Employee Experience7 May 2026·Livewall

Employer branding for hospitality: attracting staff in high-churn sectors

Hospitality has some of the highest staff churn in any sector. The brands that hold people longer invest in employer branding as hard as they invest in customer experience.

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Churn is a brand problem, not an HR problem

Average staff turnover in hospitality sits between 70 and 90 percent per year. In some segments, higher. That is not a people-operations problem. It is a brand problem.

When people leave after three months, it is rarely about the work itself. It is about the gap between what they expected and what they got. About whether they felt genuinely welcome on day one. About whether they ever saw a reason to stay.

The brands that understand this treat employer branding with the same seriousness as guest experience. They build a clear employer proposition, communicate it consistently, and they measure whether it is working.

At Livewall, we work as an employer branding agency for organisations in hospitality, retail and entertainment. What we see consistently: the start of the candidate journey determines whether someone stays. Not the salary package. Not the perks. The feeling of belonging, before the first shift has even started.

Livewall perspective

People do not leave hospitality because of the work. They leave organisations that never made them feel like they belonged.

Why candidates drop off before day one

The period between an accepted offer and the first day of work is where hospitality brands lose the most people. The barriers to switching are low. Alternatives are everywhere. And most organisations go quiet the moment a contract is signed.

What works is preboarding that does more than send a welcome email. A digital experience that makes new employees feel like they already belong. Messages from future teammates. Short videos of the work environment. A sense of what the culture actually feels like.

We built a preboarding platform for Trekpleister that prepares new retail employees for their role before they arrive. Fewer no-shows. Higher engagement on day one. Faster ramp-up in the first weeks.

The same logic applies directly to hospitality. The question is not whether to do this. It is how quickly you can make it good enough to matter.

Livewall case

Trekpleister Preboarding

Digital preboarding for Trekpleister helping new hires understand their role and feel part of the team before day one. Fewer no-shows, stronger starts.

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A working-at site that actually does something

Most hospitality employer brand websites are functional and forgettable. A photo of smiling staff, a list of open roles, an apply button. That is not employer branding. That is a job board with a custom URL.

A strong working-at website does something different. It shows the culture. It gives candidates the feeling they already know what it is like to work there before they apply. It naturally filters in people who fit and filters out people who do not.

For Efteling, we built a full recruitment platform that takes candidates inside what working at the park actually means. Real employee stories. Footage from behind the scenes. A clear tone: this is who we are, this is what we expect, this is why people stay.

That kind of honesty attracts the right people and puts off the wrong ones. Which is exactly the point.

Livewall case

Efteling Recruitment Platform

Employer branding platform for Efteling where candidates explore roles, discover real employee stories and see what working behind the scenes at the park looks like.

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Kruidvat Vriendenteam recruitment campaign

Kruidvat Vriendenteam: turning job applications into a social experience

Recruitment that matches how people actually apply

Young hospitality workers do not apply through LinkedIn. They respond to a recommendation from a friend, a post they saw on Instagram, or a conversation at the end of a shift. That changes how you should build your recruitment approach.

For Kruidvat, we developed the Vriendenteam campaign, where friends could apply together. The application itself became a social experience, matching how young people actually make decisions. The results were strong: more applicants, higher quality, and a better feeling about starting.

The same principle works well in hospitality. Your existing staff are your best recruitment channel. Make it easy for them to bring people in. Build a mechanic that makes referral natural.

The combination of targeted recruitment campaigns and a clear employer brand strategy determines who applies to you. And who does not.

Livewall case

Kruidvat Vriendenteam

Recruitment campaign for Kruidvat where friends could apply together. Turned job applications into a social experience that matches how young people actually make choices.

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70-90%average annual staff turnover in hospitality

3xhigher retention at companies with a strong employer brand

50%of new hires decide in the first 45 days whether they will stay

Gamified learning as a retention tool

Once people are in, the real work begins. Onboarding in hospitality is often short and shallow: a walk around the venue, a stack of procedures, and then straight onto the floor. Little attention paid to the sense of competence and connection that actually motivates people to stay.

Gamified learning changes that. Not as a gimmick, but as a serious way to transfer knowledge. We built Condiment Rush for McDonald's: an interactive training game where kitchen crew practised daily tasks through gameplay instead of reading manuals. Higher knowledge retention, faster ramp-up, more enjoyment at work.

In hospitality, where pace is high and floors are busy, this is exactly what is needed. Microlearning on mobile, short sessions, immediate feedback. Not a two-hour course on a laptop. Learning that fits inside a shift.

At Livewall, we design gamified learning experiences that get staff productive faster and keep them engaged longer.

Livewall case

McDonald's Condiment Rush gamified learning

Gamified training game for McDonald's UK where kitchen crew practised daily tasks through play instead of manuals. Higher retention, faster onboarding.

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Livewall service

Employer Brand Campaigns

From attracting to connecting: we build campaigns that draw in the right people and make them feel from the start that they are in the right place.

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Livewall

Ready to tackle staff churn with employer branding?

Livewall works with hospitality businesses and other high-churn organisations to build stronger employer brands. From preboarding to recruitment campaigns and gamified learning. Get in touch to talk through what would work for your organisation.

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What we do

Livewall builds brand experiences that people actually remember — interactive campaigns, loyalty platforms, digital products, and employer branding for ambitious brands.

Our work

We've worked with HEMA, Stabilo, Wehkamp, Efteling, 9292 and many others. Every project starts with the same question: what would make someone actually want to do this?

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Working on something similar? We'd love to hear about it.

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