So how do you stand out from your competitors when recruiting? What are candidates looking for? How can you keep hold of your current employees? And have you got a plan in place if your key players leave?

HR and talent professional Claire Steiner, Travlaw partner Ami Naru and I will aim to answer these – and many, many other questions – during our webinar on Wednesday (30 March) with TTG. You can register to attend here.
 
Experienced travel candidates have all the power right now, they can pick and choose their next role. So, if you’re not offering a distinct reason why they should work for you, you’re likely to be left behind.

Flexible working used to be a real selling point for a vacancy, but now it’s expected. However, while the majority of travel roles are now hybrid positions, there’s still a lack of pure homeworking positions – and these roles are highly sought-after by candidates.

Salary has always been an issue for our industry. We commonly say people work in travel because they love it, and while that’s still true, it’s not enough any more. Wages simply have to increase across the whole industry. It’s unacceptable to just offer minimum wage, especially when there’s such a fight for talent going on. Many, many people have left travel, so how do we expect to tempt them back if we continue to offer such derogatory pay?

The pandemic has made many people question what they want from life and where they want to spend their working day, so travel companies really need to spend time thinking about their brand and what they stand for. What does your company represent? What are your values? Why would someone want to work there? What’s your reputation? And, if necessary, how can you turn it around?

Candidates, particularly younger ones, are now focusing much more on these aspects. Companies that can offer a positive and engaging working environment, attractive salaries and benefits, as well as mentoring or career development opportunities, will find they have a much bigger talent pool to choose from.

With the entire industry experiencing recruitment challenges, it is crucial to do all we can to keep our current talent content and happy, particularly our key players. Whether it’s their fantastic sales skills, morale-boosting positivity or guidance they offer other colleagues, we all have these star performers – so it is vital to assess what would happen if they leave.

How would team morale be affected? What would it mean if they joined a competitor? Would our company reputation be impacted? Could we replace them? And if so, how long would it take, and how much would it cost?

With demand for talent far outstripping current supply, this will be a challenging 12 months for travel recruitment. But the opportunities are clear for us all to see.

And by adjusting a few aspects of our recruitment and retention policies, we can give ourselves the best chance of making the next year a hugely positive one.

Barbara Kolosinska is managing director or C&M Travel Recruitment.