hiring for retention: begin with the end in mind.

In ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’, Stephen Covey famously said, “Begin with the End in Mind.” It’s a principle that’s just as relevant to hospitality hiring as it is to personal leadership. To build strong, sustainable teams that create commercially successful businesses, it’s important to start with a clear vision of what success looks like; not just today, but tomorrow. 

Too often, hiring decisions, even at senior level, are made in the heat of the moment, driven by the pressure of a busy season looming, an unexpected resignation, and the need for a fully functioning team. The hurry to hire is backed up with a ‘hope for the best’. 

But hope isn’t a strategy. And when hires are made reactively, the result is often a pause in progress, negative guest experience, rising costs, and unsettled teams that don’t reach their potential. It’s time consuming and costly. 

intentional hiring as a profit driver. 

Given the knocks hospitality has taken lately, there has never been a greater focus on profit and cost. Bringing people into your business who don’t flourish or who leave too soon will be more detrimental to your bottom line than wasteful approaches around food or energy. So, are you giving enough focus to hiring for retention? 

With people costs usually representing the lion's share of your outgoings, intentional hiring is now an essential business approach. 

Intentional hiring means getting honest about your workforce goals and how you plan to achieve them. It’s observing existing team dynamics and skills gaps and crafting job descriptions that reflect the people you’d like to hire and the teams you’d like to build. It’s about looking beyond the CV, and at the whole person, to identify candidates who meet and exceed the brief. It’s hiring people who add to your existing offering and can grow with you.  

Intentional hiring matters even more with senior or skilled hires; the people who set the tone, inspire, lead and help others rise. Hiring the right people into these roles can transform your business. 

specialist recruitment: an efficient investment.

It does take skill and a good network to hire intentionally and well. Working with the right specialist recruiter means you gain these immediately, saving you time and ultimately budget. 

The right recruiter should bring clarity and purpose to your hiring process. Rather than simply filling vacancies, they’ll closely understand your culture and requirements and identify candidates who can add what you most need.  

So, if you want to lower hiring costs and boost your culture with intentional hiring, begin with the end in mind. Treat hiring as an investment in your culture, brand, and commercial success. The return on your investment will be measured not only in retention, but in the strength and sustainability of your business. 

If you’d like to talk about how mum can help you hire intentionally, please get in touch.