As more and more individuals resume traveling, hotels are looking to staff up to ensure they’re able to provide a great guest experience. But as we’ve seen across nearly every industry, a hiring crisis has caused a surplus of unfilled roles.
Some industries are rethinking how they’re marketing their roles to talent, and many are focusing on attracting young job seekers to find the perfect start to their careers. But understanding the desires of young talent is essential to attracting them to your business. Without a grasp on what they expect from their work environment, you may find yourself wasting advertising spend without seeing any return.
Flexibility
Work-life balance and flexibility matter a great deal to young talent, especially after the last year and a half. Since the pandemic, most of the industries that have seen increases in employment rate are the ones that can offer remote work — but that isn’t really possible in the hospitality industry. With these restraints, in order to retain younger talent resorts and hotels need to provide flexibility in other areas.
Competitive paid time off plans, paid sick days, mental health days, and general autonomy can give employees the same satisfaction that remote work can, because providing flexible work arrangements means you trust your employees. If you don’t already offer these benefits, consider doing so to appeal to talent and show your employees and applicants that you take their needs seriously.
Tech reliance
An organization looking to compete with STEM jobs must adopt technology. These types of companies are constantly looking toward technology to improve their processes, and that appeals greatly to young people who have grown up with technology at their fingertips. Being open to change and willing to update processes and procedures through technological investment will keep your hotel growing and thriving.
Not to mention, the adoption of technology helped keep many hotels operating during a time of great uncertainty by keeping guests and staff safe. When the face-to-face interaction that hotels were used to operating under had to be removed, technology helped redefine the guest experience — and tech reliance in your other areas of operation can do the same for your staff.
Identify where processes are siloed or manual, and look for tech that can help alleviate this. There’s likely a technology out there to help you solve your issues — from hiring employees to tracking and managing guest expectations — so do some research and find industry-trusted tech to invest in.
Workplace culture
Young job seekers prioritize workplace culture more than older generations. So without strategic effort put into building a great culture, you’ll miss out on attracting new talent and retaining them down the line.
Your culture is a representation of your company values, so start by setting a clear outline of what you stand for as an organization. At Hireology, our culture is molded by our five core values. These values affect everything, like who we hire, how we deal with workplace issues, and how we treat our teammates and customers.
Once you’ve set your core values, re-enforce them throughout your operations. This will help to create a place where people are excited to go to work. And don’t shy away from asking for feedback from your employees. You can gain valuable insight on where improvements can be made and what your hotel does well, and make adjustments where you need to.
Career growth & training opportunities
Job seekers want to work for an organization that values their professional progress. In our 2023 State of Hospitality Hiring Report, we found that the second highest priority for hospitality job seekers is the opportunity for career growth. So focus on your employees’ opportunities for advancement and you’ll attract young people excited about growing their careers.
Look internally at your employees and interview those who have moved around. Feature testimonials from these employees on your career site to show that internal mobility is common and supported.
Offer training and continuing education opportunities to your staff, and consider implementing a stipend for each employee to attend conferences, take online courses, or participate in other forums to further their professional development.
Commitment to sustainability
Attracting young talent also has a lot to do with your company practices. With information so readily available, young people are profoundly in tune with social issues and the future of our environment. According to a PwC survey, 86% of employees preferred to support or work for companies that care about the same issues as they do, relating to environmental, social, and governance issues.
In our hiring report from earlier, we found that nearly a fifth of applicants would accept a lower paying role if it offered the diversity, equity, and inclusion practices they’ve been searching for. Committing to sustainable practices at your hotel — and advertising your commitments — can lead you to attracting young talent in droves.
Use your career site and social media channels to spread the word about your company’s sustainability objectives, and make sure to put your money where your mouth is and report on your progress to your goals.
Running a hotel is not an easy task — finding great talent shouldn’t be an added stressor for you. We want to help you hire your best team so you can focus on your guests. Connect with us to see how Hireology can help.
