Have you ever struggled to replace high-turnover hourly position?
If your answer is yes, you’re not alone — I get asked this question all the time!
Recently, an HR Manager at a local luxury hotel was one of those people. Check out our recent Q&A exchange that might give you a couple of creative ways to get the ball rolling and find people who really fit the bill.
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Good afternoon Colleen,
You may not remember me, but we met at a local SHRM luncheon and I was hoping to get some recruiting and hiring help.
I work for a luxury hotel & resort company. We're looking to hire a few hourly employees but we’re struggling to find qualified and desirable candidates.
We’ve posted the job on Indeed and a couple other sites, which is where usually we find our applicants, but this method doesn't seem to be working as well at the moment.
I’ve also been trying to find job fairs and other hiring events, but haven’t found any that are a good fit for our industry.
Do you have any suggestions? What else can I do to find possible candidates for our front desk and housekeeping positions at our hotel?
Any advice and recommendations are welcome! Thank you so much and I hope to hear from you soon.
Hospitably yours,
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Hey!
Thanks for reaching out! How's it going?
Ahhh hourly recruiting...sounds like you are on the right track!
Companies like ZipRecruiter pour millions of dollars into advertising to business leaders that recruiting can be easy with the right tool — but I haven't found that to be the case. It takes a big budget and lots of time to find the right people.
The recruiting landscape has changed a lot and candidates are often waiting to be “asked” before they apply.
The most reliable tool in my toolbox when it comes to positions like yours is a really fantastic employee referral program. The key to a successful one is a BIG incentive for employees who have someone referred and hired — $500+ or an extra week of vacation might be examples of something that would work for your group.
The incentive really needs to motivate employees to go out and tell their network how awesome it is to work at your hotel. I hear companies complain all the time that the referral program isn't working and then I look at the incentives — $25 gift cards or some other “token.”
Here’s the thing: The incentive has to be almost “shocking” to work.
$500 may seem like a lot, but it's still a steal when you compare it to the total cost of recruiting an in-house hourly employee.
The next step is to make it as easy as possible for employees to recruit. They need to know exactly what jobs are open and how their network can apply.
We sometimes use business cards that detail the open positions and how to apply. We also included the details of the referral program on the back. Print them out and make them accessible to employees so that people can hand them out everywhere they go, even to people they don’t know! For instance, if they happen to have a great server or come across an outstanding receptionist.
There are probably more “digital” ways to do this as well if it works for your client group.
Great to hear from you! Of course, if your company needs any help building your program or pipeline, I am always available to come in for a consultation.
Cheers,
Colleen
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If you’re looking for hiring help, don’t hesitate to reach out ...after 20 years of experience as an HR expert, I’ve got plenty of other tricks up my sleeve!