The Best Recruitment and Retention Processes to Build a Strong Workforce

Insights for this month’s article provided by Pete Newsome, Founding President of 4 Corner Resources and Nigel Lobo, Chief Operating Officer at Grand Pacific Resorts

Question: What are the best recruitment and retention processes for companies to build a strong workforce?

Keeping a timeshare company fully staffed – from corporate positions to resort operations jobs – has become increasingly difficult in the current job market. With the national unemployment rate in the United States hovering near a historic low and currently sitting at just 3.7%, employers have to find creative ways to stand out to potential candidates.

Pete Newsome, Founding President of 4 Corner Resources, weighs-in on his strategic recommendations for recruiting employees in a competitive job market:

• Build a strong brand image and reputation: You can boost your brand image by leveraging your employees. When considering or applying for jobs, candidates often turn to online resources such as Glassdoor, Great Place to Work, and Indeed to learn about employers. Keep your company’s information on these websites up-to-date and accurate while encouraging your employees to voluntarily write honest online reviews about your business.
• Offer compensation that matches the competitive economy: Salary is an integral consideration for any job applicant and something heavy on the mind of many individuals in the current economy. According to the BLS, average hourly earnings increased just 0.8% between December 2022 and December 2023. When you compare that against a 3.4% increase in the consumer price index, it’s no wonder people are willing to leave their jobs for one that pays more. Resources like our hiring and salary guide can help when it comes to this stage in the recruitment process.
• Recruit passive job seekers: To effectively recruit employees in a competitive job market, you can’t wait for job applicants to come to you. Meet prospects by actively seeking out active and passive candidates on LinkedIn and other professional social networking platforms.
• Treat job applicants and candidates like customers: Avoid the too-common mistake of treating applicants and candidates poorly. Strategic recruitment messaging can help you stay on top of candidate communications and maintain a positive experience for applicants throughout the hiring process.
• Leverage social media: Use LinkedIn for active sourcing by searching for candidates based on their location, industry, job title, and skills, then reaching out to them with a tailored introduction message to share your latest openings. You can also use other social channels for inbound recruiting by sharing materials that spotlight your employee value proposition. Content like videos, infographics, and blog posts can be consumed at a viewer’s leisure and introduce your brand in an inviting, low-pressure manner.
• Emphasize referrals: Access a network of trusted candidates by obtaining referrals from your existing workforce. This approach accelerates the hiring process and increases the likelihood of hiring high performers – amplifying the reach of your recruiting efforts and promoting employee engagement.
• Put your recruiting data to work: Your hiring metrics can tell you where you’re doing well and where your work isn’t paying off. One of the easiest ways to find out how to recruit employees faster, smarter, and more successfully is to look at the data on your past recruiting efforts.
• Use a professional staffing firm: Many outstanding large, midsize, and small businesses choose to stand out by relying on a professional staffing agency to handle the sourcing, screening, and qualifying of candidates. Their role is to make your company look good while securing the best talent through highly efficient recruiting methods. Developing a partnership with the right recruiting firm can have an immediate positive impact on your hiring needs.

How to Recruit Employees in a Competitive Job Market.

As all employers know, recruiting talent is just the tip of the iceburg when it comes to building a strong workforce.

To help companies keep employees satisfied longterm, Nigel Lobo RRP, Chief Operating Officer at Grand Pacific Resorts, shares how they take a heartfelt, strategic approach to talent recruitment and retention, and why that has been so successful:

Offer help where it’s needed most: Grand Pacific Resorts’ current retention strategy involves providing associates with both immediate benefits and long-term incentives. Thoughtful associate benefits include Care Solace, which provides confidential low cost mental health resources, discounted childcare through WeeCare, and our Associate Stay & Play Program for our associates to stay at any of our resorts for just $19 per night for a 3-night stay. We also created a benefits package for room attendants, which provides them with meals during their shifts, along with a new pair of complimentary work shoes from Shoes for Crews.

Knowing that our teams were stretched thin due to labor market conditions, we tapped international labor using J1 and H-2B programs. This has been instrumental in securing workers for our resorts in Hawaii and Tahoe, where we were particularly struggling to attract and retain talent. We currently have fourteen H-2B associates at six of our resorts bolstering our housekeeping teams in those regions.

Show gratitude whenever possible: Showing our employees how much we value them has helped tremendously with retention. We provide Grand Pacific listens sessions for our line-level associates where our associates are invited to share their honest and valuable feedback with us allowing us to capture and address any pain-points in a meaningful way. We also celebrate an annual Housekeeping Appreciation Week dedicated to demonstrating our immense appreciation for our “Heart of the House” associates, including providing catered meals and gift baskets.

During this week, we also host our Housekeeping Olympics event filled with friendly contests like speed bed-making and origami towel-folding.This past summer, we distributed Keep it Cool care packages that included a cooler bag, water bottle, cooling gel towel, and a gift card to keep our associates invigorated and motivated during our summer season.

BE EPIC Moments is our employee recognition program that acknowledges associates who go above and beyond to live out our Grand Pacific Resorts values, with hundreds of submissions received each month across all of our resorts. Every year, we recognize our BE EPIC Champions at a Best of the Best gala celebration consisting of a dinner followed by an awards ceremony.

Offer benefits and perks that go beyond what is required: Benefits shouldn’t just be about health insurance or paid time off. Here at Grand Pacific Resorts, we invest in our associates’ professional and personal growth. We offer a Housekeeping Enrichment Program, which helps our housekeeping associates become more proficient in English as well as learn valuable computer and financial literacy skills. We also provide dozens of educational resources via our Docebo-powered Grand Pacific Learns platform along with full reimbursement of any completed course up to $1,000. Our BE EPIC Trailblazer Program helps promote future General Managers, with multiple graduates from this program getting promoted to high-responsibility positions at their respective resorts.

Describing these available career paths to incoming associates helps them envision viable pathways to enjoying long-standing careers with us. Our teams have expressed their appreciation for our multiple ongoing retention efforts, further cementing their loyalty to us.

Lastly, we extended our associate benefits offerings to include a digital tipping feature allowing guests to conveniently tip our associates (especially housekeeping) via QR code. At Grand Pacific Resorts, the key to attracting and retaining our valued associates is centered around capturing their hearts and creating enriching experiences for them into the future.

Whether your team is in the midst of a tough recruitment period or is focused on keeping employees satisfied, unconventional approaches to the hiring and retention processes are the key to building a strong workforce.