Becoming a Top Employer Brand through Employer Branding

Online marketing in hotels is not only aimed at (potential) guests, but also includes strengthening the hotel's own image or online marketing with a focus on employees. "Employer branding", i.e. measures to strengthen one's own company as an attractive employer, is unavoidable, especially in hotel marketing. After all, hoteliers want to find suitable staff through recruiting and at the same time be noticed and found by qualified employees. Recruiting is the active process of attracting qualified personnel to your company.

<div class="article_quote"><div class="article_quote_contain"><div class="article_quote_quote">"You have a strong employer brand and lots of job vacancies? As a hotel marketing agency, ADDITIVE supports a large number of hotels in their online search for employees with cross-channel recruiting campaigns"</div><div class="article_quote_name u-text-style-main"> </div></div></div>

The following nine steps, complete with practical tips, help hoteliers position themselves as a strong employer brand and attract the right employees online for their hotel.

All steps at a glance:

Step 1 - What makes my hotel an employer brand?‍
‍Step 2 - Who are my testimonials?
‍‍Step 3 - What qualities does the right employee bring to my hotel?‍
‍Step 4 - What should my hotel's career page include?‍
‍Step 5 - How do I turn satisfied employees into advocates for my hotel?‍
‍Part 2: Four Steps to a Recruitment Campaign and Qualified Hotel Staff
‍Step 6 - What elements should I include in my online job postings?
Step 7 - Where should I place my ads to attract the right people?
Step 8 - What other options are there for online recruitment?
Step 9 - What other content can I communicate as a hotel to position myself as an attractive employer?

Advice for a Strong Employer Brand

Step 1 - What makes my hotel an employer brand?

The hotel brand plays a central role in employer branding and recruitment:

• What does the property stand for?
• Who is behind the company - as an employer, as a team?
• What are the company's values and culture?
• What added value does the hotel offer to (future) employees?

These added values, also known as EVP (Employee Value Proposition), include more than just compensation and advancement opportunities. It also includes benefits such as housing, food, flexible working hours, career and training opportunities, and the general working atmosphere.

PRACTICE TIP #1

Be authentic in your descriptions and don't make empty promises! Communicate the EVP clearly on the careers page, social media channels, and throughout the application process.

Step 2 - Who are my testimonials?

Your own team is emblematic of the hotel's corporate culture, working atmosphere and environment. Especially videos about employees and their activities are an ideal tool to show the daily work routine in the hotel. Such videos are authentic and build trust. If video is not available, photos with memorable quotes are also an effective way to showcase the hotel. The selected employees serve as role models and also show possible development scenarios.

PRACTICE TIP #2

In addition to a balanced mix of demographics (age, gender, nationalities, etc.), pay special attention to the representation of different departments (kitchen, service, reception, wellness, animation, housekeeping, etc.) and (management) positions, from interns to department heads.

Step 3 - What qualities does the right employee bring to my hotel?

To be successful in recruiting, every hotel needs a clear definition of its desired employees: Which candidates does the hotel want to attract? What characteristics and qualities do these potential team members possess? Write job descriptions that clearly focus on the requirements and attributes.

PRACTICE TIP #3

Also target career changers or re-entrants - especially after the pandemic, many people are reorienting themselves professionally.

Step 4- What should my hotel's career page include?

A prerequisite for successful recruiting campaigns is an independent career or job page within the hotel's own website. Here, the hotel's tone of voice is continued, as well as corporate design features. In short, everything that reinforces the hotel's vision and mission.

A checklist of the most important elements:

• Presenting the hotel as an employer
• Presentation of the operating family and team with selected testimonials (see step 2)
• Awards - not only those as an employer, such as "Best Employer in Tourism" or "Best Training Company in the Region", but also other general awards or top rankings.
• Employee benefits and perks
• Job openings with detailed job descriptions
• Clear calls to action for applications, online forms with options for uploading documents such as resumes
• References to social media accounts, perhaps even dedicated employee/team accounts, newsletter or employee newspaper
• Last but not least, search engine optimization (SEO) of the entire career site so that job postings can be found by search engines.

PRACTICE TIP #4.

Place a highly visible button linking to the hotel's career site on the general website. The hotel's career page needs to be simple and easy to find!

Step 5 - How do I turn satisfied employees into advocates for my hotel?

Satisfied employees are the best brand advocates, not only internally, but also externally to potential employees and (potential) guests. Your own employees know the business, represent the interests and characteristics of the hotel (assuming there is a good corporate culture).

Employees can not only rate the employer on relevant networks, search engines or portals, but also post on their private social media channels. According to studies, company-related social media posts by employees generate 8 times more engagement than those from official company accounts. In addition, employees can be active recruiters by recommending friends and acquaintances for open positions.

PRACTICE TIP #5

Actively solicit reviews from current and former employees. In addition, use team meetings to alert employees to current job openings for social media sharing and referrals. For larger companies, a dedicated employee advocacy program (employee development program) as well as employee referral programs with a well-thought-out strategy and incentives (vouchers, training, exercise classes) make absolute sense.

In part 2: Four Steps to a Recruitment Campaign and Qualified Hotel Staff
Do you already have a strong employer brand, a well-designed career site, and a lot of open positions? As a marketing agency, ADDITIVE supports hotels in their online search for employees with data-driven recruiting campaigns across channels in search engines and social media platforms.