Hospitality Needs to Modernise to Attract Generation Z – But What does Modernisation Actually Mean?
- By Harri Insider Team | August 5, 2022
Hospitality has a bit of a reputation for being an old-fashioned, unprogressive industry, which can be a big barrier to attracting this current generation – “generation Z” – into long-term careers in the sector. So, to be in with a chance of appealing to generation Z you need to modernise your business on every front – here we explore how…
Inclusivity and diversity are key
Inclusion and diversity are also critical factors that generation Z considers when deciding whether or not to join an employer, according to Deloitte’s research. Ensuring your workforce is drawn from a diverse range of backgrounds is important; to this end, perhaps you could expand your search for talent to include disadvantaged groups such as prison leavers, veterans and the homeless.
Pub company Greene King is leading the way in this area by pledging to recruit 300 prison leavers to help fill its vacancies by 2025. In its new report “Untapping Potential: the role of pubs in levelling up skills, jobs and communities”, the group outlined its commitment to recruit and train jobseekers from any background to build careers at local pubs.
The report found that 48% of young people believe hospitality only provides short-term opportunities, while three in five young people believe there are not enough good job opportunities in their local area. Greene King wants to reverse these perceptions and has also pledged to take on 5,000 more apprentices by 2025, and offer 100 new internships to those with Special Educational Needs.
Harri supports the work of the charity Only a Pavement Away (OAPA) which connects hospitality employers with people facing homelessness, veterans, and prison leavers. If you’re interested in placing OAPA’s clients into long-term stable employment, send an email to workwithus@onlyapavementaway.co.uk.
Tech appeal
Of course, another crucial way of appealing to gen Z jobseekers is through embracing technology: this generation uses their smartphones for pretty much everything they do in their daily lives, so they’re going to be attracted to a workplace where tasks are carried out online and on mobile.
Using tech throughout your business, with tasks carried out online rather than on paper, will also boost your sustainability credentials. Harri has all the tech tools you need to attract gen Z jobseekers from the word go, and to keep them engaged and motivated once they join your team. Our talent acquisition suite includes functions like career story pages so you can show off the best bits of your brand, and video interviewing so candidates can communicate, in their own time, why they’re the right person for the job.
Gen Z candidates will enjoy communicating with Carri, our friendly, human-like AI hiring assistant; you can leave it to Carri to manage the entire application and candidate communications lifecycle in real-time via SMS, web-based chat on your careers page, Facebook Messenger, and more.
With our onboarding solution new recruits get a great first experience of working for your company, while our fully mobile communications tools enable staff to keep constantly in touch wherever they may be.
Employees can easily clock in and out with Harri’s time and attendance module too, and our smart scheduling platform gives young workers the flexibility they need to keep them happy.
