Hospitality Recruitment: Identifying Key Challenges

Sourcing and hiring the proper talent, addressing the skills gap, and overcoming high turnover rates are all significant challenges in hospitality recruitment.  

FREMONT, CA: The hospitality industry is thriving, with travel and tourism experiencing an impressive resurgence and consistent expansion following the pandemic. However, this development has its own set of obstacles, notably in terms of hiring and maintaining elite people. From high turnover rates to a shortage of competent labor in restaurants and hotels, hospitality businesses face a difficult landscape.

Combating excessive turnover rates: One of the challenges in hospitality recruitment is the short employee lifetime; recruiters expend a tremendous amount of effort in discovering and hiring the best people, only to lose them shortly thereafter and resume the process all over. In 2023, the leisure and hospitality industry's turnover was expected to be 79 percent, much higher than the national average across all industries. Several reasons have contributed to this amount of attrition, but the unpredictable working hours, poor earnings, and physically demanding nature of most occupations in the industry rank at the top.

Though it may appear unattainable, employers may reduce turnover by implementing effective employee retention techniques and automating their recruitment process with technology.

Employee retention depends on creating a compelling work environment that prioritizes professional development, competitive pay, and work-life balance. Furthermore, defined career paths, recognition programs, and cross-training possibilities can provide employees with a feeling of purpose and drive to stay with the organization.

Streamlining the recruitment process entails using technology to make job applications easier, executing quick candidate screening, and providing a smooth onboarding experience. Partnering with specialized hospitality recruitment agencies can also be beneficial since they have industry-specific knowledge and access to a large talent pool.

Addressing the skills gap: True excellence in the hospitality industry requires mastery of soft skills in addition to technical talents. Empathy, communication, problem-solving, and emotional intelligence are all essential skills for providing outstanding guest experiences. However, assessing and quantifying these intangible attributes throughout the recruitment process can be difficult. Hospitality recruiters can effectively analyze a candidate's potential for soft skills by using innovative strategies such as behavioral-based interviews, role-playing scenarios, and personality evaluations.

Identifying and attracting the right talent: Hospitality companies have long battled to locate employees with the necessary skills, experience, and personality attributes. For starters, they aren't the only ones looking for this kind of ability; they compete with various other industries for the same pool of possible personnel. This competitiveness has been compounded by the long-term repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused many hospitality workers to abandon the profession in search of more stable employment.