Hiring for Talent, Training for Skill: Redefining Recruitment Strategies in the Hospitality Sector

Tiffany Hudson Herrmann, Director of Recruitment, Nemacolin

Tiffany Hudson Herrmann is a vibrant HR professional with an extensive career spanning over a decade. She started her career in recruiting, assisting many companies to build dynamic teams; she now works as Director of Recruitment at Nemacolin. With an appetite for transforming and changing the perspective of the hospitality field, Tiffany strives hard to accomplish her goals.

In an interview with HR Tech Outlook, Tiffany shares her insights on the challenges and emerging trends in the hospitality and recruitment industry and modern ways to adapt to the changes.

Can you walk me through the journey you’ve had over the years in the HR space and your current roles and responsibilities?

My career began well over a decade ago. In the Initial stage of my profession, I started out in recruiting and fell in love with it. Finding out my passion for hospitality helped me move my way up the ranks in that field. The last decade of my work has been dedicated to recruiting, conducting over 25,000 interviews, and assisting many resorts nationwide to navigate their recruitment process by strategizing, building, and obtaining the best talent possible. I am currently working as the Director of Recruitment at Nemacolin, a Forbes Five-Star and AAA Five-Diamond Resort located in southwestern Pennsylvania.

What challenges are currently manifesting in the talent recruitment sector, particularly within the hospitality industry, given the significant talent drain to other industries during the COVID-19 pandemic?

Talent recruitment in the hospitality industry has become increasingly complex, particularly in the wake of approximately 500,000 professionals migrating to other sectors due to the COVID-19 pandemic. At Nemacolin, however, we've achieved the highest employee headcount and lowest turnover rate in the property’s history. A multi-faceted approach has been instrumental in reaching this milestone.

First, understanding the unique cultural requirements of our specific resort location has been pivotal. Nemacolin is approximately 90 minutes from Pittsburgh, atop a mountain, and faces environmental challenges like ice and snow. To address these barriers, we established a cutting-edge housing community for our associates, complete with amenities such as a pub, a market, and a fitness center. This initiative, known as Wisteria at Nemacolin, has significantly improved associate satisfaction levels.

Maggie Hardy, Nemacolin’s owner and CEO, has a penchant for giving back to her associates and to the community as a whole. Wisteria is the next step in fulfilling her vision for her associates to have a place of their own that provides recreation and convenience while also increasing their quality of life. It’s given us another recruitment tool to bring in the best and brightest talent from around the world, and it gives our associates a sense of community from the moment they settle in.

“Every individual you hire represents not only the organization but also your own professional judgment. Skills can be taught, so the emphasis should be on intrinsic qualities like attitude, drive, and talent.”

Another aspect is fostering a positive organizational culture. A reliable indicator of culture is an associate’s sentiment on a Sunday evening, contemplating the work week ahead. By nurturing positivity and camaraderie within the team, we’ve noted increased workplace friendships, boosting morale.

The third crucial factor is internal promotions that serve as a motivating factor for career growth. Beyond just advancing deserving candidates, these promotions are publicly celebrated—on physical bulletin boards, digital screens throughout the property, and even on our social media platforms, such as LinkedIn and our “Team Nemacolin” Facebook page. This has led to a robust and motivated workforce capable of delivering our guests a five-star, five-diamond experience.

Could you share a recent project or initiative designed to address current recruitment challenges and trends in the hospitality industry?

Addressing the recruitment challenges in today’s hospitality landscape requires a nuanced approach. In an era where a potential candidate spends approximately five seconds to form an opinion about a job post or company, it becomes imperative that our recruitment strategies are compelling. To this end, we have made concerted efforts to improve our employer branding. Any visual element—be it an image or video—that fails to catch my attention in a quick scroll, is unlikely to do the same for prospective candidates.

We have also adopted a philosophy of “hire for talent, train for skill,” especially important given the industry’s loss of around 500,000 professionals to other sectors during the COVID-19 pandemic. For roles outside of specialized fields like IT, what we look for primarily is an individual’s propensity for care, passion, and learning. Even job-hopping, a once-stigmatized trend that has increased post-COVID, isn’t an immediate disqualifier. Instead, we focus on understanding the reasons behind it.

Streamlining the recruitment process forms another critical aspect. The emphasis here is on prompt and transparent communication. Failing to follow up within 48 hours, even if it's to deliver bad news, can lead to negative candidate experiences, which in turn impact our employer brand negatively.

Lastly, our assessment of candidates goes beyond skill competency to include two essential questions: Would I want this person to represent me? Does this individual make our organization better? Unless the answer to both is a resounding yes, we do not move forward with that candidate.

Based on your own experience and journey, would you like to share a piece of advice with industry peers and emerging professionals?

One key metric I would advise professionals to closely monitor is the 90-day turnover rate. If an associate leaves within the first 90 days, it often indicates that either the interview process was flawed, or the onboarding experience failed to set the right tone. As the industry struggles with increasing job-hopping tendencies, this metric has assumed even greater significance.

Exit interviews also provide invaluable insights into workplace dynamics and can help identify areas for improvement. While it may be challenging to engage departing employees in traditional exit interviews, we've found that anonymous online surveys with a few focused questions tend to elicit more candid responses.

Every individual you hire represents not only the organization but also your own professional judgment. Skills can be taught, so the emphasis should be on intrinsic qualities like attitude, drive, and talent. By paying close attention to these aspects during hiring, we can adapt to the evolving demands of the hospitality landscape.