With summer just around the corner, hospitality companies are gearing up to recruit and onboard seasonal employees to handle the extra demand or to cover their permanent team’s holidays. Given the current shortage of hospitality staff, it’s crucial to put your best foot forward and make your business as attractive as possible. In this article, we outline four key elements to attract top talent from the pool of seasonal employees.
Create an Irresistible Brand
To become a magnet both for customers and employees, it all starts with an appealing brand. The way we all experience our restaurant visits, music festivals, and similar events have evolved in recent years. Photos and videos are constantly made and shared on social media with trending hashtags, broadening their reach. As a hospitality business, you face the challenge of making your brand stand out in highly competitive market.
A standout brand begins with an authentic vision, mission, and story embraced by every single employee. It’s about more than just the offline experience; it’s also about your online and social media presence. Building a loyal community can make people eager to visit your venue and work for your company.
Craft Compelling Stories
To attract seasonal employees, you need a compelling story that sets you apart. Your unique identity, vibe, culture, and personality should be consistently conveyed across all platforms. This approach helps attract customers and candidates who relate to your brand.
Additionally, it’s crucial to show that you understand your target audience’s values. Addressing hot topics like work-life balance, sustainability, equality, and diversity on popular platforms can help you connect with your target audience, often young, tech-savvy candidates. By sharing these values, you’ll outperform competitors and trigger seasonal workers to join your team.
Offer Tempting Benefits
Defining your brand identity and culture means is one thing, offering your employees a great package is another. Employers can attract and retain seasonal employees by providing additional benefits, such as completion bonuses, employee discounts, and opportunities for future employment.
Incentives make seasonal roles more appealing and rewarding, encouraging employees to return for future seasons and providing employers with a reliable pool of experienced workers. When targeting younger candidates, position your recruitment campaign to appeal to their lifestyle. Offering flexibility to balance personal life, studies, or other part-time jobs can be a significant draw.
“More and more people are changing their mindset and becoming advocates of hiring people with a hospitality heart and a good work ethic, who have the emotional skills to be happier themselves when they’re making their customers feel better.“
– Danny Meyers, author of the book Setting the Table
Embrace an Open Mindset
Attracting talent isn’t just about the candidates; it’s also about the company and its HR department. While finding candidates with some hospitality experience is ideal, it’s not always necessary. More employers recognise the value of hiring individuals with a hospitality heart and strong work ethic who can create positive customer experiences.
Given the recruitment challenges and the inexperience of many seasonal employees, hiring based on personality and attitude is becoming more common. Enthusiasm and a service-oriented mindset are crucial, as you can always train staff to follow your company’s procedures.
Start Attracting Your Seasonal Staff
By focusing on these four elements, your hospitality companies can effectively attract and retain top seasonal talent. Download this eBook to find more tips about how to make seasonal employees fall in love with your brand.
