Drayton Manor recruits 200 staff for new season

TAMWORTH-based Drayton Manor Theme Park has recruited more than 200 staff for its 2014 season.

The park devised a new three-step assessment programme to recruit the staff – or “Guest Hosts” as they are dubbed. Their primary responsibilities are to enhance the existing experience for the visitors to the theme park and ensure the smooth running of its facilities.

The original 1,000 applicants, which covered a broad mix of ages and backgrounds, were reduced to 600 for an assessment centre, which took place at the end of February. The aspiring employees were given an overview into the roles and introduced to the senior managers in the five key recruitment areas, before finally being put to the test in a series of tasks.

Dependant on their scores in the tasks, a selection of applicants were taken to a brief interview on the day, where they were asked a set of questions by assessors, designed to assess whether each candidate understood what was needed and to test their customer service skills. From here, the outstanding candidates were invited to a formal interview held in early March.

Across the tasks on the day, candidates were assessed on presentation and appearance, enthusiasm, motivation, interaction and communication skills; key qualities that were highlighted from customer feedback as being essential to providing a good visitor experience.

As part of this year’s recruitment drive, the theme park offered flexible working hours to cater to those such as working parents, students and the semi-retired, in a bid to attract a wider range of candidates from students to the more mature workers.

Sarah Collins, HR General Manager at Drayton Manor Theme Park said: “The new recruitment process this year is our most thorough to date and is designed to assess the key qualities we are looking for in our staff members.

“We always listen to customer feedback and wanted to reflect this by hiring a strong team of Guest Hosts, who will be on hand in the park to ensure that every guest goes home with a smile on their face after a memorable day at the park.”

The park has now begun its summer season and it is hoping visitors will be attracted by new rides such as Air Race, together with other established attractions such as Thomas Land.

The 2014 main season runs until November 2, concluding with a Fireworks Spectacular.