Meeting the Need for Talent: A Baker's Dozen of Questions

My recent column on Stronger Hiring Outlook Means Hospitality Employers Must Step Up Recruitment Efforts apparently hit the mark, as I had emails and comments from hoteliers in three continents representing many different types of facilities asking for ideas on action steps to take. The reality is that while there remains substantial unemployment in many markets and many applicants for most positions, forward thinking professionals are recognizing that the trends are changing. Occupancy and revenue is beginning to rebound in many markets and the demand for quality staff will soon be on the rise as well.

Geoff Smart and Randy Street in their Who: The A Mehod for Hiring¹ that "hiring is the most important aspect of business- and yet remains woefully misunderstood.." The book jacket refers to what The Economist calls "the single biggest problem in business today": unsuccessful hiring. The average hiring mistake costs a company $1.5 million or more a year and countless wasted hours. This statistic becomes even more startling when you consider that the typical hiring success rate of managers is only 50 percent. The book offers the position that "who is hired" problems are preventable and they base their opinions on more than 1,300 hours of interviews with more than 20 billionaires and 300 CEOs.

In the hospitality industry with turnover rates often higher than the 50% referenced in the book regular economic times, the challenges can be even greater. This two part series will look at the issue of identifying, hiring and growing talent.

Part One

It should seem obvious, but in my career as a hotelier, hospitality educator and consultant, I have seen a huge number of management positions that have outdated job descriptions, specifications and no sense of what the person really needs to "do" in order to be successful.

With that in mind, below is a listing of considerations:

1. Who will the person specifically report to and how often will they interact?
2. What is the specific accountability in attaining results?
3. Are those results in line with the organization's "big" picture?
4. Are there strategic goals identified or in the process of being refined for the organization?
5. How much enterprise is preferred or expected? Is initiative a positive or negative trait in the organization?
6. What is the sense of competitive spirit? Is it everyone for themselves?
7. Markets and economies change – how do you expect the new hire to stay focused?
8. How are decision made? Are authority lines refined and reasonable?
9. What are your organization's performance expectations in Key Result Areas? How many KRAs are there and are they consistent?
10. How are results measured in associate engagement, in guest service, in market penetration, in facility quality and of course, profitability?
11. Does the organization have clearly identified values that support the mission and vision?
12. How does communication really happen?
13. How does change happen? Can it be fast paced or must it go through a committee? Does one person overshadow all decisions or is there reasonable flexibility that provides unbiased professional opportunity for growth, recognition and reward for agreed upon achievement of success?

This Baker's Dozen may seem to be a bit comprehensive for some facilities, yet it was created to provide feedback to the requests for specific ideas on this topic. Those inquiries came from hoteliers working in all sizes of hotels, with mixed market bases, with a range of brands as well as some independent properties and in multiple countries.

KEYS TO SUCCESS is the umbrella title for my 2011 programs, hospitality services and columns. This year's writings focus on a variety of topics for hotel owners, managers and professionals including both my "HOW TO" articles, HOSPITALITY CONVERSATIONS™, Lessons from the Field™, Hotel Common Sense™ and Principles for Success

¹ | www.leadershipnow.com/leadershop/9780345504197.html