Why Hiring Feels Harder Than Ever — and What High-Performing Hospitality Teams Are Doing Differently

If you lead hiring for a hospitality, senior living, or service-driven organization, you’re probably feeling it:

Hiring isn’t just challenging anymore — it feels heavier. More effort. More tools. More noise. And somehow, fewer consistent results.

Roles stay open longer. Good candidates stall. Teams feel stretched. Leaders feel pressure from every direction — operations, ownership, guests, residents, and staff — all at once.

The truth is, hiring has changed. But the organizations struggling most aren’t failing because they care less or try less.

They’re struggling because the old ways of hiring no longer match the reality of today’s workforce.

Meanwhile, high-performing teams aren’t working harder — they’re working differently.

Here’s what they understand that others are still fighting.

The Problem Isn’t Talent — It’s Friction

One of the biggest misconceptions in hiring right now is the idea that there simply “aren’t enough good people.”

In reality, talent still exists. What’s changed is tolerance for friction.

Candidates today have more choice, more awareness, and far less patience for unclear processes, slow communication, or impersonal outreach. Small breakdowns compound quickly:

• Job descriptions that don’t reflect reality

• Applications that take too long

• Delayed follow-ups

• Inconsistent messaging between recruiters and hiring managers

• Interview processes that feel disjointed or rushed

  
  

None of these issues feel catastrophic on their own. But together, they create a silent leak in the hiring funnel — one that drains momentum and credibility.

High-performing organizations don’t ignore friction. They design around it.

More Tools Didn’t Make Hiring Simpler

Over the past few years, many organizations responded to hiring pressure by adding technology:

New ATS platforms. Automations. Assessments. Dashboards. Messaging tools.

Each was meant to help. And many do — in isolation. But complexity adds up.

When hiring teams spend more time managing systems than managing relationships, candidates feel it. When leaders can’t easily see what’s working or what’s stuck, decisions slow down. When internal teams are overloaded, even strong tools can’t compensate.

The best organizations are now asking a different question:

“What can we remove or simplify to help people move faster and communicate better?”

Simplicity isn’t cutting corners. It’s creating clarity.

High-Performing Teams Build Alignment First

One major differentiator among strong hiring organizations is alignment — not just between HR and operations, but across the entire hiring ecosystem.

High-performing teams are intentional about:

• Clear role ownership

• Consistent expectations between hiring managers and recruiters

• Shared definitions of what “good” actually looks like

• Honest conversations about urgency, flexibility, and tradeoffs

  
  

They don’t pretend every role is equally critical or every hire must be perfect. Instead, they prioritize decisively and communicate openly.

When alignment is strong, speed follows naturally.

Partnership Beats Pressure

Another quiet shift happening among successful organizations: they’ve stopped treating hiring like an internal burden that must be solved alone.

Instead of asking, “How do we do more with less?” They ask, “Who can help us think through this differently?”

That doesn’t mean outsourcing responsibility. It means creating partnership.

I lead recruiting at BTGHR, a firm I founded to help hospitality organizations move faster and hire smarter.

Our most successful partnerships aren’t about replacing internal teams — they’re about supporting them. Acting as an extension. Adding bandwidth, perspective, and momentum where it matters most.

High-performing organizations understand that asking for support isn’t weakness. It’s leadership.

Hiring Is a Human System, Not a Transaction

When hiring breaks down, the instinct is often to look for fixes in process or volume.

But at its core, hiring is still deeply human.

Candidates want to feel seen. Hiring managers want confidence. Teams want relief.

Organizations that outperform recognize this and build their hiring approach accordingly:

• Thoughtful, timely communication

• Clear expectations on both sides

• Respect for candidates’ time

• Realistic conversations, not inflated promises

  
  

They don’t chase perfection. They build trust.

And trust converts faster than pressure ever will.

What Strong Teams Are Doing Differently Right Now

Across hospitality, senior living, and service-heavy organizations, a few patterns keep showing up among teams that are winning at hiring:

1. They prioritize clarity over volume Fewer postings, better conversations, stronger follow-through.

2. They move quickly — or they communicate why they can’t Silence kills momentum faster than rejection.

3. They support hiring managers, not just processes Coaching and alignment matter as much as systems.

4. They partner intentionally External support is used strategically, not reactively.

5. They accept that hiring is never “done” It’s an ongoing discipline, not a one-time fix.

   
   

A Final Thought

If hiring feels harder than it used to, you’re not imagining it. But the answer isn’t more pressure, more tools, or more urgency.

It’s clarity. Alignment. Partnership. And a renewed focus on the human side of hiring. The organizations that recognize this aren’t just filling roles — they’re building teams that last.