Question for Our Hotel Marketing Expert Panel
Attracting hospitality industry talent remains a challenge. What are your tips for successful marketing campaigns that drive recruitment? What channels work best? (Question by Jolien Alferink.)
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Our Marketing Expert Panel
- Tamie Matthews – Revenue, Sales & Marketing Consultant, RevenYou
- Max Starkov – Adjunct Professor Hospitality Technology, New York University
- Stephanie Smith-Sparks – Founder, Cogwheel Marketing
- Jacopo Focaroli – CEO & Founder, The Host
- Nicole Sideris – Founder & Prinicipal Consultant, X Hospitality
- Luminita Mardale – Director Of Marketing And Business Development, Vienna House
- Thomas Dieben – Founder, Becurious
- Daphne Beers – Owner, Your-Q Hospitality Academy
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“When advertising a role, I start by making it known in my network that I am looking. Word of mouth brings a much better calibre of staff members than any advertising. If that doesn’t work, I then put the job out on LinkedIn as a post. This has hazards though as you may get a lot of people applying in hope of a visa. The final step is using a service such as Seek.
The ad for the job needs to be clear about what you are expecting and what you need. You need to sell the position and consider what applicants want, value and need. Really highlight the USPs of working with you: work from home, flexible hours, holidays etc. Not everyone is looking for money, some people want high-value, low-cost items. Some people are purely driven by the wage, and they may not be the right person for your company.
Have a two or three-step interview process. Prior to booking any phone conversation with an applicant, I email them directly with details on the role and pay. If they are interested, they need to come back to me. Then I book a quick 30-minute phone interview in which I explain the role in further detail and ask five questions that very quickly show up skill level. These questions are based on everyday scenarios. They are not designed to trip people up or be difficult. At this point, I can quickly determine whether an applicant goes to the next round.
The next stage is a more traditional interview where I get to know the applicant, ask further questions, and have a longer conversation on a video link. Can I work with this person? Will they fit into my team? Are they applying just because I offer work from home? Do they have the skills I require? How will they work with my clients?
The final stage is a chat with one of my team. Usually my most recent recruit. This step is only offered to the person I intend on making a job offer to. It allows them to chat with someone who already does the job and ask more about the day-to-day aspect of the role. This whole process can be completed in a week as I end each call knowing if someone will make it to the next stage and have no desire to drag the process on needlessly.”
“Labour shortages and the need to use technology to replace missing humans aside, there are a few concrete marketing steps hoteliers should take to improve their hiring practices.
How many hotels have an HR and Recruitment website? A dedicated website describing the value proposition of the hotel as a place to make a career, develop professionally, be part of a team and feel fulfilled? Featuring stories and testimonials from current employees?
How many hotels use digital marketing to reach potential candidates, including brand marketing, social media, paid search, CEO, content marketing, etc. Very few hotels invest in any of the above and then wonder why they cannot find suitable candidates.”
“For line-level staff, post jobs into the Facebook Marketplace – It is free. For managerial staff, post jobs on LinkedIn. The catch is that the reach is tied to the personal profile of the person posting, so take that potential exposure into consideration.
The harder part for marketers is being “always on” approach when looking for candidates. Ensure you are creating content that appeals to potential candidates that showcases your culture while sharing team stories and getting current employees to share their stories.”
“Let’s face it, in the age of remote working, hospitality doesn’t look “sexy” at all: It’s hard work on shifts, no holidays or weekends, you must learn to be extremely patient. Also, toxic company culture might hide behind renowned brands while boutique ones might show particular attention to their people.
However, I reckon that an honest and empathetic Linkedin/Instagram/company website campaign must highlight why hospitality and that particular company suit the best talents. Hospitality is an art more than a job and requires several skills at the same time. It’s not for all. That’s why we must stress the strong points of our industry: no day is ever the same, it opens your mind, hones attention to detail and time management skills, boosts emotional intelligence, it makes you endure and manage crisis like few other jobs, you can go anywhere, etc.”
“The talent required is determined by the deliverable channel, e.g., local housekeeping positions are more successful on Facebook, whereas management roles are better placed on LinkedIn. Roles today need to be clear, concise, relatable and provide a lifestyle. The company’s mission statements are receiving more eyeballs as people want to work in a thriving environment that is flexible and carries ethical and sustainable values.”
“Attracting new talents in the hospitality industry is difficult after 2 years of the pandemic when the industry suffered and many colleagues changed their working domain for more stability.
What are we doing? I suggest getting involved in special school programs, making agreements with high schools to come and see all the activities and offering students the possibility to complete work experience in your property in different departments.
What channels do we use for recruitment? Social media is important – for example, LinkedIn and Facebook – but also posting within different local communities there.”
“In general, I think hotels and hotel groups that have a valuable and pleasant company culture and are able to communicate this culture in all recruitment communications, have a strategic advantage. However, company culture is not something that can be created overnight. Company culture is something that starts with the owners and management, if they can create an inviting, professional and enjoyable company culture, this is something that all employees will feel and have in mind when at work. In the end, the guests and future employees will feel this culture too. So important, but difficult to achieve.
A more hands-on piece of advice would be to set up an academy or training program for employees. This way, hotels can attract less experienced candidates and train them. For more experienced employees, the possibility to educate themselves can be a good reason to choose your hotel above another. Also, having a training program or academy is a useful aspect in terms of employee benefits.”
“In these fierce market conditions, you need to focus on the benefits for the employee instead of focusing on the features of the job. Create a clear employer brand with a purpose, and translate this into an employer vision, mission and into storytelling and story-doing (practice what you preach). Instead of aiming for everyone that applies, be very specific in what type of employee you want to attract and then focus on that.
Depending on the type of staff you are looking for, you can determine where you find them (at schools, online, what type of social media channel are they using, recruitment agencies etc.). So the channel can really change depending on the type of vacancy!”
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