Recruitment is a race in hospitality. There’s urgency in filling open roles—especially when guest expectations remain high and operations never pause. When you have openings in certain roles, you risk revenue. Take a Sales Manager vacancy – who is handling that role’s book of business? Who is filling the rooms that Sales Manager would have filled?
Urgency is a must; however, filling positions is only half the job. If you want to avoid the endless churn of open requisitions and constant retraining, the real work begins after the new hire’s first day.
Leave the mindset of transactional recruitment and enter one where purpose, growth and belonging is of primary focus. A side effect of such focus is an increased industry reputation and, therefore, less challenge filling your positions.
The following rules are not theoretical. These rules are practical steps that can be woven into daily practice. Choose your vision, mission and core values and make them the reality not just for your guests but for your employees. Follow these rules and you will see that filling roles becomes an exercise of selectively identifying the right choice rather than hiring a “warm body” which is not a “choice” at all.
Rule #1: Embed Values Into Every Shift
Infuse culture into everything you do and in every opportunity. Your team will unite behind a set of core values if the managers live by them, communicate them and ensure they permeate the organization.
A seasonal hospitality company such as my organization may have an average employee age in the low 30’s hiring teenagers as young as fourteen (14), depending on which state the company has its operations. According to Deloitte’ 2025 Gen Z and Millennial Survey, over 90% of both generations say meaningful work is a top priority. Thus an emphasis on culture will attract and retain hospitality workers in organizations trending “young”.
A mission or set of core values—no matter how inspiring—does nothing if it lives only on the company’s website or in its handbook. Employees know when it is real. “Making it real” is not as easy as it may sound. It takes repetition considerable communication and persistence in the face of challenges. Here are some steps to ensure that culture and a company’s values are embedded in an organization’s daily activities:
- Open every pre-shift with a quick example of the vision, mission or your core values in action.
- Recognize employees on the spot for demonstrating those values.
- Include values in performance conversations, not just operational metrics.
When values are actively shared, communicated and lived, they create an environment employees want to be part of. Employees will gravitate to an organization focusing on its culture, values and purpose, and will want to stay.
Rule #2: Hire for Culture Add, Not Just Culture Fit
The goal is not to replicate the team you already have; it is to strengthen it. “Culture add” means finding people who share your values but bring unique perspectives, skills, and backgrounds.
According to Andrea Rajic, “Culture Fit” hiring aims to keep the status quo of a team, whereas “Culture Add” aims to add to the culture and expand it (indirectly expanding the value of the organization).
Surprisingly, people who bring their differences to an organization unites it rather than divides it. When employees feel their unique contributions are recognized and valued, this fosters a collaborative, supportive work environment. This deepens team resilience, sparks innovation and improves one’s company standing within the candidate community. People want to work in and stay at an inviting, open workplace.
Rule #3: Make Mentorship a Leadership Habit
Associates stay where they’re growing. A mentorship mindset—whether formal or informal—ensures every person has someone invested in their development.
The American Hotel Lodging Association Foundation’s Leadership Mentorship Program is an example of formalizing mentorship programs.
Setting up a “formal” mentorship program is a wise move so long as the program remains simple. Some key steps when formalizing:
- Pair new hires with experienced associates for onboarding support.
- Encourage leaders to share career advice and industry insight regularly.
- Formalize topics to provide general discussion points, though allow for latitude and freedom of discussion.
- Train or orient anyone involved. Mentors need to know how to guide and mentees need to know what to expect.
- Recognize and reward those who develop others.
Frankly, an open, transparent environment may have informal mentoring though break conversations, post-shift chats and honest coaching/feedback moments. The key is genuine interest in supporting a learning culture and developing good people. A mentor-robust environment shows that an organization is not afraid to encourage individuals to achieve. This commitment to individual development adds to the attraction of the organization – people will want to stay, people will want to come.
Rule #4: Keep Leaders Visible and Accessible
Nothing builds trust faster than presence. Associates notice when leaders are out of the office, engaging with the team, and solving problems alongside them. According to American Productivity & Quality Center, HR professionals should target a ratio of 25% of their time doing administrative work and 75% of their time on the floor with their employees.
There need not be much formality to walking the floor – it just has to happen. Walk the floor daily without an agenda other than connecting with people. Ask questions and listen without rushing to respond. Should you hear about concerns or receive ideas, be sure to follow up quickly.
Visible managers are engaged and, therefore, leading their teams and the organization. They are accessible, connected and human. Again, this enhances the internal reputation of leadership and will shorten your time to hire as quality people will want to be part of what you are creating.
Rule #5: Celebrate Purpose Beyond the Job Description
Hospitality is emotional work. We are not just checking in guests or serving meals. We are creating moments guests remember for a lifetime. Employees need to see the impact of what they do.
It is critical to share guest feedback with the team. When a guest writes a thank you or leaves a glowing review, share it with the employee and their teammates. Celebrate the victories regardless of how “small” they may seem.
The guest journey starts from the initial reservation and does not end until full departure. Ensure the team knows how vital they are and what role they play in that long, involved cycle of guest presence.
When employees know their importance and feel appreciated, recognized and valued, they will want to stay. When they recognize that their jobs are part of the guest journey, they will understand the meaning of their work. They will share their feelings and their work’s meaning with their friends and families; these friends and family members fill the work funnel with more candidates.
Rule #6: Keep Career Pathways in Sight
If employees want purpose, they also want growth. Growth and opportunity add to one’s interest in staying with an organization. When an organization “promotes from within” it sends a strong message of development and investment in one’s employees. Employees will stay with you if they see a strong internal transfer/promotion program. Internal Mobility Rate is a good metric for HR Teams to track; it provides a percentage of movement within an organization. Once again, this sends a powerful message to one’s internal team and external candidate pool.
Even if promotions are not available immediately, ongoing development opportunities keep people engaged. Training courses, in-person or virtual, supporting employee individual growth will go a long way to ensuring retention and reputation.
Rule #8: Protect the Associate Experience as Fiercely as the Guest Experience
We are in our businesses to make money. Revenue is critical to our success. The Guest Experience is our business.
That said, without our own people exceeding the guest’s expectations, we cannot succeed. The genuine, human connectivity of hospitality has to be in every guest interaction. If our employees are not encouraged to provide such genuine connectivity, we endanger revenue and real dollars.
It is essential that we focus on the employee experience. Just as we have a guest journey, we need to recognize and acknowledge the employee journey. The employee’s journey begins from the point of application and continues to the point of exit, and beyond. Every touchpoint of the employee journey should be genuinely meaningful. Connectivity is just as important when dealing with our employees as it is when dealing with our guests. We have to ensure we are celebrating our people, we have to provide them adequate tools and exceptional support. If we take care of our people, they take care of our guests.
I have interviewed many candidates who have remarked at the outstanding service received when receiving as a guest. They note that since our people take care of the guests so phenomenally well, they must be doing something right for the employees.
The Bottom Line
Note that there was very little discussion or acknowledgement of labor shortage in this article.
By embedding values into daily work, hiring for culture-add, fostering mentorship, keeping leaders visible, celebrating purpose, creating career pathways and ensuring a highly satisfying employee journey, you create a workplace where people not only stay, they thrive. Further, they tell their friends about you as an employer.
One’s vision, mission and core values need to be real. They need to be more than just for your guests; they need to be for your employees. When employees feel purpose, growth, and belonging, they become your most powerful recruitment tool.
Nothing attracts top talent like a team that loves where they work.
Reprinted from the Hotel Business Review with permission from www.HotelExecutive.com.