Hotel Recruitment and Selection Practices: The Case of the Greek Hotel Industry

Hotel industry, as a service industry, is greatly dependent upon its employees. Recruitment and Selection practices constitute an important starting stage for hotels towards generating an efficient and productive workforce. The present study, by focusing on 5* and 4* hotels, examines the current trends in the implementation and effectiveness of recruitment and selection practices in the Greek hotel industry, controlling for class category, size and ownership. An inferential quantitative research design was used, and an online survey was conducted, using a seven–point questionnaire. The study concludes that hotel industry, at least in Greece, is still using old – fashioned and cost effective recruitment and selection methods. Findings also outline that 5* and 4* hotels do not differentiate their mix of methods used in recruiting and selecting future employees. Internal recruitment methods are mostly considered to be effective in contrast to external recruitment methods. While interviews and reference checks are listed at the top of the effectiveness list of selection methods. The findings of this research enhance industry understanding of the use and effectiveness of recruitment and selection methods and indicate the need for hotels of superior class to re–examine their recruitment and selection methods and adopt more contemporary ones in their mix.