Recruitment Strategies in the Service Industry
Every service business owner knows the importance of recruiting “the best of the best.” In large service industries, recruitment is the responsibility of Personnel and Human Resources.
In small to medium companies, recruiting may fall to supervisors or managers. The basic template for recruitment in the service industry includes ten strategies that can be custom designed and implemented according to specific business needs. These include:
- Refinement of recruiting advertisements and promotions
- Comprehensively training recruiters
- Incorporation of company policy into recruitment practices
- Quantifying and qualifying projected recruitment needs
- Designing and creating recruitment cycles for staffing balance
- Identifying excellent recruitment candidates
- Factoring recruitment costs with long term business budgets
- Understanding elements of motivation during recruitment phases
- Determining “cutting edge” hiring practices
- How salary affects quality of recruitment
1. Refinement of Recruiting Advertisements and Promotions
In the service industry, advertising for a phase of recruiting is the key to highly qualified candidates for service industry positions. Avoid mass produced advertisements when the quality of candidates is a priority. Mass produced recruiting advertisements nearly always result in lower quality resumes. If recruiting is important enough to fill positions, customize the style of advertising for service industry recruiting.
Recruitment events are often a better method of promoting jobs in the service industry. There is the immediate “face to face” factor that helps determine the quality of candidates to be recruited.
For those in the hospitality industry, direct recruitment is essential to ensure appearance and attire is adequate for this service industry. Another recruitment event strategy that has a proven successful is an “open house” either at a business location or larger event venue. This expediently identifies those seeking a career in service industry that match business needs.
2. Comprehensively Training Recruitment Personnel
The effectiveness of recruitment personnel is a direct result of comprehensive training. In the service industry, recruiter training includes:
- Ability to accurately evaluate candidates’ resumes
- Understanding the importance of verifying resume data
- Increasing candidate to job “matching” skills
- Correct application of business wage and compensation guides
- Knowledge of employee/employer relations compliance regulations
- Advancement of interviewing skills
- Include service culture training in human resource training programs.
Recruitment personnel should be trained to know what to look for in an employee from resume review to interview phase. In small to medium businesses, supervisors and managers should also know what
to look for in an employee in the same manner: from resume review to interview.
3. Incorporation of Company Policy into Recruitment Practices
One of the biggest mistakes many businesses make is not incorporating company policy into recruitment practices. It is crucial that recruitment be based on specifics of company policies since these policies vary from business to business. For instance, if the service of the business is based on hospitality, company policy may require recruits to possess experience in off-site sales presentations.
4. Quantifying and Qualifying Projected Recruitment Needs
One of the most beneficial recruitment strategies to apply in service industry businesses is to quantify and qualify projected recruitment needs to maintain cost-effective recruiting.
In service industries where business tends to ebb and flow, clearly quantifying the number of recruits required from business phase to business phase reduces the strain on business budgets.
Qualifying project recruitment needs is necessary to avoid bulk hiring that may result in costly recruitment, high employee turnover and diminished business reputation. Recruit for positions based on a balanced focus of business for the long term, applicable to the specific recruitment strategy plan.
5. Design and Create Recruitment Cycles for Staffing Balance
One red flag within recruitment in service industry is an improperly calculated recruitment cycle that should provide adequate staffing balance. In any given year of service business, there can be up to four recruitment cycles. This is due to a variety of reasons like staffing reductions due to employee relocations, firings or employee illness. Design and create recruitment cycles based on prior hiring data that ensures adequate and balanced staffing.
6. Identifying Excellent Recruitment Candidates
There is more to identifying excellent candidates in service industry jobs. The primary facet of recruits should be training and experience in service culture. Most service industry positions require systemic service culture training for a career in the service industry.
7. Factoring Recruitment Costs with Long Term Business Budgets
Factoring recruitment costs with long term business budgets is a necessity for timely, cost-effective recruitment strategies. Consider each new hire in terms of dollar value based on their experience, education and service contribution.
8. Understanding Elements of Motivation During Recruitment Phases
It is also important to understand elements of motivation during recruitment phases. For example, in hospitality industries, motivation to fill key positions may be driven by increased clientele or the need to rise above industry competitors.
9. Determine “Cutting Edge” Hiring Practices
Determine “cutting edge” hiring practices by staying ahead of changes in the hospitality trends, such as linking hi tech devices to accessible software apps that attract more clients.
10. How Salary Affects Quality of Recruitment
There is no doubt those seeking a career in service industry equate salary to self-worth. By maintaining competitive industry salaries, a higher quality of recruitment is achieved.
About Riya currently:
Riya currently works at Australian company in a position of Human Resources Coordinator. During her academic year, she studied Human Resources Development and Leadership. She has spent 4 years working in this field. Check out her Twitter.
