While many hospitality and tourism industry employers now concur they increasingly need to look beyond the sector in order to recruit new staff, TMS Asia-Pacific CEO Andrew Chan has cautioned that while many companies may be open to hiring from other sectors, in practice most are still continuing to hire from within the industry.

Speaking at a Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) conference this week, Mr Chan said with the ‘war for talent’ is further intensifying across the Asia-Pacific, employers overly keen to fill roles in what he described as a very tight candidate corridor were virtually ‘snatching’ at potential new staffers as they became available.

“While most employers profess they are keen to hire for attitude, in practice they still focus on assessing candidates more for their skills during the recruitment process, “he said.

“But in reality they need to be looking beyond the skill factor and at other factors such as attitude and the fit new employees offer existing corporate culture.”

“The benefits of getting it right are incalculable – as are the costs of getting it wrong.”

Mr Chan said many employers have found out to their cost, getting it wrong can prove a very expensive exercise not withstanding the ripple effect a poor hiring can have on a company’s culture. ”Bad hiring decisions can adversely affect the morale of other employees – in a worst case scenario, hiring the wrong person can actually result in a company losing good staff members.

“And this is where psychometric profiling and general mental ability testing can achieve real cut through in the very first instance – at the interview stage,” he said.

Mr Chan said one of the biggest benefits psychometric profiling and general mental ability testing was the fact that it provided a means of effectively assessing a candidate’s strengths and weaknesses while at the same time presenting an objective insight into a person’s behaviour and temperament.

“This includes their social confidence, attitude, motivation, leadership and decision-making styles, sales potential, capacity to work under pressure and ability to work individually or as part of a team,” he said.

“These characteristics can be very useful for predicting if a potential candidate is suited for a particular position in the company.

”But the end of the day, ffinding a candidate with the right attitude – as opposed to their skills being the defining factor – and one that fits in culturally, will ensure a much better chance of success.

“This factor has become extremely relevant in today’s environment, particularly with the advent of the ‘Gen Y’ phenomena and the return of the baby boomers.”