The benefit of social recruiting in the Hawke’s Bay hospitality industry

Abstract

This dissertation explores the benefits of social recruiting in the Hawke's Bay hospitality industry by examining the social media use of hospitality students, employers, and employees as it relates to promoting job opportunities in the Hawke's Bay hospitality industry. Social recruiting and its increasing importance in recruitment strategies are seen in multiple countries and industries worldwide. Previous research has touched on countries in Europe and Asia, and some studies include a view of hospitality and social recruiting combined. However, limited research has been done on the benefits of social recruiting in New Zealand, including the region Hawke's Bay.

A mixed-methods approach is used to collect data, including a quantitative survey and qualitative semi-structured interviews. The sample of the study consists of hospitality employers, students, and employees located in Hawke's Bay. They are recruited using a mix of purposive, convenience, and snowball sampling. The main questions in both the survey and semi-structured interviews focus on social media usage and current social recruiting practices.

The main findings show that employers use both Facebook and Instagram for social recruiting, but some employers are currently not as active as they used to be on Instagram. Students and current employees would consider applying for a job when advertised on Facebook and Instagram. However, content posted by employers needs to be creative and interesting to attract them. Furthermore, students and employees are using social media to research potential employers. Therefore, they mention that social media content should involve cultural aspects and behind-the-scenes footage of the company. In addition, LinkedIn came back as unimportant for the job search of hospitality students and employees in this study.

The recommendations for Hawke's Bay hospitality employers include further development of an online presence on Facebook and Instagram by implementing consistent content posting and user-generated content (UGC), which would help to increase awareness and create a larger following base. Furthermore, they should consider changing their content to create an online employer brand by posting more content from behind the scenes and how it is to work for the company. Moreover, employers need to keep posting job vacancies as it is considered a useful platform by their target market and is, therefore, a relatively affordable tool compared to other methods. Lastly, it is recommended to do future research on this subject. Future research could include a larger sample, different industries, and other regions in New Zealand.

Nonetheless, regular research on this subject and the different platforms is recommended due to the rapidly changing online atmosphere.