A beautiful tropical setting and luxury living…who could complain? Recruiting for remote luxury locations can be more challenging than you’d expect! In a Recruitment Marketing Magazine exclusive, we interviewed Carly Green, Recruitment Manager for InterContinental Hotels Groups’ InterContinental Sanctuary Cove and Hayman Island Resorts.
With a strong background in generalist HR, Carly Green recently transitioned into an internal talent acquisition, recruiting and resourcing for InterContinental Hotel Group’s Sanctuary Cove and Hayman Island resorts.
“During pre-opening, we are recruiting for 150 positions! So we’re really lucky to be part of a global company and have a strong employer brand to leverage as well as great technology available to us, such as a candidate management system (CMS) which helps us effectively stay in touch with a large number of candidates.”
Previously, Green managed recruitment for single hotels within her HR Manager remit. Her current role has seen the largest bulk recruitment she has undertaken.
“We have unique roles on a remote island where the talent pool is small. So it’s really forced me to broaden my thinking about how we conduct interviews and phone screening, and how we tailor and target our recruitment advertisements, instead of just using Seek.”
The location and property style is a key recruitment challenge and selling point for Green, especially as Sanctuary Cove and Hayman Island are the only two resort properties in InterContinental Hotel Group’s Australian portfolio.
“We leverage our unique locations and properties in conversations and careers fairs with prospective candidates. Often talking about what experience they can gain, how we can develop their careers, and the interesting work they can do. For example, they may have never had exposure to executing a large-scale event before, and that’s something we do frequently in our beautiful outdoor spaces and the expansive footprints of the properties. Our Hayman Island location is an ultra-luxury resort, something there is not a lot of in Australia. So it’s a really unique work and living environment for our people.”
For Green, a big challenge in the war for talent, particularly in her locations and industry, is keeping a finger on the pulse with what’s happening in the market so she can leverage this insight and be one step ahead.
Green uses multiple strategies including Seek notifications for her location to inform her of local recruitment advertisements being listed.
“For example, if I’m about to list a job for a sous chef, I’ll know there are four competitor hotels also recruiting for this role at the same time. It helps me understand what we’re up against in filling that role. I know what salaries are on offer and gain insight into how we can remain competitive. It really is a candidate market, so that’s challenging.”
With respect to talent competitors, Green feels lucky to have the InterContinental Hotels Group brand behind her and to be embedded in an Aon Hewitt Australia Best Employer Recognised company. This message and internal alignment is extremely powerful and something coming from a generalist background she has a strong focus on.
“It’s important for me to maintain strong relationships with hiring managers and the HR team, so when I market the brand message and sell a role, we are all aligned and ensure the authenticity. What’s communicated is only as strong as what the people joining the business actually experience.”
In maintaining relationships with hiring managers, Green works to truly understand what they are looking for in candidates and the realities of the role. So when she creates recruitment advertisements, conducts reference checks and does interviews, she’s finding people who are the right culture and skills fit.
Retention and turnover is also both a challenge and opportunity for Green.
“We have a real mixture of tenures, with employees who have been with us for 30 years, and others who have been with us for 12 months to two years. In hospitality, you usually get a mix and it’s great to have a balance!
“We strategically utilise working holiday visas. Christmas is a good example; we go from focusing on primarily meetings and conferences to a full leisure experience, which is different for our guests and service delivery. Often requiring additional manning for a short period to deliver on service requirements, so it works well to have experienced talent who are only looking for a short term role to join and support the team. Amazing talent with experience from around the world come in, work hard, then go on to their next journey which is often with other properties within the group. It’s positive turnover, as we’re not carrying a large headcount for quieter times of the year.”
Green also partners with hotel schools and universities that undertake placements as part of their students’ qualifications. The resort facilitates placements for 6-12 month stretches, providing them a chance to grow their on the job experience. Working with them following the placements to return to the business after they’ve completed their studies, creating a partnership and talent pipeline benefiting all stakeholders involved.
“I love my role. It’s challenging, but I’m passionate about talent. For me, it’s not a transaction. It’s about adding value to the company, as talent acquisition flows into so many areas of the business. It’s a mixture of marketing, sales, and HR skills. The more we can get our marketing, HR, and employer brand right, the less time we need to work on the sales, the talent will come to us.”
Green is also a mother and advocate for women in the workplace. As a leader, she is passionate about helping women integrate motherhood with their personal journeys and careers.
“I started my career very early and progressed quickly to the executive level. I had always been good at my job, but for the first time, I suddenly found myself in a situation where I was in over my head! Particularly around dynamic leadership and soft-skill behaviours. It made me realise these things don’t get taught. We often learn technical skills, but only a few people are lucky enough to naturally acquire mentors or obtain development in this space. After writing for an online publication and speaking at a Women in Focus event, I now often get opportunities to share my journey and learnings and show how women in high levels of leadership can balance that with family. It’s great to be able to mentor and encourage women on their personal journeys.”
The approaches and strategies shared in this article are of Carly Green, and not necessarily those of InterContinental Hotels Group.
At the time of writing, the Hayman Island resort is closed due to the effects of Cyclone Debbie. It is currently under restoration and is scheduled to be reopened in July 2019.
InterContinental Sanctuary Cove. Images published with permission.