Is Staffing-as-a-Service the future of the hospitality industry?
One of the challenges facing the hospitality industry today is adequate labor availability. Staffing-as-a-Service helps to systematically address this and benefit both workers and businesses in the hospitality industry. In this article, we discuss the future trends of the hospitality industry and how Staffing-as-a-Service fits in with them as well as the benefits of staffing as a service.
Although a labor deficit in the hospitality industry became more apparent during the COVID pandemic, staffing challenges were already present in the industry, the pandemic only served to worsen them. Employees struggled with long hours, unpredictable scheduling and low wages. On the other hand, employers suffered with staff retention and staff motivation.
Staffing-as-a-Service, which essentially means hiring hourly or part time workers, can ease these challenges. It focuses on finding top talent with the required skills to meet a businesses’ specific requirements.
There are several channels businesses can opt for when it comes to staffing. They include; AI, staffing software and staffing agencies.
Those looking to hire more long term staff criticize staffing agencies for being incapable of selecting candidates who would be a proper cultural fit. However agencies and Staffing-as-a-Service as a whole offer numerous benefits.
Benefits of Staffing-as-a-Service for the employers
Access to a large talent pool
Despite putting out targeted ads on social media and other platforms, businesses still face talent shortages. Staffing agencies on the other hand have the capacity to employ a number of tactics to guarantee that they have large talent pools.
These tactics include networking, referrals and hosting job fairs. Doing this gives them access to many more qualified candidates than a single business can get. Because of this, they are able to provide a business with qualified candidates in a matter of days or even hours. Speedy filling of roles is an extra bonus because according to statistics, the best candidates get off the job market in just 10 days.
Some agencies have specific requirements for their workforce. For instance, if you wish to hire a more ethnically diverse staff, a staffing agency will be able to help you meet this because they have a large pool of candidates to select from.
It can be cost effective
Hiring staff is an expensive undertaking. It requires resume sourcing, candidate screening, interviewing and yet all this doesn’t guarantee that you will find the right candidate. Each of these steps requires human resources and time, both of which translate to a cost. Opting for staffing services helps businesses outsource all this work.
Money can also be saved by hiring part time hospitality staff or part time hourly staff. This will ensure that the business pays staff for only the time worked.
In addition, because staffing is time consuming, it takes time away from the core business. Having a staffing partner frees up the business to focus on business critical tasks. For instance, a busy restaurant wants the majority of their chef’s time focused on the kitchen and not on interviewing staff.
Skill based hiring
The hospitality industry has a very high rate of employee turnover. Sometimes, an employee might leave in the middle of a busy season, leaving the business in need of their particular skill set. In such a scenario, a staffing agency can make use of hourly hospitality staff who have the desired set of skills. They can also opt for staff augmentation. This involves hiring staff with a specific skill for a given period of time.
Staffing-as-a-Service can help a business fill their immediate talent needs and continuously provide them with part time hospitality staff for as long as they need them.
Flexibility for the business
Staffing services allow a business to be agile and more flexible. They can scale their staff down as required and should there be a large group of guests, more staff can be brought in to cater to them. This ensures that the business only hires the staff they need at a given time. This benefits employees as well. When employees have work to do, engagement and motivation go up.
It can help you optimize your budget
Staffing-as-a-Service has a role to play in budget optimization. There is a high cost attached to the hiring process. It is even higher when replacing an employee.
With Staffing-as-a-Service, a company can get part time hospitality staff and only pay for the service they need for a specific period of time. With a staffing agency, a business gets to bypass the costs attached with a big part of the recruitment process and channel those resources towards achieving their strategic objectives.
Better data management
When done digitally or through a digital agency, staffing as a service optimizes data collection and management. A business can have extensive and accurate data on their staff and more. It becomes easier to map out seasons and busy periods. Such data can inform certain business decisions. At the same time, data can be updated and deleted with ease.
Pre-vetted employees
Businesses use several channels to advertise jobs: social media, job boards, their websites and so many more. While these may bring in a number of candidates, they will not be vetted. The business has to dedicate resources to vetting these candidates for skills and other desirable attributes.
An example of a desirable attribute is a food handler’s certificate. The recruiting company will have to go through all the applications they receive to filter the ones that have that attribute. With Staffing-as-a-Service, this role will fall on the agency that provides the candidates. This makes staffing more seamless and less time consuming.
Benefits of Staffing-as-a-Service for employees
Access to the right jobs
It is important for a company to recruit the right people but it is just as important for candidates to be paired with the right jobs. Sometimes qualified candidates face a challenge in finding the right jobs because they do not have access to the right opportunities. At the right job, employees are more productive and likely to stay at jobs for longer. This puts them in a better position to get promotions and to qualify for higher wages.
Staffing agencies and software make it easier for candidates to match with the right jobs. They help hourly hospitality staff and part time hospitality staff to zero in on jobs that suit their schedules and that also pay well.
Staffing-as-a-Service can provide you with advance information about a job before you even apply. Some of this information may not be available in the job advert. Such information can help you determine whether it is a job you are interested in going for or not. For instance learning that a job offers unpaid breaks may be a deal breaker for you.
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Access to a large pool of jobs without a fee
Looking for a job can be a lengthy and at times a stressful process. Staffing or recruitment agencies give you access to thousands of jobs, with information pertaining to each, all in one place. You will be able to receive alerts for new jobs as they become available.
Even better, most do not charge a fee for this service. Instead, the agency gets a fee from their client when they help to fill a specific role.
Support through the application process
Some staffing agencies go a step beyond providing candidates with available jobs to apply for. They work with them to improve their chances of getting hired. This can start from as early on as giving advice on your CV, preparation for the interview and even salary negotiation advice.
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Flexibility
One of the things workers crave most is flexibility. Staffing-as-a-Service allows staff to work the schedules that suit them or to even build their own schedules. This means that employees can go to school, work a second job or carry out other projects while working as part time hourly staff. A community like Wrkio gives you access to flexible jobs.
Information to help you succeed
When you sign up with a staffing agency, your success is their success. For this reason, they tend to provide resources, tips and advice to help you not only get the job but to succeed while at it.
Tips may include, how to find the highest paying jobs, how to excel while at work or how to maintain work life balance while working remotely.
What the hospitality industry of the future will look like
Let us look at some likely trends of the hospitality industry of the future and how staffing as a service can fit in.
Digitization will impact hiring
The hospitality sector will not be spared in the ongoing digital wave. Customers will continue to be able to order food remotely and check in to hotels from digital platforms. This will inevitably automate some customer-facing jobs. However that doesn’t mean that there will be a vacuum, instead, different jobs will be created.
There will be an increased need for software developers to design apps, software and platforms that cater to the online customer experience. There will be a need for IT practitioners to drive the AI needs of businesses as well as social media managers and online marketers in the hospitality industry. Staffing-as-a-Service will be looking to source candidates with these skills.
Digitization will also affect how employers interact with employees. To better manage part tine hospitality staff and part time hourly staff, mobile apps where worker schedules can be managed will become indispensable.
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A rise in food tech
The hospitality industry will be looking to tech to improve everything from the way food is grown to how it is harvested, transported, packaged and stored. Technology will continue to be used to track ingredients. Businesses will be able to track whether the chicken they are being supplied is free from antibiotics or if the meat was grass fed.
According to one report, about one third of the food produced globally ends up wasted. Currently, the hospitality industry is using technology to help address this issue. There is technology to help kitchens calculate how much food is wasted. The data collected can identify trends to help minimize wastage. This will all continue in the future and will influence the skills job candidates need in order to bring the most value to businesses.
The nature of jobs will change
It is not uncommon to go to a restaurant and find the same employee wearing several hats. They could be your server but also be in charge of inventory in the back of house. This is a trend likely to continue in the future.
What this means is that employers will be looking for curious hires who are multi-talented. This will serve a number of benefits; first, businesses will be able to circumvent the labour shortage issue by having employees who can perform various tasks. Employees will be able to ask for higher pay as the scope of their work will be increased.
Secondly, having a dynamic workload can serve to increase employee motivation. Monotony is one of the reasons that leads to reduced levels of engagement and morale. Having different tasks to perform can be exciting for some employees. It also builds one’s skill set and improves as well as widens their employment options in the future.
Staffing agencies will be looking out for agile and adaptable candidates.
Food sustainability
Food is a cornerstone of the hospitality industry and different stakeholders will be paying attention to it in the future.
The food systems of today are responsible for contributing significantly to global emissions. Countries and eco-conscious consumers will be looking at how the food they are eating is made. This will push the hospitality industry to pay closer attention to sourcing and hiring individuals who not only have food handling certificates but those who can identify the best food items and vendors.
Staffing agencies will be advising candidates to get training or certifications in this area.
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Wrapping up
There are several reasons why businesses in the hospitality industry may need to hire staff for a number of reasons. It could be to: assist in a seasonal surge, fill in for a sick employee, for a promoted employee or one who is on sick leave. It could be to bring new skills on board to push the business forward, to fill a gap left by an employee who has left and so much more.
Staffing-as-a-Service can help players in the hospitality industry do all this without compromising the attention they need to place on their core business. The beauty of staffing as a service is that it caters to both employers and employees.
