Hospitality, one of the most dynamic hiring sectors in the business world, has been on “pause mode” for more than two years due to the spread of COVID-19.
Although the pandemic brought the industry to its knees in many markets, hospitality sector businesses from India to Iceland and beyond are ready to recruit again.
Hospitality workers are in demand because health and safety restrictions - linked to COVID-19 - have been lifted by various governments enabling bar, restaurant, and hotel owners to welcome patrons and guests back to their premises.
Tackling the talent crunch
While more customers are eager to return to eat, drink, and relax at their favorite spots again, some outlets are running at just above half capacity due to a shortage of staff. Figures show that 1.5 million jobs in leisure and hospitality are yet to recover.
Long-standing factors such as low wages, minimal benefits, and late hours have put people off from seeking work in hospitality - and now, with lingering health risk concerns – recruiting is harder than ever.
Industry leaders in the U.S. and other countries are taking on the challenge with new initiatives such as improved workplace safety standards and hazard pay in some cases. More access to health care, health insurance, and paid sick leave are other new developments, as well as increased support in career guidance, child care, transportation, education, and training.
Modernize hiring with hiring technology and recruitment management systems
Hospitality sector recruiters can also adopt recruiting technologies and software to find new workers or encourage former staff to return.
Here are five ways hiring tech can make a difference:
1. Video interviewing to support two-way interviews
Hiring interviews in the hospitality sector are often terse and one-way with the employer asking about skills, attitude, and experience but neglecting to ask about medium-term plans or career ambitions. Interviews are also usually short because of time constraints due to candidates having to travel and hospitality managers running busy operations.
Video interviews, coupled with the use of a robust applicant tracking system, make interviews accessible to more people (basically anyone with an internet connection). Candidates, who may not have been able to do an in-person interview, can now be considered.
2. Applicant Tracking Systems to scan, sort, and recommend candidates faster
When hotels or chain restaurants recruit, they often do so at scale, looking to fill many jobs in one campaign. If you’re about to run a major recruitment program but dread having to read and process every resume received, technology is able to do the heavy lifting here and other key hiring functions.
Applicant Tracking System (ATS) platforms assist companies of all sizes today in managing the fundamental steps of recruitment, such as scanning resumes, shortlisting candidates based on skills/experience/keywords outlined in the job description, recommending candidates, communicating with applicants, scheduling interviews, and more.
ATS solutions and software allow hiring managers to spend more time on added value tasks such as getting to know candidates better and developing talent pools to fill roles coming up in the future.
LEARN MORE: How ATS Optimizes Your Recruitment Management
3. Career pages – engage staff to be brand ambassadors
ATS platforms include a career page-building feature that allows you to create a career page for your restaurant, bar, or hotel to include on your website and link to on social media.
Career pages list the latest job openings as well as information about your business – what you do, locations, history, vision, and work culture. Quite a few also include videos or blogs created by staff sharing what it’s like to work at your business and why it is a great place to work.
Word of mouth content like this is a terrific recruitment tool because it can be shared across social media accounts and other channels. But the content must be authentic, honest, and real – if it looks staged, scripted, or overproduced, the videos could provoke a very negative response.
4. Make staff feel valued and welcome before their start day
Anxiety and nerves - no matter how old or experienced you are, we all feel anxious and nervous ahead of starting a new job.
That’s why top companies engage employees before day one with strong onboarding programs.
While it’s difficult to onboard large groups of new employees with in-person or on-premise initiatives, digital onboarding sessions can be run on ATS platforms to overcome those challenges.
Digital enables new hires to “onboard” at a time and date of their convenience. Well-put together programs allow them to learn about the business, management team, workplace culture, and more to make them feel like part of the team before they start.
READ MORE: How to start a staffing agency
5. Get to know candidates better
Recruiting software also enables employers to get to know potential new employees better by using enrichment solutions that cover social media.
Given the ubiquity of social media today, many of us have sizable digital footprints spread across diverse social media sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, etc.
Information published on the abovementioned social media can now be sorted and analyzed through the use of enrichment tools to provide a more in-depth and clearer picture of candidates. This is something beyond skills, achievements, and employment history, which are already shown in their CVs.
When creating a new candidate profile using Manatal’s ATS, for example, the solution uses AI tools to search for data on more than 20 social media platforms. It enables recruiters to get to know the applicant from different perspectives, and once integrated, the platform aggregates and displays the information on a single page.
The enrichment system also makes it easy to index relevant skills from LinkedIn profiles or resumes. This can be done by simply creating new candidates through LinkedIn - or uploading their CV – and the Manatal software will create an extensive and detailed candidate scorecard.
YOU MIGHT LIKE: 10 Signs You Need an Applicant Tracking System
Get a recruitment head start
While ATS platforms and recruiting software were expensive in the past and used by large corporations exclusively, they are now more affordable and accessible to businesses of all sizes – big, medium, and small.
Given the need to hire a lot of staff – often at short notice for seasonal promotions and events - investing in recruitment agency software and resume data software is highly recommended for hospitality sector players.
Robust Applicant Tracking System (ATS) platforms take care of heavy lifting hiring tasks highlighted in this blog, from tracking job orders and candidates to scanning resumes, shortlisting top candidates, hosting career pages, receiving and storing applications, and scheduling interviews, onboarding, and more.
Manatal ATS platforms have been adopted by all types of businesses around the world, and if you are ready to optimize opportunities from the anticipated hospitality industry surge, please reach out to find out how Manatal can help you to manage leads, clients, and candidates seamlessly, effortlessly, and in-line with your budget.
We invite you to sign up for a 14-day free trial and wish you good luck as you welcome back patrons and guests in the months ahead.
.png)
.webp)
.webp){kind=logo}
.webp)
.png){kind=small}
