How to recruit and hire the right staff for hospitality

Now, what can we do to address the staffing challenges we face? In a sector with high competition for staff, making your business the best place to be employed is going to go a long way. Here at Access, we help operators implement hospitality recruitment software that helps them to optimise and streamline their recruiting and onboarding processes to ensure you always have the staff you need on hand.  

In this article, we’re going to look at the key ways you can employ successful hospitality recruitment strategies to keep your sites up and running and keep your staff happier for longer and the software that makes it easier.  

How to recruit hospitality staff

The traditional route 

The first port of call for hospitality recruitment is usually to post your job listing on well-known job websites and in trade publications and newspapers.   

This strategy proves effective for several reasons: it enables job seekers to find you, and you can usually target your audience by location. Using job websites can streamline your hiring process, increase visibility among relevant candidates, and provide valuable tools and data to help you find the best-fit employees for your business (many websites offer analytics tools to track and view the result of your ad).   

While job websites for hospitality offer numerous benefits, there are also potential downsides to consider. Job ads can be costly, especially if you're hiring multiple candidates and want to feature your ad prominently. The ease of applying online can lead to a high volume of applications however, the quality of candidates may vary widely. Sorting through a large number of resumes can be time-consuming. 

The alternative route 

Recruitment has been an ongoing challenge for hospitality businesses for a long time, which has led to employers in the sector seeking out more creative ways to hire team members. 

Such as: 

Advertising through your social media channels 

Advertising roles through social media feeds of the business and existing employees has become popular. What’s great about this approach is that it is free and, depending on the number of followers an account has, can reach a wide audience. You can get creative with your job ads and interact and engage with potential candidates through comments or direct messages.   

The downside to this route is that you only reach your followers, which limits your chances of targeting candidates with specific qualifications and experience. Your job posting may also compete with your other content, potentially making it challenging to stand out. 

Hosting open days  

Another way to attract potential candidates is by holding recruitment open days. Hosting open days or recruitment events can attract candidates who are actively seeking employment. It's a great opportunity for face-to-face interaction, helping candidates learn more about your business and showcase your company's culture.  

Hosting open days, however, may not be ideal for a couple of reasons, such as the potential lack of targeted candidates and the risk of attracting individuals who may not possess the required skills or qualifications. Throwing a recruitment event is time-consuming and requires effort to organise and manage.   

The aided route 

If you’re finding recruitment tough for entry-level positions, the good news is you might be able to get help. 

A new government-backed employment program is designed to fill vacancies in the hospitality sector. Launched in Liverpool, is now set to be rolled out across other major UK cities, including London, Manchester and Birmingham in October 2023.  

The Hospitality Sector-based Work Academy Programme (SWAP), also recognised as a 'hospitality skills passport', is principally designed to provide tailored training from industry experts, allowing the jobseekers to move into a career in hospitality. The training will culminate with a guaranteed job interview for all participants. 

Hiring the right staff - best practices  

In a sector fuelled by the people who work in it, hiring the right hospitality staff is essential for delivering exceptional guest experiences, maintaining a strong reputation, and ultimately driving business success. Here’s our checklist for hiring the right hospitality staff. 

- Hire on personality 

Hospitality is as much about customer experience as serving quality food and drink. When hiring staff – particularly for front-of-house roles – focus on their personalities and qualities as much as their experience and skills. 

Hospitality is as much about customer experience as serving quality food and drink. When hiring staff – particularly for front-of-house roles – focus on their personalities and qualities as much as their experience and skills. 

Employees who can positively represent your values are the most important part of your brand. Hire and interview for specific behaviours like problem-solving, teamwork, friendliness and empathy first and foremost, and then input strong learning and development programs to upskill if necessary. 

- Work on your appeal

Attracting employees - particularly those classed as Millennials and Generation Z - into the hospitality industry has been a big challenge for employers over the years. Many have (unfairly) perceived the industry to be one associated with long hours and low pay making it harder to promote hospitality as a career of choice. Those working in and running hospitality businesses know this isn’t true - hospitality can be highly rewarding - but work will need to be done to convince them otherwise.

To present your business as an attractive option to candidates, therefore, you’ll need to highlight this and work extra hard on your appeal – demonstrating that your organisation is a forward-thinking company that offers a great working environment, as well as the right pay and benefits.

- Be flexible 

The fact that hospitality requires most of its workforce to work long nights, or other unsociable hours, can make it less appealing to potential candidates. However, this can also be an attraction for some, especially if employers are flexible with their shifts and hours. A growing number of employees are looking for better work/life balance, so if you’re hiring for a new restaurant and have identified talented future employees, build some flexibility into your restaurant recruitment plan and consider tailoring shifts around them and their lives. Cross-train your existing staff to perform multiple roles to allow for smoother transitions during peak periods or when certain skills are in high demand. 

- Offer a career path 

While it’s true that many workers within hospitality are there for a specific period and usually enter it to leave, there are equally as many who are looking to forge long-term careers within the industry. To ensure you’re capturing the best talent, show your candidates the opportunities and growth positions that could arise if they stay with your business. Discover our learning management system for hospitality, specially designed to help train your team members and develop their skills to deliver better service and guest experience.   

- Check the legalities 

Once you have selected your chosen employees, check that they are eligible to work in the UK and ask for references from previous employers. When you are certain of their credentials, issue a contract of employment to them. By issuing contracts of employment to all employees, whether they are full-time, part-time or temporary, you’ll be ensuring that everyone knows where they stand. Employees will also expect fair and ethical treatment from employers, so act legally and fairly by meeting the National Minimum Wage and respecting hours. Having a fair, ethical working environment will leave your employees happy and engaged, and it will protect you against potentially time-consuming and costly legal proceedings. 

- Use technology 

The recruitment process is time-consuming, so consider adopting hiring and hospitality management technology to help automate employee management. This includes sickness and absence software, expense management, payroll, screening and specific recruitment software. 

Implementing the right hospitality recruitment and onboarding technology can help automate the entire recruitment workflow, manage and review candidates, as well as the ability to onboard new employees quickly and efficiently. In an industry that is time-poor with candidates moving quickly from role to role, your technology must be helping you run fast, keep up and give you much-needed time back. 

- Offer training and development 

As mentioned in point one, it is more important to hire on personality than skills. However, to retain promising staff within the industry, they will need to be supported with training and development. 

One of the main questions on any young candidate’s lips at the interview stage will be about training. Just like apprenticeships, training schemes to attract 18-24-year-olds need to have a focus on how this development will help the organisation to grow and move forward. This will couple their desire for personal growth and a sense of actively contributing to the success of the company.  

Offering a good hospitality Learning Management System (LMS) can streamline training processes, improve your staff competence, and enhance the overall quality of your service 

Get the basics right 

People choose to work for many reasons, but one of the main ones is to earn money. 

Before you post a job ad or start the recruitment process, research salaries at the level you are recruiting at to ensure you are being competitive. 

If it’s not possible to match a competitor’s salary, think about additional benefits you can offer instead, such as discounted or free meals, or a paid day off for a birthday. Perhaps you can demonstrate a clear career path, which would enable the right candidate to move up the ranks swiftly as a way to boost their pay. 

Offering on-demand pay using a product like Access EarlyPay is an attractive benefit, allowing staff to access earned wages early so they don’t have to wait a whole month for their pay. 

Ready to hire the right staff? 

In a people-centric industry, hiring the right staff is one of the essential pillars of a successful business. Although there is no quick fix to the hospitality staff crisis, there are steps operators can take to address the issue within their organisation.  

In this article, we've addressed the challenges and strategies for recruiting the right staff and delved into the advantages and disadvantages of each hiring method.  

As an operator, you can get involved with various charity foundations and government schemes addressing the issue, which we've listed above. But as the crisis continues to be an ongoing case, you might need to start thinking innovatively about staffing.  

Focus on personality when hiring, offer flexibility, provide training and development opportunities, ensure competitive compensation, and use technology to streamline your recruitment process. These steps can help you build a team that enhances your brand and drives your business forward.  

If you’re interested in how hospitality software can help with the issue, get in touch for a one-on-one conversation about the software that could help you.