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Recruitment in Hotels: Attract Top Hospitality Talent in Today’s Gig Economy

As we headed into 2020, the travel and tourism industry was going strong. People were jet setting around on vacations, booking hotel rooms, dining out, and going to concerts. The industry enjoyed 10 consecutive years of growth, and that momentum was in full swing at the start of 2020. Then, COVID-19 brought the world to a standstill, and by March those upward trends ground to a halt.  

While hospitality was still experiencing that record growth before COVID, it was also facing a serious labor shortage. With a 74% turnover rate and a million unfilled jobs, retention and recruitment in hotels was struggling. The rise of the gig economy was reshaping the employment landscape for hourly workers which was making it harder for hospitality companies to stabilize their frontline workforce. 

Before the pandemic, Gallup found that 36% of the workforce earns at least part of their income from these flexible, independent jobs. 

gig economy stats with Beekeeper

That’s more than double what it was just six years earlier. The lure of a more flexible work-life balance was hard for the hospitality industry to compete with. And it’s only going to get harder from here on out. In this new reality, people have had to balance even more, like kids studying from home.

Staffing firm Adecco found that 75% of workers want to keep work flexible after the pandemic.

As hotels rebuild their workforce after a year of furloughs and layoffs in 2020, they must also contend with this growing desire for flexible work. Companies should use this time to focus on digital transformation objectives and leverage technology to attract and retain talent as the hospitality economy recovers.

Leverage Technology to Attract and Hire Hotel Employees

Millennials make up most of the world’s workforce, and they’re a digitally savvy group. This competitive employment market is looking for cutting edge workplace technology. 

Leverage your mobile collaboration platform as a recruitment tool. For instance, when Switzerland’s luxury Bürgenstock Hotels recruits for open positions, they mention that they use Beekeeper’s employee app in their postings to attract top candidates. It’s a major part of the workplace experience millenials want in a job now.

While technology drives the gig economy (think mobile apps that connect consumers and service providers), it also creates an impersonal work environment. A mobile collaboration platform is just the opposite: it serves as an inclusive tool to create a more personal experience for employees while also creating a flexible workplace. It’s a strong selling point, so amplify the benefits of your in-house technology when recruiting hospitality employees.  

Unleash the Potential of a Mobile Collaboration Platform to Create Flexibility

The ultimate goal for hotel leaders is to create an engaged workforce by building a brand that people love to work with, and prospective employees want to work for. 

A mobile employee app can achieve this by creating the flexible, autonomous employee experience that modern day workers want. This is especially true for frontline employees. They make up the biggest sector of the hospitality workforce, but they are often on the fringe of internal communication and the most likely to leave their employer for another job. They’ll stay longer for a company that offers the right work-life balance.

A mobile collaboration platform for frontline workers can create a flexible yet engaging experience workers want in a job these days by giving your workforce:

  • Autonomy. Jobs in the gig economy, like driving for a ridesharing service, allows workers to create their own schedule. A mobile collaboration platform on their mobile devices gives hotel employees the same power. Beekeeper’s Shift Schedules feature creates a more autonomous workforce and more flexibility by giving employees easier access to their work schedule and allowing them to enjoy a healthier work/life balance.
mobile collaboration with Beekeeper
  • Information. An employee app serves as the go-to source for information workers need to provide better customer service. At the same time, this untethered approach to people management supports the independent, mobile nature of frontline jobs that people prefer.
  • A voice. When a hotel uses a mobile collaboration platform to facilitate bottom-up communication they are essentially giving their frontline employees a voice. A digital workplace opens up organizational communication at every level of a company. 

This creates a culture of inclusion, a must-have for facilitating employee engagement building loyalty. Employees can connect with their peers and management to give direct feedback and insight through pulse surveys and direct messaging. 

Beekeeper's satisfaction survey

Create a Digitally Connected Workforce to Increase Recruitment in Hotels

While the gig economy’s initial attraction is a flexible work schedule, these workers almost always work alone. While people want flexibility, they also want community. From your concierge staff to your housekeepers, include every employee in the digital workplace through a mobile app. This creates a valuable connection to other people that the gig economy can’t offer.

Using an employee app to build relationships between workers, managers, and the company will create employee loyalty, and engage employees on a deeper level. Workers who are socially connected feel a deeper sense of purpose, are more committed, and, as a result, become forces of innovation. Creating an environment like this is a top selling point when searching for new talent.

Discover Why Hotel Employees Love the Beekeeper Mobile App!

Crowdsource for New Talent with a Mobile Collaboration Platform

If you’re asking yourself how to find hospitality help, remember that one of your best recruitment tools is your current workforce. Put the word out over your employee app that you’re looking to expand your team. Build your employer brand so employees will be more than happy to recommend the hotel to people they know. And it never hurts to offer a bonus for every successful hire an employee brings your way. 

As hotels begin to find their footing again, it’s important to lead with a digital strategy to attract new talent. Incorporate a mobile-first collaboration platform to create the kind of job workers want today.