Candidate-driven market
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.
Travel wages MUST increase
Salaries have always been an issue for our industry. We commonly say that people work in travel because they love it, and while that's still true, it's not enough anymore. 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 continually offer such derogatory pay?
Why should talent choose your company?
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. Any company 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.
Identifying your key players
With the entire industry experiencing recruitment challenges, it is crucial to do all we can to keep our current talent content and happy – and, in particular, our key players.
Whether it's to do with their fantastic sales skills, morale-boosting positivity or guidance for other colleagues, we all have these star performers, and 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 is achallenging time 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.
By Barbara Kolosinska, Managing Director at C&M Travel Recruitment