HR Planning and Recruitment Challenges in Hospitality Industry
The hospitality industry is one of the fastest growing industry in Australia. With the growth of the industry, the requirement of the skilled and motivated employees is also high. It is one of the biggest challenge for the employees in the hospitality industry (Zinvemba, 2014). The present report will discuss the hiring challenge in the hospitality industry.
The pressure on the workers of the hospitality industry is very high. It decreases the morale of the employees which proves drastic for the industry. The companies in HR industry use several different HR strategies to attract talented employees in the organization; however, there are several challenges in the industry. The changing labor conditions are a significant challenge for the industry. There is slow population growth, aging population and unionization of the labor market. The immigration and the work visas is another issue in the workforce planning (Kusluvan, Kusluvan, Ilhan & Buyruk, 2010). Several organizations in hospitality industry rely on the foreign workers to fill the entry level requirements in the hospitality industry. The stringent rules in the hospitality industry have made the recruitment quite complex in the industry.
In the recent years, the operating cost in the hospitality industry has become very high. The operating expenses have increased due to a number of reasons such as energy cost, insurance cost, labor cost and the construction cost. The global demand in the energy resources and natural disasters has increased the energy costs of the organization. In the recent years, the insurance cost in the hospitality has increased. As a result, the insurance companies have become more vigilant. The labor cost and the labor shortage is another challenge. The potential cost for the companies in the hotel industry (Jolliffe & Farnsworth, 2003). Another challenge is due to the growing concern for the safety and security of the tourism locations.
The high number of employee turnover and employee shortage is a significant challenge for the employees. There are also significant challenges in finding and recruiting skilled employees in the hospitality sector. The lack of sufficient budget is another challenge for the hospitality industry. The labor shortage is a significant challenge as employee turnover rate is quite high in front-line workers at the hospitality industry (Lucas & Deery, 2004). In the hospitality industry, the labor shortage is an issue as the quality of workers has a direct impact on the brand reputation, revenue and the labor cost of the organization. Therefore, it is important that the organization should have access to a larger pool of talent. It is important so as the organization can pick and choose the best talent for the organization. The hospitality organizations must also develop strategies so that they can support the workers and foster the engagement of the employees with the organization. The demographics of the available talent is another challenge for the hospitality organizations. With the low population growth, the available workforce is ageing and unable to fulfill the demands of the physically challenging roles (Solnet & Hood, 2008). The younger population is seeking roles with the demand of higher wages and better working conditions. The young generations is giving attention to workplace culture, competitive wages and benefits and improved working conditions. These strategies can reduce the stress on ageing employees and attract young workforce.
Recruitment Strategies in Hospitality Sector
The recruitment and hiring is quite complex in the hospitality sector due to the quest to hire the best and right talent in the industry. The hiring procedure in the hospitality industry is also slowed down due to number of approvals. Several positions remain open for an extended period of time due to the long process. Moreover, with the time, the resources spent on the recruitment process also increases. However, with the robust hiring strategy, the organizations can recruit the best talent within the organization (Jolliffe, & Farnsworth, 2003). The organizations should conduct marketing research and regarding the number of vacant positions, availability of the talent pool and the number of candidates who are applying for the similar position.
This investigation will help the organization in evaluating the supply and demand data in the recruitment process. This information can assist the organization in analyzing the supply and demand in the job market. The organizations can effectively develop the effective recruitment strategy and the organization can develop a competitive advantage over the competitors. The companies can utilize the existing resume database of the organization to find the talented candidates (Lucas, & Deery, 2004). The candidates who have themselves approached the organization can respond at a better rate. Several tools are available which helps the organization in accessing accurate public profiles. It also increases the pool of talented candidates in the organization. Different search algorithms and tools can assist the organization in accessing the public database and the web profiles which can widen the search for the relevant candidates.
Another significant job strategy is to create persuasive job postings which convince the potential recruits that the job is superior to that of the competitors. The job posting should not be considered as any other mundane task and the HR recruiters should spend time in crafting a compelling posting which illustrates why a form is superior to that of the competitors. The advertisement of the firm should also be ranked high so that it can be easily get noticed by the search engines (Solnet & Hood, 2008). The company should also nurture the talent within the organization. The employees should keep the talented candidates connected within the organization. It is important that the present candidates of the organization are also given opportunity to develop their skills with the help of training and development strategies.
The hospitality industry must focus on equally on the internal job posting and spreading the message to the external employees. Both the recruiting processes can create value within the organization; therefore, it is important that the organization focuses on both the strategies (Jolliffe & Farnsworth, 2003). If an internal employee can fulfill another role, he can be transferred to that position.
In the hospitality industry, the employees are recruited from several foreign locations. Therefore, it is important that the candidates are provided training to work in external locations. The employees should be provided training to deal with the cultural differences and work in an external environment. Hotels should provide training at the induction of the new recruits so that they can deal with the cultural differences between different candidates (Boxall, 2003). The training programs also assure that the candidates know what is expected of them regarding the job duties. They should be familiar regarding how the guests should be treated, how the employees should treat the dissatisfied customers and whom they should approach in case of any query.
Other than that, background checks are also necessary for the new recruits. The background checks are important in the hospitality industry as the employees will have access to the personal possessions and confidential information of the candidates. Therefore, it is necessary that the organization implements proper strategies to check the background of the new employees (Christensen Hughes & Rog, 2008).
The word of mouth is also an effective strategy to attract potential candidates within the organization. The companies can promote the jobs by word of mouth on the website and social media for the recruitment of the potential candidates. Social media and website promotion are effective ways of recruiting the staff in a cost-effective manner as these platforms are cheaper. In the recruitment process, the organization should make sure that there are enough vacancies published in the website. It will assist the organization in capturing the interest of different people looking for the jobs (Boselie, Dietz, & Boon, 2005). Once the jobs are published on the sites, it is important that the listed jobs are promoted with the help of social media channels so that the potential candidates can have a look at them and apply on it.
The training and development is also important in the recruitment process. The hospitality industry should understand that the staff entering the trade should learn different skills before entering actually participating the real-time operations.
Conclusion
It can be concluded that the business enterprises in the hospitality industry faces several challenges while recruiting the candidates in the hospitality industry. The hotels faces the shortage of the talent pool, ageing workforce and high employee turnover. These challenges are due to highly demanding work conditions of the industry. The employees have to work hard at holidays and weekends and there is an extra rush at the holidays. The hotel staff also has to work at night shifts. Moreover, as the hotels are part of the service industry, the skills of the employees directly impact on the brand image of the organization. Therefore, it is important that the organizations recruit the most-skilled and talented employees within the organization. The companies can use different strategies such as recruitment through word of mouth and recruitment through social media channels to attract the talented employees within the organization. The hotels should also run background check and implement training programs to recruit the most talented employees within the organization.
References
Boselie, P., Dietz, G., & Boon, C. (2005). Commonalities and contradictions in HRM and performance research. Human resource management journal, 15(3), 67-94.
Jolliffe, L., & Farnsworth, R. (2003). Seasonality in tourism employment: human resource challenges. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 15(6), 312-316.
Kusluvan, S., Kusluvan, Z., Ilhan, I., & Buyruk, L. (2010). The human dimension: A review of human resources management issues in the tourism and hospitality industry. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 51(2), 171-214.
Lucas, R., & Deery, M. (2004). Significant developments and emerging issues in human resource management. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 23(5), 459-472.
Solnet, D., & Hood, A. (2008). Generation Y as hospitality employees: Framing a research agenda. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 15(1), 59-68.
Zinvemba, A.Z. (2014). The Challenges of Recruitment and Selection of Employees in Zimbabwean Companies. International Journal of Science and Research 3(1).
Boxall, P. (2003). HR strategy and competitive advantage in the service sector. Human Resource Management Journal, 13(3), 5-20.
Christensen Hughes, J., & Rog, E. (2008). Talent management: A strategy for improving employee recruitment, retention and engagement within hospitality organizations. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 20(7), 743-757.
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