92 – How Your Hotel’s Digital Presence Impacts Recruiting and Staffing

Host Ryan Embree discusses techniques hoteliers can help draw in staff in the midst of the staffing lack by concentrating on their digital existence. From name administration to social media to evaluation responses, hoteliers want to make absolutely sure their resort is providing the proper perception not just to company, but to long term staff as effectively. Pay attention now to master what you can do to support battle the staffing crisis at your hotel.

Episode Transcript

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Ryan Embree:
Welcome to Suite Spot wherever hoteliers examine-in and we check out what is trending in hotel marketing and advertising. I’m your host, Ryan Embree.

Ryan Embree:
Good day all people. And welcome to one more episode of the Suite Place. This is your host, Ryan Embree. Thank you for signing up for me and listening in. We’ve acquired a good episode for you these days. And nowadays we’re gonna be chatting about recruiting and choosing. Now I’m positive this is a conversation that you have had with a lot of your groups suitable now. I know we are listening to it all in excess of the region. Wherever can I come across staff? We are just wanting for far more and extra hospitality gurus to fill our front desk workers, to fill our management groups. Administration groups out there hunting for people today. We had just gotten above this just devastating pandemic to our market, and now we have this staffing disaster. Inns can not locate persons ideal now to perform. So what this episode is conversing about is how your hotel’s presence impacts recruiting and selecting. Now I know that is a strange correlation.

Ryan Embree:
Your hotel’s digital presence, factors like social media, reviews, even critique reaction, but this has an effects. And that’s what we’re gonna speak about now. But initial we’ll start out off with a fast few stats. Now, hospitality employment is continue to down 1.2 million work opportunities from exactly where it was in February 2020. 1.2 million, which is so unfortunate because this is a people today-serving-people today sector. So when we simply cannot discover the folks to give these excellent resort activities, we clearly see that impacted every single solitary working day and, and could influence holidays and, and the, just the in general guest practical experience. So connect with it the great resignation, phone it no matter what. The lodge marketplace is a reduction of 7.2% of its workforce. Now that’s as opposed to 2% for the rest of U.S. jobs. So hospitality has been particularly impacted from this staffing lack, and it’s just so tough to get persons yet again, to operate for our resorts.

Ryan Embree:
So it is an staff position sector. As you can consider, staff are having to select exactly where they want to work. They are heading to do their owing diligence in advance of signing on, and that’s the place your lodge digital presence will come into engage in. So nowadays what we’re gonna do is we’re gonna discuss the way all over again, your electronic existence impacts recruiting and the very first position we’ll start off is track record management. Now just like Glassdoor, staff are likely to test your hotel’s testimonials to see in which they are gonna be working. They are gonna request the question, “What will my working day in the everyday living glance like at this assets?” Now, a genuinely excellent exercising that I would advise to you, the hotelier, is to go to your hotel’s critiques on the internet. So feel about Glassdoor, proper? When someone’s wanting to potentially sign on and come to be an employee, they go examine opinions for that corporation on the website Glassdoor.

Ryan Embree:
So of training course, workers are gonna do this for your hotel since there is general public opinions on the internet about your hotel knowledge there. So the exercising would be, is go through all of those people critiques and imagine that in its place of them staying opinions, envision being guiding the front desk and listening to that suggestions immediately from your guests. How many times is that guest complimenting you? How a lot of times are they thrilled to speak about their keep with you? How a lot of instances are they staying yelled at? How lots of instances are you remaining asked to solve complications? So your adverse critiques, because which is what is going by way of a potential employee’s thoughts as they’re reading the evaluations. No one particular wants to work at a resort wherever they are consistently owning to address troubles or matters are heading wrong. They wanna operate somewhere that is exciting, people today are enjoying themselves and having really wonderful activities. So that is how your reputation management can impression hiring and recruiting for your hotel.

Ryan Embree:
We have listened to so substantially about psychological wellbeing more than the previous couple yrs. So that’s what these employees are gonna be imagining about. What form of toll is operating at your residence likely to consider on my psychological health and fitness in comparison to possibly the house down the street that’s spending a incredibly related wage. So that could be the big difference there. Now, yet another question that your popularity is gonna reply to a opportunity personnel is what’s the longevity of this small business of your hotel. So if you arrive on to TripAdvisor and see that you are just staying just smashed with negative assessments, and this human being has been in the hospitality for decades and years, 2020 was just about the corner, just a few several years in the past. They went by means of all of all those furloughs and possessing layoffs in our resort business due to the fact travel was not happening anymore. So they are a whole lot much more cognizant now of the longevity of your enterprise.

Ryan Embree:
And they are gonna appear and say, “If I indicator on this lodge, can I make this a vocation? Will I be in a position to be in this article for a pair years, a 10 years even, and actually advance up, or will this resort organization not be in this article any more for the reason that of the way that it’s trending proper now on reputation web pages?” Yet again, just anything to feel about. And this is the, this is the attitude that these staff members suitable now are possessing as they are, as they’re undertaking their job research. And then and lastly, when it comes to popularity administration is an employee’s physical health, correct? So wellness and protection, COVID 19 health protocols. If they see critiques speaking about deficiency of cleanliness or even talking about COVID 19, unsafe journey circumstances for your friends, how do you think that is heading to make a prospective worker sense? So just some items to imagine on when it arrives to how your hotel’s track record can make an effect and vice versa.

Ryan Embree:
If you’ve obtained some seriously good testimonials, I would say, use that in your pitch to attempt to get persons to come and remain with you. If, if persons are frequently talking positively about their hotel experience or mentioning some of the other staff associates on your staff, that’s a thing to share on these recruiting websites. And that is a little something to share in these interviews and speaking about the work environment that you are making and cultivating that function natural environment and which is something we’re gonna chat about a little little bit later when we communicate about social media. Now, a different portion that I want us to, to really see where there’s an effect in recruiting and employing is evaluate response. So a person matter that we all do, no subject if it’s hotel field or tech or finance or something, is we want to know who we’re operating for, proper? Our manager and, and how they’re likely to deal with us.

Ryan Embree:
1 of the strategies that presents a likely staff a clue on how they’re gonna be managed is searching at the way that difficulties are solved on assets. And 1 of the most significant spots and, and home windows that a opportunity personnel can get a excellent glance at that is via your critique responses. So are you even addressing problems at the house? If that employee in their shoes states, I may well have an difficulty and I will need to arrive to my manager for that, are they heading to hear me? How are they gonna dilemma remedy? What kind of issue solver qualities does my manager have? Again, some great insights and approaches to glimpse at that is, are you responding to your critiques and how are you responding to those people evaluations? So a little something to consider about, and the final part of our electronic existence that we’re gonna communicate about now is social media.

Ryan Embree:
Social media is a further position that in particular younger generations are regularly on and searching at and give a glimpse into what style of function natural environment you are cultivating at your property. It could be a great put to recruit. Locations like clearly LinkedIn are key for recruiting. Fb, Twitter, Instagram: now we can use these as a recruiting instrument talking about the open positions, perhaps supplying some facts about the posture, but I would argue that staff members will also seem at your property on social media and get started to make some assumptions on, “Okay, what would it be like if I worked right here?” So a person of the locations that we can make your residence extra attractive than probably competitiveness is recognition programs. Highlight some of your other staff associates there. Men and women love being recognized, particularly in an atmosphere where you never really get a whole lot of thank yous from your visitors on a daily foundation.

Ryan Embree:
The expectations since COVID 19 have risen to all time significant. So the tension level for your team, you need to preserve in test and which is, what is resulting in a lot of this employee attrition. So recognizing your personnel is a small little token of appreciation that employers can do, and really will give you some goodwill relocating forward as personnel are on the lookout for probable landing places and assist you in your hiring journey. It’s possible highlighting some of your other staff members if any of them have moved via the ranks. When I was working at a pair motels, I started off as a bellman, relocating to the entrance desk, conversing about individuals interior promotions. That is gonna give that prospective staff which is wanting a journey in a career path if they make a decision to sooner or later join your group at your lodge. Highlighting some of the points that you’re accomplishing on house.

Ryan Embree:
So, firm parties, holiday seasons, celebrations, birthdays. We want to make a really enjoyment ecosystem at perform. Everyone wants to love what they do. So the much more instances that you can emphasize maybe a dive in movie at the assets, this is gonna be good for your, naturally your travelers and your attendees that are gonna see this, but you never actually assume about it and how it looks as, as a probable staff, suitable? If I’m on the lookout to get employed as a front desk agent, and I see that a lodge, each individual other Friday in the summer time does a dive in movie, that could be one thing that I could say, “I’d enjoy to get associated in that. That appears to be like a whole lot of fun. This could make some truly interesting memories” vs . somebody that, that definitely does not have this kind of occasion calendar heading on. So, and then charitable operate.

Ryan Embree:
So these are, all over again, it’s a acquire-earn scenario. You’re carrying out very good, but now extra than ever with workforce really having their selection on exactly where they wanna operate, they wanna operate for a person and for one thing, for a result in. So if you’re accomplishing charitable work, if you’re executing some form of food stuff drives, charitable functions at the home, this could be a thing that new hires could really feel a function for and want to be a component of and join. So any sort of charitable will work that you are doing all over again, that is a win-acquire predicament for the hotel, since it’s very good PR as well for them. So I mentioned this ahead of anticipations have risen exponentially and this has brought on additional strain than ever. So a single of the ways that we can definitely acquire the tension off the constrained employees that you have now is outsourcing some of these items.

Ryan Embree:
So assessment response, popularity management, social media, we have observed by means of the staffing disaster, GMs, DOS’s, entrance desk managers have to take on jobs that they’ve never completed ahead of. Cleaning rooms, repairing things on assets. Even a thing as straightforward as homeowners responding to evaluations, they used to have staff members capable to do that. This creates a whole lot of anxiety and a lot of hotels suitable now are turning to third social gathering sellers, such as Journey Media Group, to get the force off so that the constrained staff that they have can definitely concentration on the attendees and ensure your hotel’s popularity and digital existence are becoming dealt with effectively. What it will come down to is a greater popularity suggests workers is more very likely to be happier, keep lengthier and do a improved career overall. So all over again, we know this is a enormous crisis ideal now, motels suitable now are searching for, for staff in all places.

Ryan Embree:
And they’re for every solitary gain to check out to get ahead of the level of competition and seize some of these, these workers and, and help them guy their home to give the very best resort experience and visitor expertise that they can. So with this episode, you really will need to look at how your hotel’s on-line presence is impacting that recruiting and selecting to a new prospect that is doing research for your house. So if you’re intrigued in finding out extra about some of our methods at Travel Media Team and how we can perhaps choose some of this stuff off of your plate, you have in no way viewed as acquiring a third social gathering do your social media prior to or reply to your assessments, achieve out to us. We would like to discuss with you. We’ll give you a consultation and demonstrate you what would make us the most effective at what we do. So I want to thank you for listening these days, and we’ll speak to you up coming time on the Suite Spot.

Ryan Embree:
To join our loyalty application, be confident to subscribe and give us a 5 star score on iTunes. Suite Location is developed by Vacation Media Group with address art by Bary Gordon. I’m your host, Ryan Embree, and we hope you enjoyed your keep.