The leaders of an award winning resort property were concerned about maintaining the appropriate hiring pace for their new property, which had 2,200 rooms, 15 restaurants, an expansive convention space, and a diverse recreation program.
The recruiting team, which was shared among properties, was overwhelmed with their workload, and they were losing out on highly qualified candidates. They were often pulled in a variety of directions. Additionally, there was no direct tie between the annual staffing needs and positions being requested to be filled, leading to misalignments in staffing and skills.
Opening a new property had impacted profitability and had strained an already lean staffing model.
The Results
Key solutions included:
- Observations, interviews, and data analysis were used to establish a set of time standards for each step of the hiring process
- Identified steps of the process that could be automated, including confirmations of interviews and orientations dates, easier options to cancel or reschedule interviews, and decreased time spent on phone answering logistical questions
- Skill gaps were identified, and training was performed where needed
- A system was installed to track and diagnose delays that could result in losing out on candidates
- Identified areas where turnover was highest and installed tools to help identify issues and improve retention
- Made the teams workload visible so that accurate forecasting, lead times, and processes were clear, which led to a re-balancing of activities to ensure available capacity
The streamlined processes combined with better visibility freed up an average of 8 hours per week in each recruiter’s schedule. This was enough to sustain the workload associated with staffing without increasing department headcount.
Additionally, expediting time to fill positions led to a more consistent success rate in hiring the most desirable candidate for the posted role, ultimately contributing to an improved overall culture at the resort complex.
