What’s on the Horizon for Hospitality Salaries and Talent Needs?
When it comes to talent — on property and off — we are all too familiar with where we’ve been over the last couple of years. But, where are we going?
I asked all HSMAI’s advisory board members about their thoughts on the coming year and what it means for hiring and retention — and discussed the results with my colleagues on the HSMAI Sales Advisory Board.
I encourage you to discuss these three questions with your own leadership teams as you look toward continued industry recovery in the coming year.
1. Do we anticipate the need for talent at the same rate in Q4 of this year and into 2023? Why? How can we best allocate our talent resources to meet our strategic goals?
On the sales side, many companies are increasing headcount — of both sellers and the very important sales enablement function. They are also getting creative with the structures of their organizations and the roles talent plays in them. Some approaches that might inspire you include:
- Hire new “space optimizer” positions to concentrate on tightening up meeting space allocations to free up patterns and space
- Get clearer on the skills, strengths, knowledge, and/or experience you want sellers to have. Then update you job descriptions — or write new ones. It’s all about getting the right people “on the bus” doing the right things.
2. Do we anticipate salaries + budgets (for salaries specifically) to increase, stay flat, or lower for new hires in Q4 and 2023?
With 74% of respondents to my poll indicated that they went over budget this year to secure their top candidates, I wonder if that is sustainable.
The Sales Advisory Board did agree that this year was an anomaly. Going into it, most organizations did not have good budgets or the right head counts. Generally, you can expect 2023 budgets to be much clearer — and that most companies will stick with them when making offers to new hires.
The past year was also a level-setting year as we developed a better understanding of what compensation expectations are.
3. What are we doing to “WOW” candidates during the interview process (from start to in-person)?
The tables have turned a little: we’re used to expecting candidates to wow us. We are not used to needing to woo candidates, so it takes some thinking.
I encourage you to get with your team and think about what you are doing to make candidates really want to work with you and your organization — and take it from the perspective of the line-level, hourly employee to directors and above.
Make sure your process — from beginning to end — is organized, intentional, and inclusive.
One great idea that I’m going to “borrow” is putting together a video of all a hotel’s managers saying why they love working at the company/property. It lets candidates authentically hear from “real people” with lots of different jobs and paints a picture of what they can expect should they join the team.
And remember, it’s still important that we’re not so desperate that we’ll take anyone with a pulse! You must make sure there is a good fit on both sides of the equation.
About SearchWide
Founded in 1999, SearchWide is a full service executive search firm primarily for companies in the travel, tourism, hospitality, convention, trade association, venue management and experiential marketing industries. Headquartered in the Twin Cities and several regional offices, SearchWide serves clients and candidates nationwide. They understand that matching the right people with the right opportunity is not an easy task. That's why they guarantee their work, and are committed to exceeding their clients' and candidates' expectations.
