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Five Tips to Improve Your Hospitality Hiring

Oct 18, 12 | 12:05 am

By Megan Webb-Morgan

According to Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration, the turnover rate for hotel employees averages over 65% every year. Replacing 65 out of every 100 employees costs your hotel business time and money, both in the search for new applicants and the training of new employees.

While standard HR software can be beneficial in this search, improving the process can dramatically reduce that rate, saving you money and earning you more loyal, invested employees.

Take Your Cues from Current Employees

Although the turnover rate is high in the hospitality business, you will still be able to retain a few good workers over time. Use these loyal workers as a starting point when searching for new employees.

• Did your best workers respond to the same job board or job ad? Find out what drew them to your company, as well as what’s keeping them with you, and focus on replicating those conditions to find similarly-minded workers.

Write an Effective Job Description

Although your job advertisement may be limited in length, write out a complete description of the job for which you are hiring and prioritize the qualities that are most important to the position. While you will attract any number of applicants, you want the ones who have the experience in the areas that set you apart from other hospitality gigs.

• Keeping the job description handy during interviews helps you to stay on track with questions that directly rate to a candidate’s work history and the job’s requirements. Will their history at another hotel affect their ability to adhere to your policies?

Provide Opportunities for Advancement

Stephen M. Gutierrez, an attorney with Holland & Hart LLP, warns employers: “Sometimes we overlook the easiest place for us to advance the interest of hiring someone into the new position that is open by overlooking those internal people who might fill that position.” Aka, you don’t always have to look outside – some of your best and most loyal employees may be perfect for the job.

• Providing your employees with opportunities to move up increases their likelihood of staying on with your company, reducing your turnover rate and increasing employee loyalty.
• Always look for internal candidates who might fill a position before opening it up to the general public.

Frequent and Thorough Background Checks

Your staff has an incredible amount of exposure to your guests – cleaning their rooms, serving them food, and encountering them in secluded hallways at all hours. Background and reference checks are integral to not only finding and keeping the best employees, but also keeping your guests safe.

• Always check references and confirm that the information provided by the applicant is correct. Of resumes submitted by job applicants, 49% contained information that differed from what the reference reported (ADP Screening and Selection Services, 2005).
• You should always require a thorough criminal background check of all new hires. You should also periodically screen current hotel staff to ensure the continued safety of your guests.

Train Good Managers

The best way to obtain and retain the best employees is to hire the right general manager. General managers need to be engaging and accessible to their employees, and follow all state and federal employment laws.

• Well-trained managers are more likely to hire the right employees and keep them.
• Good communication between general managers and employees is the key to retaining employees over the long term. Consider instituting an employee newsletter or hotel-wide meetings to encourage communication and mutual respect.

Save your business money and training time by hiring qualified employees who will stay with you in the long-term. Create a respectful, communicative atmosphere in the workplace, take your cues from your most loyal employees, and check references in order to make the most of your hiring practices and find loyal, hard-working hospitality employees.

About the author

Megan Webb-Morgan is a web content writer for ResourceNation.com. She writes about small business, focusing on topics such as hiring and hospitality.