Summer is a time we all look forward to. The summer weather is warmer, kids are out of school, pools are open and the long awaited trips are enjoyed. The period between tends to be jam packed with events. Occupancy in hotels is often high, but the volume of candidate interviews tends to slow down, as hotel leaders focus on running the property, as opposed to staffing it adequately.
Below are a few reasons why this approach leaves something to be desired, and why the end of the summer is the best time to hire.
Vacations
It isn’t just the public at large that takes advantage of the warmer months, many hotel employees tend to utilize their vacation time during the summer. For properties that operate on a largely skeleton staff, the loss of an employee for a few days or a week can lead to backlogs of work, details being missed, and ultimately, negative impacts on the guest experience. As such, it’s important for hotel leaders to have a series of candidates available to fill in. This can be accomplished by bringing on more seasonal help or temps, which actually provides a good way for hotel leaders to essentially audition prospective new employees.
Interview timing
Candidates can utilize their vacation and travel time to free themselves up for interviews. A phone screen or Skype interview can happen anywhere, so if a candidate has taken time off, it’s possible to have them take a few minutes out of their vacation to speak to a potential employer. For example, a call can occur while the family is taking a break from the beach and before dinner or early early in the morning while others in the house are asleep or before an event is scheduled to begin.
In addition, many companies tend to incorporate some sort of summer hours, which can include changing shifts to end earlier, or creating more flexible work from home policies. For interviewers, this often means candidates with easier availability. If your candidate works for a hotel management company that partakes in a summer hours, take the opportunity to schedule an interview or two.
Professional growth is just as important as enjoying the summer rays. Employees are also more likely to be flexible to swapping shifts because their coworkers will have the need to trade shifts for their time off. A new job can really change how someone feels every day; it can mean growth and it can be for a new and exciting opportunity. Most people don’t mind staying connected while on vacation for a potential new role. For a candidate taking downtime and realizing they are extremely happy on vacation only because they aren’t so happy at work, this can really push their drive to take time out of their vacation to improve their quality of life at work.
Bonus/commission isn’t in the forefront
Often, companies start searching for new employees around the end of the year and it usually falls into the new year. The big issue with hiring towards the end of the year and even really early in the year are bonuses and commissions. Employees have worked all year towards this goal. They are aware of how much they are set to make and no one likes walking away from money. The hotel/management company can lose out on a great employee if they aren’t able or willing to match the bonus/commission check. This is not an issue when hiring in the summer.
Competition
Something shifts in summer and the market slows down in terms of how many hotel companies are out there hiring. The competition for employees will inturn not be as intense. Getting high quality employees will be a bit easier. With tourists on holiday and hotels at high occupancy, the focus isn’t on hiring. This also means that hotel employees are working longer hours and whatever they may not love about their job will shift to high focus. Making it easier to join a new team and a new organization.
While focusing on the season at hand always seems like the smarter thing to do, in this case, multitasking is the best way to go. Making some time to hire in the summer season is how a hotel company can easily find a high quality hire without standard competition. It will pay off!
