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Staff recruitment and retention

Recruitment and retention are critical to the success of your business and ultimately your bottom line. Effective recruitment approaches can help to:

reduce staff turnover
improve employee morale
increase productivity

The key is to select the right approach for your business, which will help you to achieve your business objectives and allow you to respond effectively to demographic, social and technological trends.

Alan and Michelle Sharpe of Heritage Tea Rooms provide some key tips on staff recruitment and retention for tourism businesses.

Part 2 - Staff recruitment and retention

A key tip from Allan and Michelle Sharpe is to choose employees based on how they fit with the business, rather than simply their experience. By recruiting people who hadn't been in the workforce for a long period, Allan and Michelle were able to gain the complete loyalty and support of their employees.

Part 3 - Recruiting for organisation fit

What does recruitment involve?

determining the characteristics of the role
writing an effective job description
sourcing (the art of finding skilled people)
resume screening
interviewing for knowledge, skills and attitude
testing
reference checking

Who to recruit?

There are many different people within your community who are willing to work with support and training . You might like to consider alternative labour pools to engage in tourism: Indigenous Australians, sole parents and carers, women, people with disabilities and people over 45 years of age.


Tools Recruiting, Managing and Developing Staff Diagnostic - to help assess and improve how well you select and manage people within your business. Queensland Tourism Industry Council provides information on programs and support regarding recruitment and retention within the tourism industry including: Staff Management Tool Kit - a range of online business resources including 7 Steps to Better Staff Management. Tourism Recruitment and Retention Program - this program aims to facilitate pathways for alternative labour pools to engage in tourism: Indigenous Australians, sole parents and carers, women, people with disabilities and people over 45 years of age. Resources The Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation provides useful information about considering your staff needs. Experience Pays - access information about ways to recruit and retain mature-age workers.