GLOBAL REPORT—One of the greatest challenges hoteliers face is finding qualified and skilled candidates to interview.
“You don’t just put out an advert anymore and expect to have people come,” said David Kennedy, director of human resources at InterContinental Hotels Group. “Even with the emerging economies of India and China, I still think the demand for employees and skilled employees is going to far outstrip the supply.”
So as the applicant pool diminishes and competition between hotels intensifies, what best practices can hoteliers employ to wade through the job applicant pool to find the perfect catch?
Insightful questions
As a first step in the interviewing process, hoteliers should quickly establish that candidates understand the company’s ethos, according to Helen Sherwood, assistant HR manager at Apex Hotels.
“I always ask why they specifically want to work for Apex and it’s the most revealing question of all,” Sherwood said. “Those that have done their research will know that we are a family company and being part of our family is important—if you don’t know that, then you do not understand our culture and will struggle to fit in.”
Sherwood also finds it useful to ask for specific examples from individuals to demonstrate a time when they went beyond the call of duty.
“So many candidates tell me that every day they do their best for guests and it's part of their job,” Sherwood said. “Exceptional candidates give me a specific scenario that’s happened recently, such as running out to the shops to buy a particular product the guest is asking for.”
Looking to employees
While finding exceptional candidates involves asking the right questions, it also requires choosing the right members of the hotel team to be present during interviews. Is a “management only” policy best? Or is there room for input from less senior employees?
For Michele Sarkisian, an HR consultant and president of P3 Advisors, forming an interview team is all about balance.
“With interviews, it is wise to get more than one opinion, ideally including the direct supervisor and a team member in addition to the HR hiring manager,” she said.
Sarkisian also advocates instructing employees to suggest candidates they feel would fit into a staff.
“Employees are a terrific source of new candidates as they know the culture and jobs well,” she said. “I recommend employee referral incentives that incentivize the referring employee upon the new employee remaining 60 or 90 days.”
The appropriate number of interview rounds also varies, Sarkisian said.
“It depends on the circumstances and how sure interviewers feel about the candidate, as well as how urgent the situation is,” she said. “I like to know if the former employer(s) would rehire the employee if they could.”
Ethnic diversity
As global cities become more ethnically diverse, the interviewing process increasingly requires interviewers to understand and account for cultural differences and sensitivities.
For Sherwood, this can mean adjusting her perspective and style of questioning to account for things such as body language.
“In some cultures eye contact is not the norm ... so I ask questions to get the answers I need,” she said. “With eye contact, I ask about how they deal with difficult guests or complaints, and their answer will tell me if the lack of eye contact is shyness or cultural, for example.”
As a director of HR, Kennedy explained how he has coached managers to be sensitive to cultural differences, emphasizing the importance that interviewers “don’t overlook a candidate because they may speak or act in a different way.”
He also described how finding the most promising candidates often involves ensuring first impressions don’t cloud judgement. In some instances, he’s discovered that department heads have rejected applicants because they “talked too much” or “seemed nervous.”
This has led Kennedy to persuade both parties to try again—an intervention that proved decisive in one particular instance.
“I spoke with the candidate myself and said, ‘I’d like for you to give this another try, but be a little more of an active listener,’” Kennedy said. “And when the candidate did that, they got the job and they were one of the best management hires that organization ever had.”
New ways to find candidates
Sources said there are proven methods to filtering through the applicant pool and testing candidates to make the right hire.
Sarkisian suggested utilizing automated software to test an applicant’s suitability early in the process, but not everyone in the industry is in favor of this approach.
From experience, Kennedy has found those types of software systems can negatively affect how some applicants interview.
“You have to look at each person as an individual, and in my career I’ve seen people that just don’t interview well with those types of systems,” he said. “Often you pass them over and you’ve looked over a very good applicant.”
Kennedy said his preferred method of finding talent involves partnering with community-based organizations to source individuals from military backgrounds, people from underprivileged areas who have undergone “intensive training programs” and university students.
“The more innovative employers can be about seeking talent through community-based organizations or partnerships with schools, the more success they’re going to have,” he said.