Ways to attract new talent and retention strategies post COVID
Tourism and Hospitality employers preparing for this restart are facing a number of unprecedented challenges; one of the most notable is hiring talent in a post-pandemic environment. In the following we’ll take a look at the state of the talent pool in the tourism industry, and guide you through some tips and tricks for attracting top talent in a post-covid world.
Tourism and Hospitality industry perceptions
Even before the pandemic, the tourism industry had a challenge in attracting and maintaining talent within the industry. This was due to the perceptions society associated with the industry itself; including, poor working conditions, low pay, seasonality, and unknown or no career pathways. The pandemic has now increased the challenge further by adding uncertainty around when international and domestic travel will return in full-force around the world. With each country opening up at different times and with different requirements making it even harder to create certainty around employment opportunities.
The elephant in the room
Firstly, let’s talk about money. After the past two years, we know your balance sheet has been hit hard, making rehiring with competitive salaries all the more daunting. Remember, a lot of other companies who are restarting are in the same boat as you. While it’s important to offer realistic livable wages, there’s other creative solutions your business can undertake to attract top talent in a post covid world.
Employee benefits
For many applicants, working with a company that aligns with their values is just as important as the salary they will receive. Think about your business’s mission and vision. How can you align your employee benefits with these guiding resources to create a workplace environment that matches your values? Some ideas for benefits could be:
- Share scheme – Where employees can sign up to receive shares in the company. This encourages your employees to help the business succeed, promotes loyalty to the business and gives the employees other potential sources of income through dividends or acquisitions and gives a sense of accountability and ownership.
- A discount of your product or services – Even a small discount can be seen as a benefit for a potential employee. The discount might also encourage the employee to bring their family and friends to show off their new job, which brings in new customers.
- Company culture – Do you have a welcoming and inclusive company culture? Including things like team building events, lunches, social group activities, will help grow collaboration and make your employees feel more comfortable at work. As it allows employees a chance to learn more about their colleagues in a social setting
- Corporate values – What values does your company have that you expect all your employees to hold? Being transparent about these values will allow applicants to determine if their values match. If the applicant can connect with your company through a shared value they are more likely to want the role and select it over a different opportunity.
- Corporate social responsibility – Mention any charity work you do or that an employee can do through the business. Do you support any charities? Make sure you explain the reason behind the businesses support. Why is it important that the business supports this charity, it could be because the charity supports the protection of a native environment that you operate close to.
- Employer branding – Is an important element of recruitment that is often overlooked, but it can have a huge impact on your company’s workforce. And it’s important for all companies, not just for the ones that have to find talented employees in tight labour market conditions. Because all companies want to hire the best possible candidates. What do people think about working at your company? What impression do they have? What would employees and your top talent list as the pros and cons? The good and bad?
The responses to these questions are a key metric of your employer brand and a gauge of your company’s reputation in the marketplace. They are also an indicator of how well your brand will do when it comes to acquiring talent.
For more information contact Christie directly. See info below.
