May 24th, 2023 | Joy Henry, US Head of Technology and Business Services

4 Steps to Prepare for the Summer Surge of Hospitality Hiring

Whether guests stay at a hotel for a getaway, to visit family, or for business — they rely on those hotels to be a temporary second home they can trust. From hotel managers to waitstaff, hotel employees are the face of the company, representing the values of the brand. Employees of the hospitality industry are often driven by wanting to help others, are committed to customer satisfaction, and thrive meeting new people and working on teams. Safety is also essential in a business where employees often privately interact with guests, and hiring employees who are authentic (and remain trustworthy throughout their employment) is imperative to the safety of the hotel and the reputation of the hotel brand. 

Covid-19 curbed the growth of this field and caused unique hiring challenges that have been following the industry ever since. As travel resumes, and is likely to boom in the upcoming warmer months, hospitality businesses must prepare for current staffing shortages and increased staffing needs, making the search for hospitality talent extremely competitive. In addition, many hospitality workers reported leaving their jobs to work in the gig economy or in warehouses and logistics. These shortages are making the staff that are currently in the industry more valuable and businesses are providing increased incentives to candidates. With all this competition for new hires, how can your hospitality HR team help to attract and win top talent? Let’s discuss four steps you can take to help prepare for the summer surge of hospitality hiring.

1. Employee ROI and Hospitality

We recently looked at hiring volume within the hospitality industry over the last year to uncover current trends, and we have seen people leave the hospitality field at alarming rates. Naturally, the pandemic left employees feeling fearful for their safety. There was also a 130% increase in open positions in hospitality during these two years. The question is: why were people leaving the field so quickly?

Employees, many of them lifetime career people, were leaving the hospitality industry for freelance or gig work as hospitality establishments temporarily shut down during the height of the pandemic. Your hospitality business can help to attract new candidates by bearing several of these factors in mind including safety, compensation and work flexibility.

2. Improving the Candidate Experience

Since hospitality companies are hiring again, it’s crucial for hospitality HR professionals to help keep the momentum going and encourage both their organizations and candidates to take the next step together. One way to help meet increased demand is to improve the overall candidate experience by making things as easy for candidates as possible. Having a seamless candidate experience will give a strong first impression to the candidate as well as get them onboarded more quickly.

Mobile-responsive features such as SMS notifications, responsive candidate services support, and an activities center can save your candidates extra time. Convenient, time-saving features like this improve the candidate experience from start to finish and help companies celebrate filling open positions faster and more seamlessly.

3. Speed up the Hiring Process

When you’re looking to fill positions in the hospitality industry quickly, it’s important to get the most use out of your resources. Technology and social media can be incredibly helpful when recruiting applicants. When HR leaders in the hospitality industry were asked what they were doing to speed up the hiring process, 75% of hospitality companies responded they were doing the following:

  • Using social media – i.e., posting available positions on their platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
  • Hiring internally – promoting current employees or drawing from the current company pool
  • Using their internal network – i.e., hiring friends or associates of current employees

In addition to these tactics, hospitality HR professionals can help speed up the hiring process by improving turnaround times on criminal background checks. When standard criminal background checks take longer than expected, candidates often drop out of the hiring process to apply elsewhere. For example, 70% of Sterling’s criminal searches close in one hour. Turnaround times like this can reduce your time-to-hire and help your hospitality business to secure top talent.

4. Improve the Background Check Process

Regardless of where hospitality applicants are sourced from, it’s essential that they’re screened through a comprehensive criminal background check process. Confidence in hiring is essential in an industry where employees often privately interact with guests, and hospitality HR staff play a vital role in helping to create a work culture based on trust and safety.

If you are interested in learning more about hospitality-focused criminal background checks, you can check out our hiring suite here.

Sterling is not a law firm. This publication is for informational purposes only and nothing contained in it should be construed as legal advice. We expressly disclaim any warranty or responsibility for damages arising out this information. We encourage you to consult with legal counsel regarding your specific needs. We do not undertake any duty to update previously posted materials.