Resources

Oxbow Bend, Snake River

Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

3 Ways To Start Out On The Right Foot Entering Your Operating Season

Kelcy Fowler

In this post, we’ll look at three helpful tools to keep your head on straight as you step into your spotlight. It’s nearly time for your staff to arrive – this is the moment you’ve been working towards across your recruiting season – and you are gonna rock it. It’s time to master your planning, plug your holes, and put out the welcome sign!

 

  1. Roll out the welcome wagon. It’s exciting to meet all these people you’ve been working so hard to bring to your property, and it’s devastating when you’re waiting there with a smile on and some of them don’t turn up. One way to cull that is by putting a lot of juice into building relationships with your future employees from that first phone call. When people feel invested in, they invest. Fostering relationships is key, and helping your new hires do so with one another will go a long way. Your operation may be small, and it’s easy to put a personal touch on things yourself. If you’re a part of a larger organization, it may be a bit more of a challenge to infuse the personal touch into your practices – but it is doable.

    In today’s social-webbed world, consider creating up an online meeting place for them to mix and mingle before they arrive. Connecting with one another will help bolster and preserve their excitement for the season to arrive. Send out a newsletter or an email of the top five things they don’t want to forget, and emphasize how much your organization is looking forward to welcoming them in. Come spring, gather some fellow year-round staff and divide up the list of new hires for this season, giving everyone a short list of phone numbers. Reach out with a quick phone call to make sure they’re ready for their travels and to see if they have any last minute questions. Even if you don’t reach them, getting a voicemail from the GM or F&B Manager saying that we’re looking forward to you getting here, and we’re excited to have you on our team would be huge to a new hire.

    Above all let, them know that you just want to keep the communication flowing. Wouldn’t you rather they let you know if their plans change? Empower them, and they’ll respect you. Invest in them, and they’re more likely to turn up and make you happy you did.

  2. Killer calendar game. You’ve got so many moving targets to track this time of year that if you don’t write them down, you know your head will explode. Google Calendar or it’s equivalent is a great way to track your staff arrival days and airport pickups, the first meals your employee dining room will serve, and D-Day – when all you year-rounders whip yourself into a presentable dress for your return into the public’s eye. With a digital calendar, you can keep managers and supervisors up to speed on key events while saving loads of printer ink. Work it together and avoid tripping each other up.

    Try a calendar app to keep you tracking while you’re out of the office making sure all your prep gets done.

  3. Fill your remaining gaps. It’s inevitable: plans change and so does your staffing plan. As last-minute needs arise, our go-to call for reinforcements is the seven day Help Wanted ad. It packs a punch, draws great traffic, and you can advertise all your vacancies in one shout-out.

    If you have an active profile or ad on the site, we also highly suggest The Featured Boost. The Feature will boost your post to the top of all applicable category pages and the Home page for seven days. Their inventory is limited and they offer awesome traffic. If you haven’t tried one yet – you should!

One last tip for your personal health and well-being. Put a notepad by your bedside. As your brain tries to fight off your exhaustion every night, you can release your woes with the knowledge that you’ll be able to pick them up and squash them in the new day – and still get a good night’s sleep!

Make room for bubble baths, walks, dark chocolate, or at least 30 minutes of whatever helps you decompress each day. You’ve got a lot going on. Take care of yourselves and keep in mind, these people you’ve hired are really excited, and they deserve a warm welcome.

We want to help you generate your pixie dust. We’re here to listen, help, inspire and cheer you on.

There is a lot of digital magic that goes into 21st century recruiting. We hope the services that we provide you are a part of that equation.