Travel firms ‘must continue to adapt to needs of new recruits’

Two of the industry’s largest employers have stressed the need for travel firms to continue to adapt to the needs of new recruits to retain staff and keep them happy.

Hays Travel and Jet2 told the Travel Weekly People Summit 2023 current recruits were much more interested in company culture, values, community and employee engagement than pre-Covid and also had different training needs.

Hays Travel owner Irene Hays said company training had to be more flexible, especially for younger recruits, who were aged 15 to 17 during Covid and whose social interaction skills had been impacted by the pandemic lockdowns.

She said: “Most of them spent their time in front of a big or little screen through no fault of their own in a challenging environment.

“We have invested a lot in what I would consider to be basic skills; you need to acknowledge that in training programmes. People coming in are different and perhaps need some encouragement in how to interact with customers. You need to flex your training programme.”

She said the company had just taken on its latest batch of new recruits, including 322 apprentices and 32 graduates.

“When you speak to them they are interested in how much fun it is to work for the company. Lots of questions people ask at the interview are not about travel, they are about what sort of company are we; what are our values,” she said, adding: “We must work incredibly hard to retain them.”

Jet2 human resources director Miriam D’souli agreed: “You have got to be agile and keep changing in the market.”

She said Jet2 held regular fun events and competitions to keep staff engaged and an annual awards ceremony to reward its top employees.

The company also ensures staff have direct access to chief executive Steve Heapy at roadshows designed to show the human side of management and create a culture “people want to be part of”, she said, adding: “I would rather retain [staff] than have to recruit.”

Similarly, Hays Travel continues to invest in an array of community, charity, fun and rewarding events from Dress Down Friday to the Big Hays Travel Thank You, say Hays.

“It’s important staff have the opportunity to do charity events and we reward people all the time around our values so it’s fun. They spend an awful long time at work and we try to make it as engaging as possible. We are incredibly committed to happiness and well being,” she said.

D’souli said staff retention was the best indicator of a happy workforce. “Staff retention tells you if people are engaged; retention is key. We have a refer a friend scheme; it’s the only area where we are over budget and it’s one I am happy about going over budget with,” she added.

Hays pointed to the benefits of happy staff being higher productivity levels. “There is loads of evidence to show that productivity is enhanced if people are happy,” she said, adding the company now had ‘new to travel’ staff performing “better than people who have been in the business for a very long time”.