Travel bosses have praised the “energy and enthusiasm” new recruits with no experience have brought to their companies.
In a panel discussion at Travel Weekly’s Future of Travel Conference last week, Miles Morgan Travel founder Miles Morgan and Si Morris-Green, director of agency sales and marketing at Classic Collection and Classic Package Holidays, said new recruitment strategies implemented as a result of the Covid pandemic have had a positive impact.
Morgan told delegates he is now employing people with no travel experience as well as those who have been involved in the sector for the first time ever and is reaping the rewards.
More: Industry consultants hail sector’s pandemic recovery
“Prior to the pandemic we would have only taken on people with travel experience,” he said. “But the exciting thing is we’re now hiring people we wouldn’t have previously as the pool is much smaller.
“Instead of solely taking on people with experience we’re recruiting people who simply have a passion for travel, or have a personality and style that fits our organisation.”
New starters are enrolled in the company’s ‘Rising Stars’ programme, which Morgan said is paying off.
“They’re blossoming in the business and they’ve brought an energy and enthusiasm we’re all embracing,” he added. “You have to look at the upsides [of the Covid pandemic], and this is one of them.”
A shrinking experienced talent pool forced recruitment from outside the industry and they bring a ‘new energy’ and question long held assuptions, Classic Collection & Classic Package Holidays’ Si Morris-Green tells #twfutureoftravel@SiMorrisGreen1@ClassicHolspic.twitter.com/F6wrdR5CCB
— Travel Weekly (@travelweekly) September 22, 2022
Morgan said he was determined to keep as many people on the books as possible when the pandemic hit, and staved off mass redundancies by only letting foreign exchange workers go, as they “didn’t know when they would be working again”.
However, many of his full-time staff are now part-time, which “makes things more challenging”.
Morris-Green was also keen to highlight his company’s fresh approach to recruitment, which has seen Classic – which recently hailed its ‘world-class’ customer service findings – launch a three-month training “academy” for those without experience who want to join the Worthing-based operator.
“We realised pretty quickly that the pool of people was no longer there [after the pandemic] so we had to do something different, which is why we launched the academy,” he said.
“The energy and passion from the people who are coming through it is incredible. We’re seeing some blossoming agents who are starting to make sales already.”
