I am a big fan of on-going learning. As soon as we stop engaging our brains I think we fall into stagnation and that’s not good for us or anyone around us.  This summer one of my goals and learning experiences was to ride my Mountain Bike down “mini-moab” here in Steamboat. Just a little rocky, steep, intimidating area on top of one of our mountains. After many attempts and mental blocks I rode up there Tuesday by myself. Cranked up my tunes and just told myself (and bike) to do it! Well…..guess what…I did it. Kinda half-assed….but did most of it.  It wasn’t nearly as hard as my mind made it out to be…and I’m heading back tonight for more.

Some up-coming trainings that might help you avoid the “stagnation” are:

For those of you that are needed some re-freshers on Human Resource issues…..sign up for our November 7th HR 101 course. Here at Colorado Mountain College in Steamboat Springs.

To learn a bit about your co-workers and folks you manage…check out our Generational Training on October 3rd at Trappeur’s Crossing Resort—again here in Steamboat Springs.

More information about these upcoming trainings and registration can be found on our event page on our website http://www.resortrecruiters.com/events.php.

If you’ve ever wondered what it is like…really like..to live in a Resort town let me give you a little snippet. Last Friday evening I attended the FREE Michael Franti & Spearhead concert here in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. This sentence it itself should be enough for anyone to leave their city lives—FREE Michael Franti concert??!! So, as I’m weaving my way through the crowd grabbing hands and getting hugs from fellow “locals” squeezing my way up to the front to get a better view…..I’m noticing that everyone is there. My yoga teachers, my doctors, my ex-co-workers, my Spanish teacher, my business consultants, my best friends, my family, my clients and long-lost (not so far-Steamboat is small) lovers. Everyone was bouncing to the beat, feeling the love with amazing smiles from ear-to-ear.

This community sure does come together to help out it’s own (like the gals at the entrance of the show collecting donations for a local woman’s ill son) but I have never, in my 16 years of living here, felt such a large sense of “one” then I did that night. As we were dancing our way out at the end of the show, we ran into a friend who moved away for a few years. He stated that “returning back to Steamboat enabled him to get his groove back” he just couldn’t seem to find it where they went…….that my friends is precisely why we live here. We are all able to live in this paradise dancing to our own individual groove.

So, with the help of my website marketing manager, I am working towards loving my blog. I have always found myself opening up a new post and then sitting and staring and sitting and staring. Trying to find something to blog about and worried about the content. With so many interesting challenges and crazy stories that I hear from employers and employees on a daily basis…..I have decided to share some of the stories and just write what comes. Of course….nothing is coming…..it will…most likely in the middle of the night. So, stay tuned —- the real world recruiting challenges of our transient workforce are coming…….really.

So, I attended a local Steamboat Springs job fair a week ago and I was very surprised to see how ineffective the recruiters were. The one thing that really surprised me was most employers asked the applicants standing in front of them to go to their website to fill out a application. Why would they not immediately take the applicants information and interview on the spot so as to not lose the potential new hire? Another disappointing observation (that I tend to see at every job fair) was that the recruiters would just sit and sit and sit and the applicants practically had to beg for information. WOW—they are selling their jobs — why would they not be more proactive about sharing their opportunities and employment brand?? As far as the job seekers go, some were going table by table talking to the recruiters and actively asking about opportunities and possible workstyle fits. Others walked in, walked around and walked out. Never knowing that the perfect job fit may have been there had they taken the time to talk to one of the (very un-excited to be there) recruiters. I hope the next job fair I attend is a bit more interactive from both the recruiters and the job seekers.

Last week I presented a seminar on “Generational Differences” here in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. The group was mostly Baby Boomers and Gen X’ers complaining about our newest Generation “the Millennials” whom are just now starting to enter the workplace. The number one thing that most of the attendees wanted to get out of my program was to learn more about what was up with these new workers? Why couldn’t they get more “work” out of these workers and why did they all act sooooooo entitled even though they had only worked 2 days? Funny—well not so if you manage these people. After a very engaging hour and 1/2 most people left the seminar understanding more about themselves, their expectations and how their generation can work productively with all four generations in the workplace these days. I learned from the group (once again) how critical it is to NOT JUDGE anyone, just learn and understand where they came from and what their individual generational expectations are.

Well..we are two weeks into Spring here in Steamboat Springs, Colorado and as I type the ground is covered in fresh white powder and the skies are grey. I wonder if we will ever see grass and blue sky. Spring is a transitional time for everyone. Time to clean out all the closets and dust behind all the furniture. Open the windows and finally get some fresh air in the house. Ahhhhhh…….it will feel good (once it warms up a bit). We also see a lot of folks searching for new opportunities in Resort locations. Many professionals whom are feeling a bit stagnant with their current positions start to keep their eyes open for new opportunities. Lot’s of new graduates head our way to fulfil their dream of living in a Resort location. For employers, we recommend expanding your current recruitment efforts to find these folks. For applicants……we recommend that they continue to work towards connecting with that perfect balance of lifestyle and workstyle here in the beautiful Rocky Mountains of Colorado!

The Resort Recruiters Housing Connection is a new fantastic tool to help in your rental search! The Housing Connection lets you search for a rental units by property type, city and monthly rent. This website allows you to view how many bedrooms, bathrooms and if pets are allowed. Whether you are looking for short or long term rentals the Housing Connection is the place to look! Our recruiting team is happy to assist you in your search.

We hear the frustrations daily from our local Steamboat Springs, Colorado employers. In our weekly meetings, community board meetings, individual client meetings…even during our grocery shopping trips and weekend ski outings. The number one issue here in our resort location is sourcing and retaining quality talent. Yet not often do we hear what they are doing to increase or support their recruiting efforts. The situation is very similar to our “lack of affordable housing” issue which is always a hot topic and has been for years yet the only proactive thing that ever comes from the discussions are more meetings, more discussion and unfortunately no action on moving forward with a solution.

With our years of Human Capital experience and recruiting for resort located businesses we hope to be able to help resort businesses whom don’t have the staffing resources to strengthen their recruitment strategies promote their employment brand and build new creative recruitment methods and help them set forth proactive measures to ensure their recruiting challenges are met for the “talent gap” that our resort businesses are starting to feel the effects of.

Working together we can create recruitment programs to strengthen and grow our local resort workforce for years to come.

Karen Goedert

Resort Recruiters Staff

Hello fellow employers and employees!

Wow..is it a challenge — recruiting in our resort environments. We recently conducted a Recruiting 101 workshop here in Steamboat Springs, Colorado and the challenges of sourcing, screening, hiring, retaining, and housing our new workforce was a conversation that went on for hours. Check out some of the tidbits about what our talent pool is going to look like in the next 5-10 years.

1. Over the next 20 years, one person will retire every minute.
2. Generation X is roughly ½ the size of the retiring Baby Boomers. (this little fact will produce a bit of a talent gap)
3. One million bank teller positions to fill by 2014

4. Currently we have about 4 Million Real Estate Agents….58% or 2.3 million will retire starting in 2010

If you are not talking about your recruiting strategies daily with your management staff….or creating new creative recruiting methods then you are behind your competition.