Hiring brilliant talent for any job can be a challenge. Retaining good hospitality staff can be even more difficult during Brexit for UK’s hospitality industry. Restaurant, bar and cafe businesses experience a seemingly never-ending recruitment drive and high proportion of workers coming from EU and overseas.
The outcome of Brexit and uncertainty over the future of the hospitality sector has been wide-spread. Fears over staff shortage are building in line with anticipation for updated immigration laws. The 3S POS team recently attended the annual UK Hospitality ‘Shaping the Future’ event, where many speakers and panelists from the restaurant and hotel industry expressed their concerns.
Research
Back in 2017, the British Hospitality Association published the Labour Migration Report, predicting a staggering shortage of 60,000 hospitality workers per year.
With regions such as London heavily relying on EU migrant workforce (up to 75% of workers coming from EU in some roles), the hospitality sector currently needs around 62,000 new EU migrants per annum to maintain its current activities and to grow. See below illustration.
According to research by Planday, 53% of hospitality workers think that Brexit has made the UK a less welcoming place to live and work.
In response to these statistics, we have come up with some top tips for hiring great hospitality staff and improving their workplace wellbeing and satisfaction.
Recognise
It’s important to recognise and celebrate success and hard work that your staff show. After all, they are the face of your brand and work to deliver your vision. According to research by the IRF, higher levels of motivation and motivated performance translate into a 53% reduction in worker turnover.
As a restaurant owner or manager, you have many things to keep track of. Having a reliable system that helps track employee performance can be very practical. You can use data from your EPOS such as attendance metrics and sales figures to set targets and reward those who have surpassed your expectations.
Empowering employees is very important but doesn’t have to be performance-driven. It is proven that fostering a positive working environment where staff are encouraged to express their ideas makes them feel involved and valued. Providing a degree of autonomy and freedom to make their own decisions will stimulate creativity and new ideas to drive your business forward.
Keep an eye on your online reviews too, in case any of your brilliant hospitality staff get a mention from customers!
Reward
Incentives can be offered to staff to provide motivation for performing their role, however these needn’t be expensive or complicated. Small gestures such as gift cards and free lunches will show your appreciation. You can also reward staff with an extra day off, or a cash incentive such as a performance-based bonus.
To stimulate positive synergy and build a strong team, providing opportunities for regular social gatherings work well. Set dates in the diary early and keep your team informed with communication tools such as Rota Management in your EPOS, Slack or Workplace.
Record
Keep on top of employee records such as personal details, training dates and visas even if you’ve only got one site to manage. Most good EPOS systems will have an HR module, so you can use this functionality to save valuable time and manage everything from one system.
Due to uncertainty over Brexit, your staff will undoubtedly have concerns over their visa requirements. As UKHospitality CEO Kate Nicholls has recently commented,
“Hospitality businesses need clarity and transparency in order to prepare for life beyond the transition period and outside of the EU.”
Keep communication open and support whenever possible. The Home Office has recently published a toolkit for employers to support the EU Settlement Scheme. You can view all these valuable resources here.
Refresh
According to findings in the YouGov survey, skills shortage was one of the main concerns raised among the respondents (15%) as a result of Brexit. Tackling the skill shortage will be one of the main challenges for the sector.
Investing in professional training and leadership opportunities for employees will motivate them to stay with their employer, as they will naturally want to progress in their careers. Technology tools such as Flow Hospitality will integrate with EPOS and allow you to deliver training programmes.
Review
Provide opportunities for communication to help understand and tackle issues early on before they escalate. The annual 30 Best Places to Work in Hospitality awards have released staff survey results that illustrate the importance of company culture in fostering a happy workplace. See the infographic below.
Regular meetings, forums and surveys can provide you with valuable insights into challenges and pressures your workers are experiencing.
After all, businesses that put their people first will be rewarded with passionate and committed staff to drive their success. Investing in the right technology tools to support you with the above challenges is also crucial.
If you’re a hospitality business and you’re looking for an all-in-one EPOS system, contact us to arrange a demo.