People are the heart of hospitality. Yet, the external perception of hospitality workers is often clouded by outdated stigma, which is hard to shake off. More critically, this is having a negative impact on recruiting at a time when labour is in short supply; not to mention the direct impact it is having on attracting emerging talent into the sector. Even though hospitality contributes up to 5% of the UK’s GDP, it is often viewed as a very ‘transitional’ industry and career choice; something that you can take up in the interim with little or no training. But this perception of UK hospitality is damaging, both for the industry generally, and its future generations. We know that recruitment and retention has been an ongoing concern for the industry and not simply because of the pandemic and Brexit. There are other, more complex reasons why hospitality is viewed the way it is.
Although the landscape is improving, and there are some really innovative business campaigns out there aimed at getting people back into hospitality and encouraging younger generations to consider the sector, the shortage and health of skilled workers left in the UK is concerning to say the least. People are often not paid enough. In some cases, they don’t operate in the best environments. And they don’t always get the training, recognition and career development that they deserve either. This means the sector is tragically losing previously loyal and experienced people who are jumping ship to other industries.
Professionalising hospitality: is this a UK problem?
Historically across Europe, hospitality has been held in higher esteem than in the UK as a viable career option with training and development opportunities to boot. The ability to serve others and to provide a customer-centric experience that will keep customers coming back is no easy feat, and it’s a skill to be admired. Hospitality is also intrinsically linked to so many other industry sectors and aspects of life, both socially and economically, whether it’s a business meeting at a local coffee shop, a big catered event, client hospitality or team building lunches with colleagues – the hospitality experience matters. If we are to progress as the independent nation we need to be, we must take steps to improve perception of the sector by educating from an early age, boosting employability by professionalising the industry, investing in training and new career pathways, and supporting future growth by modernising the outdated perceptions of the sector.
Likewise, professionalising roles in hospitality is also a key strategy for ensuring the sector has traction in terms of emerging talent coming through. Younger generations have witnessed first-hand the struggles that hospitality has faced since the pandemic, and the volatility of the profession, and so businesses are now having to work much harder to attract those younger individuals who might consider hospitality as a viable long-term career option.
Hospitality businesses have proven their resilience in times of great hardship and challenge, but they need to take similar measures with their people and invest in their futures with bespoke training and career development. Skilled people want the time and opportunities to develop. As a proactive sector, staff retention and career development is vital for scalability and growth. Of course, it is easy to operate more reactively because investment comes at a price. But if you are always reactive, it will soon become harder to find the room to grow. Businesses and people need time and space to progress, that is difficult to do in a world consumed by staff shortages and rising costs. But time is also money and sometimes we fail to visualise that in the medium to long term picture.
Start early and invest in training and career pathing
Hospitality technology has also advanced over recent years and has been working hard to help free up more time for workers and busy teams that lack resources. The more that technology can help with automating the mundane tasks and reducing the admin burden, the more time staff will have to do the job they love – which in turn, will help boost the customer experience, and the bottom line. More time also means providing room for staff to innovate in their day-to-day roles. Technology is also helping to remove the potential for human error, which can pose a risk with overstretched and exhausted teams. As such, hospitality leadership is becoming more conscious of the support that technology can provide operationally, and more businesses are keeping an eye on the tools that are available to help them reduce workload and make the most of the resources they have.
In education we need a new structure to help the hospitality workforce of the future to thrive. We must make food, health and nutrition a key part of the curriculum. This would go a long way to helping to professionalise the sector because young people would come out of education more passionate about food and its important role in society. Some businesses believe that if we are to successfully professionalise hospitality, we need a regulatory board which standardises a specific criteria that workers must meet. But establishing a body like this should not be created for the sake of it. It’s also not really the answer long term.
Modernising hospitality and supporting growth
The majority of hospitality leaders that I have been fortunate to interview in some recent podcasts, say they would rather have experienced staff than someone with a tick box ‘badge’ but they all agree that finding them is a challenge. Hospitality is a vocation, it requires resilience and a can-do mindset, and there is a clear skills gap in this country, so the sector urgently needs access to a wider pool of talent. Historically, the industry was hugely diverse and that needs to continue. We need to open up the market beyond our borders to find the right people.
As William Baxter, chairman at Hospitality Action, told me: “Finding good people is not easy. Perhaps the hardest thing is that the work can mean anti-social hours, so it requires passionate people that businesses can train, as well as ensure that they have the right level of downtime to also enjoy life.” William also told me: “We need to professionalise training in hospitality too. Not necessarily degrees, it’s not about focusing on academia, it’s about creating more practical training programmes.”
In summary, professionalising the sector really needs to be about delivering greater support across the board. Whether that is fit for purpose immigration policies that enable hospitality businesses to thrive, tax cuts to help close the pay gaps in the sector, or technology to help reduce mundane tasks and free up more time for staff to develop professionally in their careers, the more we can level the playing field in line with other industry career options, the better. And for the right individuals, a career in hospitality can be hugely rewarding. As Keiron Bailey at Springboard told me recently, “Hospitality has given me a great life.”
