HJUK's founder, Dawn Bowstead shares her advice; How to attract top talent in today's current crisis and with over 35 years of Recruitment and Leadership experience, shares her expertise of how to recruit 'one step ahead' of any competitors.
Why have you created this newsletter?
I wanted this newsletter to really give our clients valuable, real time information. Within the HJUK team, we have a wealth of experience in recruiting staff and we have a huge network between us, where clients are sharing their best practices, challenges and success stories. Our mission is to support the growth of this industry whilst ultimately fiercely attracting candidates and showcasing hospitality as a great place to work. We’re not going to just do the fluffy stuff, we are going to make a difference we are going to support our clients with the best customer service experience we can offer.
What advice would you offer someone struggling to find staff in the current crisis?
I’m not going to beat around the bush.! It’s incredibly tough out there, we all know that there is a shortage of candidates.
First of all, you must continuously remain positive. Candidates want to work for a positive employer, so showcasing and talking about your achievements, new openings, when you have given someone a promotion or an interview with someone who has been with you for many years or even a change of menu, all looks great for prospective candidates.
Secondly think about your benefits, ALL your benefits, candidates want to work with employees that offer great benefits plus candidates like to hear about your sustainability culture, charity collaborations or your D&I policies and how you can support them and offer them training and career development opportunities.
Thirdly, you need to think differently about the way you recruit, ask your teams where they would look for a job, use multiple job board platforms, use your social media to promote positive news and your jobs opportunities.
Last thing, no matter what is going on always showcase your company as a great place to work. Showcase its a fun environment with career opportunities and encourage candidates to join your hospitality family.
How do you think employers can stand out from their competitors
It has to be your EVP, your benefits, rewards and career opportunities you offer, and of course if you pay well.
From covid, candidates are now moving away from 60 hour working weeks on a fixed salary and they want to be paid for every hour they work, so if you offer it, you need to let candidates know they will be paid for every hour they work. Plus candidates are also now looking for more flexible working employers and if you offer flexible hours then this is a big plus to shout about to the candidate.
And don’t forget your sustainability and D&I culture, this again is so much higher in candidates expectations when looking for a new job than ever before.
Why did you start Hospitality Jobs UK
Honestly, it was through frustrating of the limitations other job boards had in place , the cost implications and how one particular job board was monopolising the market. I know there is room for multiple job boards in this market, but I wanted HJUK to be a pure “Employers job board” for direct employers ONLY.!
We have no agencies advertising on HJUK, we are competitively priced and we are incredibly agile and flexible to our client needs.
We don’t just rely on candidates coming to HJUK, we are massively proactively re investing money into Google, social and PPC plus additionally algorithms and smart candidate attraction, including engaging with passive candidates.
We simply love the hospitality industry and genuinely do care and I am incredibly proud of my amazing team at HJUK and our industry partnerships and proud to work in this fabulous industry.
Are you interested to find out how Hospitality Jobs UK could help you further in candidate attraction?
Click here to contact our sales team today!