No More Excuses: How to Hire in the Hospitality Industry for the New Age of Inclusion

In the recent past, hospitality hiring has gradually become more and more competitive. Tourism council and World Travel have revealed that you can find a continually growing challenge for the hospitality sector for recruiting new talent.

Unfortunately, this challenge has become more acute due to the advent of the pandemic. Inclusive recruitment indicates that you are focusing your HR efforts to make the candidates feel as if they belong to the company right from the moment they apply for a position.

Large hotel chains such as Hyatt and Marriott have won several awards for their inclusion initiatives. Here are the best practices for improving the size and quality of the candidate pool.

1. Measure the workforce demographics

Measurement of workforce demographics allows you to focus more on the managerial roles and key positions. It will help you get the latest situation of diversity in the organization. You can check out how these diverse groups are represented in an organization’s top-paid 20% jobs, especially at the leadership level.

For instance, measurement permits improvement. You can take the help of an international PEO for these efforts. PEOs are a flexible way for businesses to hire foreign employees in foreign countries, bypassing the need to first establish legal entities.

2. Be extremely cautious with your wording

Are you aware that the use of words such as “Jedi”, “Ninja”, or “Guru” for your job advert can be harmful to your attempts of conducting inclusive recruitment? If Glassdoor is to be believed, the use of these words leads to women getting discouraged to apply for the position. It is similar to the use of words such as expert, superior, and proven.

Be extremely cautious about the use of pronouns in the job advert. They are more likely to cause an opposite effect to inclusion.

3. Set goals for the interviews

In most cases, the hospitality industry is an extremely diverse place to work especially due to globalization. To ensure that all the candidates for the position are provided a fair chance, you may create a requirement for interviewing at least one person that comes from an underrepresented background for every vacant position, for example.

For limiting unconscious bias, you can ask all the applicants similar questions in a structured way. Behavioral questions are terrific for the interviews.

4. Hire through different universities

Expansion of the on-campus recruitment efforts in various universities will help in boosting a diverse pool of candidates. You can select a range of kinds of schools such as private, hospitality, vocational, and public schools.

The inclusion of schools from various countries or regions helps attract prospects that have similar economic resources and varying qualifications for the job.

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5. Concentrate on significant requirements

Many times, the job adverts reflect too many “nice to have” requirements and many candidates do not meet these requirements. It also makes the organization appear too demanding to the candidates.

Hewlett Packard conducted research some time ago that indicated that men will apply for a job if they meet around 60% of the qualifying requirements. Women apply only when they meet 100% of the requirements.

Therefore, concentrating on the key requirements helps the job advert become more accessible.

6. Tweak the job adverts suitably

While you are writing your job advert, ensure that it is encouraging both binary and non-binary prospects to apply for a position by including the proper photos, and pronouns, and using the required language.

Are you aware that publishing an advert for a job is one of the several things you can do by using online platforms?

Keep in mind that many times and dates fall during fasting and prayer periods of other religions. If you can plan around them, it encourages an inclusive experience for the candidates.

Conclusion

Maintain your hospitality business accountable by continuously sharing the public dashboard of all the D&I (diversity and inclusion) practices used by the organization on their site, recruitment platforms, social media, and job ads wherever applicable.

It will foster trust and will encourage a greater range of diverse candidates to apply for the positions. Although the incorporation of inclusion and diversity in the hospitality brand is the responsibility of your C-suit, the people managers and HR managers can plan the strategies for everyday activities.

Over to you

The hotel industry is always changing, especially during a time of crisis. Make sure to future-proof your business and continue attracting new guests by investing in these solutions.

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Related article: Digital Transformation Playbook for Hotels

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About Are Morch

Hi, I am Are Morch. Your Digital Transformation Coach helps hotels create unique and unexpected experiences by freeing up resources to focus on new ideas through value innovation and a growth mindset.

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