1. Selecting and Retaining Great Staff
& Best Practices for your Hostel
Jim Kennett
HI-Portland, Northwest Hostel
Oregon, USA

2. Overview
• Hiring Great Staff
• Keeping Your Staff Happy
• Marketing in the Off-Season
• Wow! Factors at Your Hostels

3. 4 Hostels in Oregon

4. Northwest Portland International Hostel

5. Hiring Great Staff
• Caliber of Person
• Interview by Committee

6. Maja

7. Peace Corps Hotline
Google: peace corps hotline jobs
Hotline is published on the 1st and 15th
of each month, and reaches more than
6,000 returned Peace Corps Volunteers

8. Our Staff

9. Keeping Your Staff Happy
• Opportunities to take ownership
• Appreciate them – genuinely
• Evaluate them – regularly
• Cool ways to thank them!

10. Marketing in the Off-Season
• Convention list: who’s coming
• Lodging lists
• Groups
• Schools, classes, workshops, trainings
• Long termers

11. Wow! Factors at Your Hostel
• What’s a Wow! Factor?
– Location/Building/Spaces
– Service

12. Our WOW factors
Location

13. Our Buildings

14. Service & Staff

15. Your Input & Questions
• What do you do?
– Hiring Great Staff
– Keeping Your Staff Happy
– Marketing in the Off-Season
– Wow! Factors at Your Hostels

16. Selecting and Retaining Great Staff
& Best Practices for your Hostel
Jim Kennett
HI-Portland, Northwest Hostel
Oregon, USA
jim@nwportlandhostel.com

17. What are your Wow! Factors?