The hospitality industry is going green, but is recruiting for great employees following suit? The green movement has hit the hospitality industry, and the trend has made for more environmentally-friendly travel.
The tourism industry at large is actually responsible for five percent of the world’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Of this five percent, the hotel industry represents 20 percent of CO2 emissions, or one percent of the world’s greenhouse gasses. So, it’s not hard to understand why the hospitality industry has especially taken to the green trend.
Ecotourism Keeps Growing
Thanks to a more environmentally-aware public, the ecotourism industry has been growing in leaps and bounds. Currently, 62 percent of travelers expect hotels to have at least some form of environmental program in place.
Another reason the ecotourism industry continues to expand is because the eco-conscious consumer actually travels more than the regular consumer. The people worried about their carbon footprint are actually the people most likely to buckle up for takeoff, check into a hotel, and otherwise keep the hospitality industry afloat.
In 2009 alone, nearly 76 percent of eco-conscious consumers took at least two vacations away from home. And 22 percent took between five and eight vacations during this time period. These people want to travel around, but they don’t want to hurt Mother Earth. The best way to accommodate these consumers is with better environmental policies.
But is Your Hiring Green Enough?
Sadly, most companies don’t extend their environmental policies to their recruiting practices, which is a problem, since the traditional process is certainly not environmentally-friendly. If you want to jump the skills gap and need to consider out-of-town talent, it’s going to require buying some carbon offsets. Imagine the carbon footprint to fly in a talented candidate for an in-person interview or to take a long car trip to a top-notch university to recruit.
If you want to foster and maintain your brand as an eco-conscious hospitality company, it’s time to extend this branding all the way to the hiring process. It’s not enough to say you care about the environment — you need to show the best talent you’re serious about going green.
Go Green With Your Recruiting
Greening your recruitment process isn’t as hard as you think. New technological tools make it simple, fast, and effective to cut down on pollution, carbon emissions, and hassle while still finding the best people.
Here are just a few smart ways you can keep the hiring for your company in line with its ecotourism image:
Social Media: Currently, 94 percent of recruiters are using social media to scout talent, so it’s probably time to get in on the action. Social media can be a great way to build up personal connections with candidates, see what talent is out there, and discover what your talent pool is discussing. Instead of packing up for a plane ride or long car trip to the nearest career fair or college recruitment drive, take to social media instead. Show off your company culture on Facebook, join a Twitter chat, or take part in a LinkedIn discussion. Find where your talent lives online, and engage with them there to save your bottom line and the planet.
Video Interviews: Have a great candidate from out of town but don’t want to fill the atmosphere with CO2 in order to fly them in? The video interview is your solution. In a live video interview, you can connect in real-time with a candidate as though they were on the opposite side of your desk. Best of all, some video interviewing platforms automatically record live interviews so you can share great candidates with the whole team. You can also have candidates answer your questions in one-way video interviews, which can be viewed at any time and for any duration. Not only do one-way videos save the environment, but they also save you time in the recruitment process.
Employee Referrals: According to CareerXRoads, employee referrals are actually the No. 1 source of external hires, beating out career sites and job boards. The perfect person for your position might be right there in the network of one of your current employees. Make sure you utilize your employee referral program and incentivize the program so current workers are motivated to refer talented pals. This way, you spend less time recruiting and traveling and more time onboarding great new hires.
Going green in your hiring is the best way to ensure your environmental brand attracts the top-notch talent you need. Ecotourism is growing, so eco-recruiting should also be gaining steam!
What do you think? How green are your recruiting methods? Share in the comments!
Source: B2C_Business
Ecotourism is Rising, But is Your Hiring Green Enough?
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