From good to genius employer

One of the key challenges in the hotel industry is the demand for staff. Nick Bos, CEO of HR services provider Nedflex, shares his views and gives practical tools to take steps yourself: "Being a genius employer starts closer than people think."

In over 30 years, Nedflex has grown into a broad HR service provider. "We do everything HR-related - from staffing, payrolling, recruitment and selection to absenteeism, secondment and consultancy," CEO Nick Bos explains. "We have a lot to do with the growing need for staff for the hotel and hospitality industry. Not only is the demand increasing, but also the pond from which to fish is getting smaller. Many hotels are opening up, creating more competition. Also consider the influence of self-employed and freelancers. They often work through platforms and can put down higher rates. Moreover, the ageing population will hit hard in the next 10 years, also in our neighbouring countries. All in all, personnel costs in the hospitality industry are a huge expense. Together with our clients, we ensure that positions are still filled by good employees as much as possible."

Nedflex's message is that we need to look at being an employer differently. Bos: "Being a good employer no longer gets you people. You can hardly make a difference anymore on working conditions and salary, so it has to become genius employment. That means working on things like appreciation, growth and the social aspect - and that starts closer than people might think."
For example, focus on current staff by conducting an employee satisfaction survey. "You need to know what is going on, what employees enjoy and what might be reasons to leave. This could be anything, for example a manager or colleague who is not comfortable, lack of development, work pressure or stress. If you have the survey results, it is important to look at them with a critical eye on yourself. Dare to let the employees' perspective come in. This is certainly not easy. For managers, it often feels like personal criticism anyway." For those interested, a sample survey is available. When translating it into actions, Nedflex can help with advice.

Another concrete action to take immediately is to introduce a killer on-boarding process. "Poor on-boarding is an aspect that people drop out on immediately. That starts with intensive coaching in the first week. Take the time to create a genius on-boarding. For instance, introduce a buddy system. Our consultants offer support by designing and implementing a complete on-boarding process."

Finally, above all, think out of the box, says Bos. "Try experimenting with Open Hiring. This phenomenon - blown over from America - means that if you want to work, you can just get started - without a CV or interview. The moment application barriers are removed, you start seeing people you would never have had contact with before. At companies where we deploy this, good people emerge who had previously lost faith in 'the system'." It is with great pleasure and expertise that Nedflex takes up the challenge with you. Who will pick up the gauntlet?

Are such actions going to solve the staff shortage? Bos: "Not directly because almost every industry is struggling to fill vacancies. But if you as an employer stand out, then the genius of being an employer will emerge and things will become just that little bit easier for you. With Nedflex, we are in daily contact with employers. Through our expertise and collaboration, we ensure that HR goes to the next level and vacancies are filled."