Hospitality Staffing Solution: Overcome the Hospitality IT Skills Shortage

“GDH works quickly and effectively to help me with open positions and my contact is super personable and easy to get along with. They have helped me in every way and set realistic expectations.”

–Talent acquisition coordinator for computer support and services company

Key Takeaways: 

• IT staffing shortages continue to be a challenge in the hospitality industry. 
• Workers with the needed IT skills are hard to come by using typical in-house recruiting methods. 
• Recruiters with expertise in this area can help hospitality managers find the help they need.

The hospitality industry is facing a significant IT staffing shortage, making it challenging to operate at peak efficiency. 

Understand the Current Situation in IT Hospitality Staffing

Despite gains in hiring, the hospitality industry is experiencing an IT staffing shortage that makes it hard to operate at peak efficiency. Available workers are not sufficient to keep up with demand created by higher retirement rates and a perception that hospitality workers are poorly paid.

Specific skills currently in high demand include software engineers, data analysts, data scientists, and UX designers. Finding workers with these skills has been challenging, since IT graduates don’t realize how huge technology has become in the hospitality industry. In-house recruiting methods may not be sufficient to address needs. That’s where hospitality companies can maximize their chances by using hospitality staffing solutions like recruiters, who are skilled in finding top talent.

This how-to guide will help you address this issue and find the IT talent your hospitality business needs.

Tip #1: Partner with Specialized Recruiters

Outsourced staffing solutions help businesses leverage recruiters and other personnel with expertise in sourcing and hiring top technology talent. Not only will staffing personnel be able to use their own talent pools and other sourcing methods to find talent in places your company cannot, but staffing needs can be handled entirely by the staffing solution company, leaving your company staff free to do their own important work.

GDH has decades of experience in hospitality IT staffing, making us the ideal partner for your staffing needs. GDH’s unique client-centered focus is tailored to each client’s specific needs. You can get better results in less time by outsourcing your hiring needs to GDH.

Tip #2: Enhance Your Recruitment Strategies

Working with a recruiter gets you access to top notch recruitment strategies including the following:

• Partnering with technology schools to recruit new graduates allows companies to gain skilled workers who are up to date on all the latest IT skills.
• Developing competitive and cost-effective benefits packages attracts more top candidates to your positions while still allowing your company to remain at a budget that works for it.
• Implementing referral programs lets companies tap into existing networks to find the talent that exists among friends, family members, or industry colleagues of your current employees–and these programs are not as expensive as some might think.  
• Tailoring solutions to your specific business needs will generate more effective outcomes and avoid wasting resources your company may not have.

Tip #3: Improve Your Employer Brand

Employer branding should emphasize the growing importance of technology in hospitality in order to attract IT professionals to the brand. Hospitality may not be an industry most IT workers look to for job opportunities, but better employer branding could help IT workers realize they have something to offer in the industry.

Your employer branding should also showcase opportunities for career growth and innovation in your company so that new hires know they can advance and grow within the company–something that is especially attractive to top talent.

Tip #4: Optimize the Hiring Process

A positive candidate experience keeps candidates engaged in the hiring process rather than dropping out too soon. This can include giving clear contact information, being available for questions along the way, and communicating clearly about expectations and next steps.

When communication doesn’t happen as expected and candidates are left hanging, many of them will move on to the next potential opportunity, especially if they haven’t been given contact information to reach out to someone for follow-up. 

Additionally, top talen often has several opportunities in the pipeline. If your company wants a chance to hire the best possible talent for their needs, hiring tasks need to be completed in a timely manner. 

Tip #5: Address Long-term Staffing Needs

Overworking your existing IT staff will only get you so far in the current environment when many workers are prioritizing work-life balance over salary and other benefits. The time to overcome ongoing staffing shortages is now if you want to have the most positive impact on your business.

Here are some steps outsourced staffing services providers will take to address your long-term staffing needs:

• Using their own talent pools 
• Partnering with technology schools to work with talent near graduation
• Suggesting cost-effective benefits that will compete for top talent
• Mining referral sources and setting up easy-to-implement referral programs
• Tailoring solutions to specific business needs

Tip #6: Continuously Evaluate and Adjust

Once you get your recruiting system set up and begin to see results, it can be tempting to think your work is finished. It’s important to regularly assess the effectiveness of your staffing solutions and to adapt your strategies as the market and your industry evolve. 

In addition, you will need to stay informed about industry trends and emerging IT needs in order to maintain a successful recruiting system and continue to be able to hire the workers your company needs over time.

By following these steps, you can effectively overcome the IT skills shortage in your hospitality business, ensuring you have the talent needed to thrive in an increasingly technology-driven industry. If your company needs help filling IT positions, GDH provides recruiting services to get you there in a fast and cost-effective way. Reach out to GDH today and find out what we can do for you.