Developing Leader for Change & Innovation in Tourism 28 th June 2010

Hospitality and Tourism Labour Markets, Recruitment and Selection

Hospitality and Tourism Labour Markets  The study of labour market characteristics is central to our understanding of HRM in action in the Hospitality and Tourism sector  The labour market can be defined as the totality of employees or those in training available for work both now and in a defined timeframe within any defined geographical and/ or vocational area. - geographical: Paris, France, EU - vocational: medical, ICT, Hospitality and Tourism

 Can include future employees such as those in training  Economists tend to look at the total labour market within a defined area and to use crude categories to define a person’s position within it – employed, seeking employment, long-term unemployed, school leavers etc.  Leads to crude generalisations about labour markets and the match/ mismatch between available labour and skills shortages  Michael Riley’s classification of STRONG and WEAK labour markets in Hospitality and Tourism

Riley (1996: 12) The concept of the internal labour market is based on the idea that sets of rules and conventions form within an organisation which act as allocative mechanisms governing the movement of people and the pricing of jobs. Such rules are about promotion criteria, training opportunities, pay differentials and the evaluation of jobs, but most importantly, they are about which jobs are ‘open’ to the external labour market.

Strong Labour Market Characteristics  Clearly defined roles and responsibilities  Single port of entry  Specific initial training requirements  Specific in-service training requirements  Hierarchical promotion ladder  Clear workplace traditions  Strong professional ethos  Strong professional association/ trade union

Weak Labour Market Characteristics  Flexible roles and responsibilities  Multiple ports of entry – open access  Flexible initial training requirements  No in-service training requirements  Flexible promotion ladder  Limited workplace traditions  Weak professional ethos  Weak or no professional association/ trade union

 Labour market status of Hospitality and Tourism is context determined  However, generally WEAK and becoming weaker  Consequence is to - depress wages/ remuneration - undermine conditions/ benefits - allow for flexible responses to market conditions and changes - attract investment - facilitate labour mobility at national and international levels

Hospitality and Tourism labour markets in DEVELOPED COUNTRIES  Weak  Seasonal  Low wage  Low investment in training development  Low status of work  Poor recruitment/ high turnover  Skills gaps despite high unemployment  High dependence on migrant labour

Hospitality and Tourism labour markets in DEVELOPING COUNTRIES  Access to Hospitality and Tourism work and the skills issue  Stronger internal labour market for Hospitality and Tourism  More stable work environment  Instability/ labour turnover comes with development  Gender and religious issues  The expatriate glass ceiling

RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION

Recruitment and Selection Recruitment is the process of generating a pool of capable people to apply for employment to an organization Selection is the process by which managers and others use specific instruments to choose from a pool of applicants a person or persons most likely to succeed in the job(s), given management goals and legal requirements The aim of both is to ensure that you can bring aboard the right person for the job, at the right price and at the right time

Exercise: Recruiting the best people (talent) – horses for courses In what ways would your approach to recruitment differ when you have a vacancy for  A head chef  A housekeeper  A GM  An IT manager  A waiter  A local tour guide  A director of sales and marketing

Recruitment and Selection: not isolated activities  Recruitment and Selection cannot be seen as ends in themselves  Must be linked to long-term HR strategy for the company  Strongly linked to labour market situation  Has implications for training, retention, future internal promotion etc.

What Are Your Recruitment and Selection Challenges?  Defining the talent/ skills you require in the business  Attracting a sound applicant pool  Selecting the most qualified staff  Getting new staff up to speed fast  Determining who’s ready for a new job (internal promotion and mobility)  Getting the most out of employees  Succession planning and management  Helping your people gain an understanding of their strengths and weaknesses  Retaining the best employees

JOB DESCRIPTION - A DOCUMENT DETAILING THE PURPOSE, MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF A PARTICULAR JOB AND ITS POSITION WITHIN THE ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE (BEARDWELL AND HOLDEN 1994: 227) PERSON SPECIFICATION - A DOCUMENT DESCRIBING THE PERSONAL SKILLS AND CHARACTERISTICS REQUIRED TO FILL THE POSITION, USUALLY LISTED UNDER ‘ESSENTIAL’ AND ‘DESIRABLE’ HEADINGS (BEARDWELL AND HOLDEN 1994: 227)

USING THE PERSONNEL SPECIFICATION AS A METHOD OF MATCHING JOBS AND APPLICANTS RODGER SEVEN POINT PLAN  PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS  ATTAINMENTS  GENERAL INTELLIGENCE  SPECIAL APTITUDES  INTERESTS  DISPOSITION  CIRCUMSTANCES

ESSENTIAL CRITERIA DEFINE - The minimum standard FORM - The basis for rejection DESIRABLE CRITERIA ARE - Over and above the minimum FORM - The basis for selection

POINTS TO CONSIDER IN WRITING PERSON SPECIFICATIONS Are all the items on your specification relevant to the job? Are you reasonably sure that none of your criteria would discriminate unfairly against a group of potential candidates? Would your person specification enable a short-listing and interviewing panel to distinguish clearly between candidates?

RECRUITMENT METHODS 1. INTERNAL EXISTING EMPLOYEES 2. USING EXISTING CONTACTS 3. EXTERNAL CONTACTS 4. ADVERTISING/MEDIA

RECRUITMENT ADVERTISING AND MEDIA PRESS LOCAL NATIONAL TRADE AND PROFESSIONAL JOURNALS TV/ RADIO ALTERNATIVES INTERNET AGENCIES BUT: Word of mouth, contacts, “poaching”

Employee or employer branding

What is it employee/ employer branding?  “The package of functional, economic, and psychological benefits provided by employment, and identified with the employing company”, Ambler & Barrow (1996)  A long term strategy that establishes an organisation’s identity as an employer  Which differentiates them from competitors in the employment market

Where do you start?  The development of an employee value proposition (EVP)  Capturing in one statement, the sum of “everything that people experience and receive while they are part of the company”  It must be aligned to the overall brand and reputation

Who is it for?  Potential employees – to persuade more and better applicants to apply and accept offers  Current employees – to reduce turnover, increase employee motivation, a sense of belonging and align behaviour to the organisation’s needs  Consistency of messages across both groups is vital as the organisation has to deliver what it promises  Projecting an unrealistic image may improve recruitment but can increase attrition

Employer Brand The unique and differentiating promise a business makes to its employees and potential candidates Employer Brand The unique and differentiating promise a business makes to its employees and potential candidates Employee experience Actual delivery of the promise throughout the employee lifecycle Employee experience Actual delivery of the promise throughout the employee lifecycle Brand strength Attraction of the right candidates Employee engagement and retention Differentiation from competitors Customer engagement and retention Brand strength Attraction of the right candidates Employee engagement and retention Differentiation from competitors Customer engagement and retention +  Attraction of high quality employees is a competitive necessity  Engagement of high quality employees is a bottom line issue

1.Brand insight 2. Brand development 3. Implementation Competitor analysis Brand positioning vs competition Understanding vision for the business and employees Understanding best of the current employee experience and improvements Alignment of the consumer brand/ employer brand Concept development Concept testing Refinement and development Recruitment guidelines and roll out for recruitment advertising Design of internal launch process Production of comms materials, internally and externally Employee vision Personality Key messages Strengths/areas to improve Employee Value Proposition Brand book Communication strategy Communication tools

Employer brand benefits  Significant decreases in cost per hire  Reduced cost of recruitment - efficiencies maximised throughout the recruitment process  Reduction in recruitment marketing costs over time  Greater numbers of higher quality applicants  Higher performing employees  Increased retention rates  Stronger reputation in the marketplace  Increased ability to attract specialist talent in a difficult market

Thank You! Discussion.