It is impossible to run a successful hotel without hiring the right hotel staff. After all, success in the industry relies hugely on customer service, and many additional tasks and duties need to be carried out. For instance, most hotels need marketers, receptionists, HR staff, accountants, cleaners, IT support workers, chefs, waiters, concierge staff, etc. Here, you will find tips on how to hire the best hotel staff for your needs.

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Reasons to Hire Hotel Staff

There are many reasons you may need to consider hiring new hotel staff, with the most obvious problem being the need to replace departing staff. If you lose a crucial employee, or if you start to find that your staff turnover rate grows, you will need to fill those hotel vacancies, which means finding people with the necessary qualities.

However, beyond this, you may notice certain staff are overworked, which is a good indication that you may need to add to your team, or you might also identify specific skills gaps within your business. When this is the case, hiring new staff who possess those skills may be a better solution than paying to upskill existing employees.

Other indicators that you should look to hire new hotel staff include situations where employees have been unable to take time off for a long time, potentially including yourself. Alternatively, you may find that the level of customer service you provide falls short of your hotel’s expectations and/or previous standards.

Advantages of Expanding Your Team

Expanding the number of hotel staff on your books can offer a number of key benefits, including helping to free up the time of existing employees and helping to alleviate workloads. Although many hotels attempt to cut costs by keeping their teams small, this can become more expensive, with staff being paid overtime to get things done.

If you have skills gaps in your hotel, hiring new staff can help you deliver a superior experience for customers and may also help with day-to-day business operations. Finally, adding new employees can introduce some fresh ideas, with each of your new hires bringing with them outside perspectives and experiences.

7 Tips to Hire Hotel Staff

Hiring processes can be complicated, and when it comes to finding the best possible candidates, there are many things to consider. To help, here you will find seven tips for recruiting hotel staff.

1. Be Clear on What You Need From Hotel Staff

The first step when expanding your hotel staff team is to be as clear as possible about what you need and why you need it. This means going through your hotel, from one department to the next, evaluating performance, identifying areas for improvement, and pinpointing the departments that may need new staff.

Discuss with departmental managers what they need and what they would like. Keep track of the hotel staff that leaves and make sure you have a plan in place to replace them before their loss is felt too strongly.

Regardless of whether you need a hotel manager, receptionist, cleaner, or chef, you need to know precisely what position(s) you are hiring for and what that new hire will actually do in the hotel. You must also hire at the right times – when you can afford to do so, when there is a need, but before performance drops too much.

2. Base Your Hiring Process on the Job Description

Next, you need to create a job description for each position you are looking to hire new hotel staff. In addition to describing what the new recruit will do on a day-to-day basis, this job description should serve as the cornerstone for your entire hiring process and the eventual decisions you make.

Consider the minimum requirements for the position in terms of formal education, previous work experience, and soft skills. Is it a position where you can afford to invest time in training someone from scratch, or do you need them to have worked in a similar job before, so they can hit the ground running?

Furthermore, you need to be clear on what you are looking for without making the job description too difficult for people to meet, or you may have a problem finding applicants. While hiring for a hotel management position is likely to require previous experience, you could probably teach someone to wait tables in the hotel restaurant.

3. Think About Ways to Attract the Best Hotel Staff

While you may have identified a need for new hotel staff, actually attracting the best possible candidates to your hotel is another matter. The hotel industry is extremely competitive and other nearby hotels may be looking to fill similar positions to the ones you are looking to fill.

With this in mind, you need to consider the various ways you can make your hotel attractive to those looking to move into the industry, as well as those who already work for another hotel. On a simple level, this means thinking about what you will pay them and what job benefits you can offer.

Beyond this, however, people are often interested in hotel careers rather than applying for a single job. Consider what you can tell potential candidates about their future career prospects with your hotel. Is there an opportunity for progression? Do you reward loyal staff? Could they potentially access training to advance their career in the future?

4. Hire From a Range of Different Channels

When you have a hotel job role that needs filling, you may think to advertise it on relevant job boards, especially those focusing on the hotel industry, which is a perfectly viable strategy. However, you should think beyond this, too, because the best candidates may not necessarily look at those boards.

For this reason, your hiring strategy must extend to various channels and platforms. There is a wide range of options, from turning to a professional recruiter, who may have extensive experience in sourcing the best candidates for hotel jobs, to using social media.

LinkedIn, for instance, is an excellent social networking site for developing a professional network. By advertising jobs on the platform, you may be able to reach out to candidates who are not actively exploring job boards but who may want a new job. Similarly, you could post jobs on your own hotel website and social media accounts.

5. Use the Interview Process to Narrow Candidates Down

Once you have your list of applicants, you can start to filter out the ones who do not meet your criteria and identify the ones who you think might have the best chance of fitting in. Then, you can use the interview process to narrow this list of potential candidates even further to make your final decision easier.

You must use your interviews to ask questions that help you understand not only the skills and experience that candidates have but also their personal characteristics and attributes. You may also want to consider whether face-to-face interviews are needed or whether phone or video interviews would work.

Give careful thought to who will actually carry out the interviews. Departmental leaders, who have experience in the role, could take the lead, but you might want to do it yourself, or you might want to build an interview team. When deciding on how many people to interview, factor in the costs and how quickly you need someone in place.

6. Hire Hotel Staff With the Qualities to Succeed

Once you have carried out all of the interviews, you need to decide which candidate(s) will join your pool of hotel staff. You have a lot of information about the applicants by now, but you can still gain more. For instance, checking references can help you to build an even clearer picture.

Going further, you may also want to carry out a basic check of social media profiles. In particular, LinkedIn can be useful for checking whether job histories match the information you have been given. Depending on the nature of their role within your hotel, you may also need to carry out a criminal background check.

Ultimately, your decision on who to hire should focus on choosing those with the right qualities to succeed. This means a combination of the right skills, the right level of experience and the right personal attributes. Even someone with the right qualifications may not be the best pick if they do not fit your company culture.

7. Invest Sufficiently in Training for Your New Hires

Finally, it is important to remember that the hiring process does not end at the point that you make your decision about who to hire. New hotel staff need to be trained to do their job. Moreover, they need to be made to feel like part of the team, given their work uniform and made aware of company policies.

You will need to invest sufficiently in training, even if they have prior experience in a similar role. Hotels are all different, and they will need to learn how things are done in your hotel.

It is also crucial to understand that training for new hotel staff cannot be provided once and then forgotten. For the vast majority of job roles within a hotel, training will be needed, especially as your wider hotel strategies change, technology improves, and processes evolve.

Video: How to Recruit a Good Job Candidate

Below you find a video with tips on recruiting and hiring the best candidates for your company.

 

Overview of Channels to Recruit Hotel Staff

When you are looking to recruit new hotel staff, there are a number of different channels to explore, from online hotel job boards and your own hotel website to social media platforms and professional recruitment agencies. Understanding these channels can help you find the right candidates for your vacancies.

Read “Overview of Channels to Recruit Hotel Staff“ to gain more information about the various channels available to job seekers and hotel industry employers seeking new hotel staff.

Search Hotel Staff via Hotel Job Boards

When finding hotel staff to fill vacancies, job boards represent one of the best options. After all, the people using these platforms are all actively seeking work, and some job boards specialize in connecting hotels with people who are keen to work in the hotel industry or those who already work there.

Our “Search Hotel Staff via Hotel Job Boards” article lists some of the most popular job boards available for both employers and job seekers, helping you recruit suitable candidates.

Overview of Hotel Staff and All Different Positions Within the Hotel Industry

A significant part of the recruitment process is focused on identifying the right candidates and the right positions to fill. As hotels grow or evolve, the number of people you employ may also increase. For this reason, having a rounded understanding of all the different job roles is important.

By reading our “Overview of Hotel Staff and All Different Positions Within the Hotel Industry” article, you will learn more about the different job roles that exist and what they entail, which can help make hiring decisions much easier.

Hiring staff with the required skills and qualities can differentiate success and failure within the hotel industry. By following the tips provided, you can ensure you hire the right hotel staff for the right positions.

More Tips to Grow Your Business

Revfine.com is a knowledge platform for the hospitality & travel industry. Professionals use our insights, strategies and actionable tips to get inspired, optimise revenue, innovate processes and improve customer experience. You can find all hotel & hospitality tips in the categories Revenue Management, Marketing & Distribution, Hotel Operations, Staffing & Career, Technology and Software.

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This article is written by:

Martijn Barten

Hi, I am Martijn Barten, founder of Revfine.com. With 20 years of experience in the hospitality industry, I specialize in optimizing revenue by combining revenue management with marketing strategies. I have successfully developed, implemented, and managed revenue management and marketing strategies for individual properties and multi-property portfolios.