balance –One-third (33 percent) of hospitality workers said they are dissatisfied with their work/life balance.
- Career progress – Nearly four-in-ten (38 percent) hospitality workers are dissatisfied with the career advancement opportunities provided by their current employers.
Of hospitality workers who have their sights set on making a career move, they shared the attributes they will be primarily looking for in a new employer, in addition to competitive pay and benefits. Good work culture (61 percent) and a less stressful work environment (59 percent) topped the list. These were followed by:
- Career advancement opportunities – 58 percent
- Training and learning opportunities – 52 percent
- Camaraderie, more family-like work environment – 52 percent
- Company's financial stability and growth potential – 49 percent
- Flexible work arrangements – 40 percent
- Sense of ownership in their position, that they can make a difference – 37 percent
"Many hospitality employers were forced to make unpopular, though necessary decisions during the recession in terms of adjustments in headcount, pay and overall strategy," said Jason Ferrara, vice president of corporate marketing for CareerBuilder. "As the economy improves and resources are reinstated, companies are employing different ways to repair and enhance the employee experience and strengthen morale."
Hospitality employers are implementing different measures to help hold onto top talent and reduce turnover. Offering more flexible work arrangements or more performance-based incentives such as trips and bonuses and investing more in training and promising future raises or promotions topped the list. Providing a higher title without a higher salary also ranked in the top five.
Survey Methodology
This survey was conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Interactive© on behalf of CareerBuilder.com among 115 hospitality hiring managers and human resource professionals (employed full-time; not self-employed; with at least significant involvement in hiring decisions; non-government); and 365 U.S. hospitality employees (employed full-time; not self-employed; non government) ages 18 and over between February 10 and March 2, 2010 (percentages for some questions are based on a subset US Employers or Employees, based on their responses to certain questions). With a pure probability sample of 115 and 365 one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall results have a sampling error of +/- 9.14 percentage points and +/- 5.13 percentage points, respectively. Sampling error for data from sub-samples is higher and varies.