Tired of Staff Who Just Don't Care?

Tired of Staff Who Just Don’t Care About Your Business?

The hospitality industry has historically seen one of the highest turnover rates of any industry. While a large part of this is due to the seasonality of many businesses, a lack of attention to the hiring process is also a major factor. The hard truth is that this turnover affects your bottom line- whether through cost of running job ads, overtime paid to cover the missing staff, or lost revenue caused by diminished quality. This last issue, quality, is perhaps the most important of all. From front desk, wait staff, and bellhops, to banquet managers, sales managers, and spa staff, every interaction your employees have with a customer or guest affects their view of your quality, and therefore your value. High turnover can sour your employee engagement company wide.

An employee’s attitude can have the single biggest affect on a patron’s decision to return or to recommend your business to others. Because of that, making good hiring decisions- employees who fit into your culture and care about your business- is a critical factor of your success. And it’s a factor that most often gets the least attention. The fact of the matter is that you really CAN make better hires with just a little effort and focus on specific details. Here are some very basic tips to help you make better hires for every position in your business:

1. Identify and Define Your Unique Workplace Culture. Are your staff all business, or are they like a family? Do your employees really appreciate any specific benefits or perks that are unique to you? Do you always try to hire from within? Are you a group of perfectionists? Do you have a competitive workplace, or are you supportive of each other?
2. Communicate Your Culture In Your Job Ads. Remember, every new hire will have to work within your current staff. Retention of new hires is directly impacted by how comfortable they feel in your workplace. To attract a better fit, include copy about your culture and work environment so that you’ll attract people who want to be part of your company, and aren’t just looking for a job.
3. Engage Candidates During the Interview. When interviewing candidates, paint a very vivid and real picture of your culture and your expectations. Clearly relate how this person’s position fits into the business, and the importance of having the right person in that role. Provide a brief history of the business- the good, the bad, and the ugly- to build the candidates understanding of who you are.
4. Focus on Soft Skills! It is much easier to identify hard skills than soft skills. Many hiring manager fall into the trap of hiring by matching hard skills to the needs of the job. That is, when hiring a dishwasher, the focus is on dishwashing or Hobart experience; when hiring a banquet coordinator, the emphasis has been on event experience. You will have greater success in your hiring by focusing on soft skills and fit. If you can hire people that are motivated to work for you, and will fit into your culture, training them on your processes is easy. Trying to train someone who has the right hard skills to fit into your culture and care about your business is much more difficult.

Using an online recruitment resource provides you with two major benefits over a sign in your window or print advertising. First, it delivers your message to a much larger audience of people who are actively searching for jobs in your area and industry. Second, you have much more space to write up your job ad to attract better candidates, and unlike print, there’s no additional cost for larger ads or more color. In fact, it really is up to you to raise the bar for candidates. Set your expectations higher, and promote why the best available talent should work for you.

Dealing with careless, thoughtless, or unmotivated employees is a headache. Thankfully, this is a headache that you have the power to heal. While it may not seem so, there ARE great candidates out there who will become your next great employees. Make an effort to attract a higher quality, and make that headache a thing of the past!


That's the view from the Recruiting Front Lines.

jason