Focus on 5 'star' principles helps with employee recruitment, retention
Summer is just around the corner, and Wet’n’Wild Toronto is looking to hire 500 people for the 100-acre complex.
To that end, the water park has been working hard in the off-season, according to Susan Kruizinga, director of sales and marketing, in talking with HRD Canada.
“One of the things that we have always done – even before there seemed to be an issue with this tighter labor market – is we credit ourselves for putting a lot of attention in the offseason on trying to be a good employer. So not only [are we] teaching the skills that the [workers] need, but providing them with the support and the tools they need and giving them a fun experience as well.”
They do that by ensuring that workers in different departments get to interact with each other both on and off work, because if employees are happy, they come back – and bring their friends along with them – for another tour of duty.
Three-quarters of Canadian employers are highly concerned about recruitment heading into 2023 – admitting that the worrying talent shortage is keeping them up at night, according to a previous report.
While numerous employers have had trouble finding the talent they need to fill job openings, Wet’n’Wild Toronto has not had that issue, said Kruizinga.
“We certainly did not have a hard time hiring last year, we were very fortunate. We had a lot of returning staff, and again, those returning staff bring their friends. So that's very important to us to keep those returning staff happy.”
The employer also has an innate advantage as a waterpark, she said.
“I do think [it] is different from working at a lot of different locations — we can provide that different experience here by being a waterpark.”
Recruiting, retaining talent
Still, Wet’n’Wild Toronto has some practices that employers from different companies can also adopt.
The company offers competitive compensation, with most positions paid higher than the minimum wage. It also provides free food and tickets/perks to area attractions, and
has started to provide training for workers, especially because they are in need of lifeguards.
“Lifeguards tend to be the hardest ones to find right now. Because during COVID, they just couldn't re-certify the certifications that they need to be a lifeguard, and it's not an easy test,” said Kruizinga.
“We were starting to do the training ourselves. We're getting some indoor pools right now where we'll be doing our own training with our aquatic staff. So that's a big perk, because getting those certifications used to be pretty expensive.”
Also, Wet’n’Wild Toronto doesn’t simply reject workers who may not be the perfect fit for the jobs for which they are applying.
“We don't ‘cookie cutter’ our jobs. So if you're applying for a certain position but we see in you, when we're talking to you, that you may be a better fit [for something else], we reach out individually.”
Nine in 10 workers have felt stuck in their role over the past year, according to a previous report from Ceridian. And among flight-risk employees, 51 per cent would consider staying if their employer-provided opportunities to change career paths within their company.
Wet’n’Wild Toronto is also looking to hire slide dispatchers and workers for admissions, guest service, food service, park service, maintenance and security.
5-Star Experience
Creating a positive work environment where young staff feel engaged, valued and empowered has become harder, because “the younger generation’s priorities [are] shifting from employment to a priority for work-life balance and personal fulfillment,” said Kruizinga.
And so the company developed its 5-Star Experience, which it implements during the recruitment process and throughout the workers’ employment, based on the 5-Star Principles that the company uses as a basis for each department when building their programs:
- Positive mindset
- Care and engage
- Respect all
- [Be] efficient and accurate
- Be fun
“At the end of the day, in addition to all of the other experiences we provide to staff throughout the summer… we feel the 5-Star Program is the one that makes the most difference and has attributed to a high percentage of returning staff each year,” said Kruizinga.