Recruitment within the hospitality industry has always required a careful balance between commercial acumen, guest experience, and a strong cultural fit. Now more than ever, hotel investors, operators and owners are navigating a fast-evolving landscape — from digital transformation and shifting guest expectations to sustainability imperatives and global talent shortages. In this environment, knowing when to engage a specialist recruiter is not just useful, but essential.
At FM Recruitment, part of the Hospitality People Group, we’ve spent decades helping clients attract top-tier talent across finance, operations, and executive leadership. Here’s our advice on when and how to involve a specialist recruiter to get the best outcomes.
1. When You’re Planning, Not Just Hiring
One of the most common misconceptions is that recruiters should only be contacted when a vacancy arises. In reality, the most successful partnerships are formed earlier — during business planning, budgeting and organisational design.
Whether you’re developing a new property, repositioning an asset, or reviewing your back-office structure, engaging a recruiter at the start of these conversations can be a game-changer. We’ve often helped clients design more commercially viable team structures, advised on realistic salary bandings for local and international markets, and provided insight into where talent pools are most active.
This proactive approach often results in faster hiring, better retention, and stronger alignment between commercial goals and team capabilities.
2. When You’re Entering a New Market
Hotel owners and operators expanding into new regions often underestimate the complexity of local talent dynamics. Labour laws, salary expectations, cultural nuances, and even job title norms can vary significantly from one market to another.
Working with a recruiter who not only knows hospitality but also understands the regional context, helping prevent costly missteps. At FM Recruitment, we’ve advised clients entering markets from the Middle East to the Caribbean, helping them establish realistic hiring timelines, choose the right search strategies, and avoid pitfalls that could delay their openings or destabilise early operations.
3. When You Need Confidentiality or Discretion
Not all hiring processes are created equal. At times, businesses may be replacing a senior leader, planning a discreet restructure, or exploring acquisition opportunities that are not yet public. In these situations, a specialist recruiter can act as a trusted intermediary, managing sensitive outreach with professionalism and discretion.
Because we speak your language — whether that’s balance sheets or brand strategy — we’re able to assess candidates with a critical eye and represent your business in a way that aligns with your values and long-term vision.
4. When Hiring for Specialist or Leadership Roles
Roles that are commercially pivotal or require rare expertise are best handled by recruiters who live and breathe the sector. For finance roles in particular — from Financial Controllers to CFOs — understanding both the numbers and the nuances of hospitality operations is vital.
We once worked with a client who had been unsuccessfully searching for a Director of Finance for nearly four months. By revisiting the brief, adjusting the salary expectations based on market data, and targeting candidates from our global network, we filled the role within six weeks. More importantly, the individual we placed went on to help drive a successful refinancing project for the property within their first year.
5. When Retention and Culture Matter
It’s easy to see recruitment as a transactional activity: fill the vacancy, move on. But in hospitality, where culture drives guest experience and team cohesion impacts profitability, long-term fit matters.
Partnering with a recruiter who understands your brand, values and vision makes a tangible difference. At Hospitality People Group, we work with clients over many years — advising on succession planning, future-proofing team structures, and building employer brands that attract and retain the right talent.
Engaging a specialist recruiter should not be seen as a last resort. It’s a strategic decision that can influence everything from P&L performance to brand reputation. At FM Recruitment and across the Hospitality People Group, we advocate for partnership over transactions, insight over assumptions, and long-term success over short-term fixes.
Whether you’re investing in a new venture, scaling your portfolio, or simply want to make better-informed hiring decisions, now might be the perfect time to talk.
Chris Denison Smith
E: chrisdensionsmith@fmrecruitment.co.uk
T: +44 20 8600 1160
