5 Ways to Resuscitate Your Online Recruitment Results

This article originally appeared in Hotel Management Magazine here: https://hotelmanagement.mydigitalpublication.com/july-august-2023?m=18433&i=799351&p=18&ver=html5

Online advertising is one of the most popular methods for recruiting employees into the hotel industry, but hiring managers may find that after a while, the once-steady stream of applications has gone as dry as the Sahara Desert. If your job postings are performing below expectations (or not performing at all), here are 5 ways you can revitalize this critical source of new talent.

1. Streamline the process – Apply online for one of your positions and ask yourself if the procedure felt simple and quick, or were there so many tasks involved that you wanted to give up rather than slog through? If it’s the latter, contact a job board representative or your recruiting software vendor and find ways to shorten or eliminate as many steps as possible.

2. Check the competition – One reason that you might not be connecting with candidates is that your compensation package isn’t as attractive as other hotels. Find ads for similar positions at neighboring businesses, evaluate the pay rates and benefits they are offering, and make needed adjustments to remain competitive.

3. Refresh the look – If it has been a while since the ads were originally written, read through them with a critical eye. Do the text and photos still work together to positively showcase your workplace? If not, and your ads feel a bit unexciting or uninspiring, partner with your marketing department (or hire an independent consultant) to rewrite or redesign your postings so they will be more attention-grabbing to jobseekers.

4. Gather employee input – Ask your staffers how they would improve your online ads. These folks represent the target audience of your recruiting plan, and they may be able to provide suggestions to make your posts more relatable, relevant, and inclusive to others who are looking for the same types of positions.

5. Consider other sites – Maybe it isn’t your ad quality, but rather that the job boards you’ve been using have declined in popularity and are no longer generating the same amount of traffic. Ask your trusted colleagues in the industry what sites are proving effective for them, or again, ask your team members what avenues they and their friends are currently using to find work.

If you want to breathe new life into your online recruiting process so your teams are fully staffed for the upcoming summer season, these 5 steps can help get you the results you need.