Hospitality is all about the customer experience. Happy customers will return and recommend your business to their family and friends. So, finding the right hospitality staffing solutions is a main priority for most businesses.
In a saturated market like hospitality, you might find yourself in a difficult position trying to find the right people for the job. Especially in the U.S. As recently as July 2021 there was a record high of 10.1 million job openings.
Nowadays, it’s almost like employees have more choice in getting their perfect job, instead of employers getting the perfect employees. Hopefully, with the following 5 tips on hospitality staffing solutions, employees will come to you again.
1. Work on your appeal
Although those working in the hospitality industry know it’s not true, the industry is often associated with long hours and low wages. These negative vibes can make it hard to attract new employees, especially people classed as Millennials and Generation Z.
To be able to attract employees from this generation, it is extra important to work on your appeal. Market your company as a modern business that thinks about their staff. Show the benefits you offer and the advantages people get when working for you. Anything special about the work environment is worth pointing out.
Let your appeal shine in your job posts
Make your job posts stand out and make sure to promote the extras you have to offer. With so many open positions to choose from, people are looking for more than just a job. Give them that little bit more, and you’ll find yourself having more choice in who you hire.
2. Get personal
Giving each employee a number is great for your personnel management system. Not so great though for the mentality of your employees. Feeling like a number is never a positive thought and doesn’t contribute to the employee’s stake. In fact, 69% of employees say they’d work harder if they were better appreciated.
To make your employees feel they matter to you, you have to get personal. It can be as simple as giving them a personal email address that contains their name. Also, make sure they are able to contact HR or other departments in your company with their name, instead of their personnel number.
Another tip on hospitality staffing solutions, when it comes to personalization, is to recognize the importance of your staff members. According to several studies, employees cited recognition as the most important method of support. Recognition will not only keep your employees happy, it will result in more motivated and confident employees that are willing to take initiatives and responsibility.
3. Increase wages and benefits
Increasing wages is one of the most straightforward solutions to attract hospitality staff. Nevertheless, it’s not always possible for businesses to increase wages. Small margins and rising prices for business expenses make it actually harder and harder to pay employees at all.
Still, there is another way to think about it. Maxing out wages will result in happier employees that are less stressed about their finances. They will be more productive and deliver better quality. In turn, you might be able to raise prices of your products and make bigger margins.
It’s not just wages you could improve to make your employees happy. You can also give them extra benefits, like extra holidays, training budget or apprenticeships.
4. Be flexible
Whether your hospitality business is a restaurant or a retail shop, chances are small that you provide a 9 to 5 job. Working late, last-minute re-schedules and unable to act on urgent personal matters can make your employees feel trapped in their jobs.
Create a flexibility around your working schedule. Give people opportunities to live their social life alongside their work. It comes back to treating your staff personally. An employee that practices sports on certain evenings a week might be happy to start early those days, while someone else likes to take their kid to school and doesn’t mind working a late shift.
Good hospitality staffing solutions come down to making and keeping your employees happy. If they feel like you think about them, they will run the extra mile for you. In the end, you both profit.
5. Offer more
To attract more employees to your hospitality business, you can offer more than just a job. 30% of employees consider career development opportunities for learning and personal growth in general very important. Offer employees the chance to follow a career path in your hotel or restaurant. Give them in-house training, so they can develop skills and take on more responsibility.
Training and development is always appreciated by employees. It shows them you appreciate and invest in them. It is especially important for young people to have development opportunities. In-house training will not only provide you a way to keep your staff members skilled, but also gives you an opportunity to put focus on your organization’s growth and how you want to move forward. Their training and your vision will match up, making your employees want to actively contribute to the success of the company. Something simple can suddenly become a lot more valuable to your staff members, resulting in them putting more effort in them.
Wrapping it up
Hospitality staffing solutions is more than finding the right employees. With so many open job positions, you have to provide something extra to make people want to work for you. Using the 5 practical tips from this article will help you to attract more people. Keep in mind that you should not just worry about attracting new staff, you should keep your current staff happy too.
Check our article ‘5 Surefire Ways to Boost Your Hospitality Service Reviews’ to get inspiration on how to get good reviews. Positive customer reviews can also contribute to attracting new employees.
