Employer Success Story I – Katja, Head of HR

Table of Content:

1. Company
2. K.
3. LHC International Consultant: Markus Hunger
4. Challenges
5. Goals
6. Process
7. Influence of Covid on Recruiting in Real Estate
8. Placement: 4

“Growth, Growth, Growth” – Build our development team for our expansion projects.

For our Head of HR Employer Success Story I, we tell you about a client who works with Markus Hunger from our Real Estate Team.

K. has been working in a hotel group since 2019 and she is responsible for recruiting in Central and Northern Europe.

During the interview for our Head of HR Employer Success Story, she presented her career and her company to Margaux. But also, what challenges and goals they have for the group and why they decided to work with LHC International.

Company:

This hotel chain is a subsidiary of an international hotel group in France with almost 600 hotels in 14 countries. They have been present in Germany since 1998 with about 150 hotels in the DACH region.

The company offers budget hotels with beds and breakfasts. They have optimal offers for business travellers or families. You always know what you will get from these hotels.

K.

K. has been working in HR since 2007.

She joined our client in January 2019 and started as Human Resources Manager. Since February 2022 she is Head of Human Resources for Central and Northern Europe.

LHC International Consultant: Markus Hunger

Challenges:

Find qualified new employees for the development team for our expansion projects.

These acquisition employees need to have a network in the hotel and real estate industries to find partners. Such skills are rare, and it is complicated to find qualified employees. The position and the requirements at the hotel group are very special. They don’t need a junior, but candidates with experience and network.

They need the permanent help of an industry specialist like Markus, who knows the industry well and who has a good network.

Goals:

Growth, Growth, Growth!

The main goal of the hotel group is expansion. By 2030, they want to have 400 hotels in Germany and Austria and 3000 hotels worldwide.

They are in a big growth phase; at the moment they open between 15 and 17 new hotels per year. They also have other projects, such as buying existing hotels and renovating them to overhaul their portfolio.

They need more and more new staff in Acquisition, Real Estate, and Development to find more hotels and land for hotels.

The development team consists of three pillars:

1. Acquisition with business development managers looking for new properties where they could open new hotels.
2. Construction department
3. Purchase management with Commercial Real Estate, Real Estate Technical…

Process:

The process is rather quick and is well organised by Markus. He knows the company well and already knows which people and profiles the company needs.

The recruiting process takes about 3-4 weeks, depending on the project and the availability of candidates and directors.

1. Call with Markus about new vacancies: what is important for the position, what should the candidate bring, and the salary package.
2. Markus searches and sends K. interesting profiles. He always organises a call with the candidates beforehand to get to know them better.
3. K. forwards the profiles to the departments concerned.
4. First video interview with K. and the development director.
5. If she/he fits, a second interview on-site with the directors.
6. When the candidate does not fit, she talks to Markus to explain why it did not work out.
7. If the candidate fits, they make an offer.
8. Team meeting on site.

Influence of Covid on recruiting in Real Estate:

The candidate market has become very aggressive since Corona, it has inverted.

In 2020, candidates were not motivated to change their jobs, they preferred to keep the security of their current employment.

Today, competition also contacts candidates and workers directly. Companies have to put a lot more effort into retaining their employees.

The recruiting process also has to be much faster because candidates often have 2 or 3 other contract proposals in parallel. Candidates can just pick a job and employers have to work harder to attract candidates.

Salaries are also different. Juniors now call for much higher salaries than before.

The Head of HR Employer Success Story was conducted by Margaux Sauvage – Marketing Manager at LHC International.

How can we help you?

As professionals in recruitment since 2013, LHC International can help you find the right position or the right candidates for your company.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us, we will be pleased to have a chat with you about your projects.