Discover how the best hospitality & catering companies recruit & retain talent
Loyalty is hard to win and easy to lose. With the number of companies expanding their businesses and new companies emerging on the markets, employees are increasingly looking towards companies that help them meet their career aspirations, nurture their talents, pay well and provide a good work-home-life balance.
What you have to remember is that, in todays fast paced world, an average person will change jobs between 7 and 12 times during their working life. Gone are the days of " A JOB IS FOR LIFE" business. This is what makes employee retention even harder today.
Retaining key people is vital for the long-term health of any business and keeping your best employees has many other benefits including on-going customer satisfaction, effective succession planning, retained skills and experience, reduced HR and recruitment costs and a happy, satisfied and secure workforce.
Failing to retain a key employee is expensive, costing as much as 100% of their salary in lost revenue, recruitment costs and training a replacement. Added to which losing an employee puts additional pressure on co-workers to absorb extra duties until a replacement is found and can have a destabilizing impact, making other team members feel unhappy and frustrated.
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How to retain employees
PEOPLE
Across the hospitality industry, if you ask any employee what keeps them at their job, the most common answer not surpis ‘people’. Members of staff form bonds with each other over time.
After all, we spend 8 hours or more everyday with the people that we work with. Sometimes this can equate to more time than we spend with our own family members.
These bonds in many cases become so tightly knit that many employees will base their decision to leave or remain in a company based on these relationships. At this point its not about the company or the pay. Its about the support and understanding of each other as a unit. They become like a family.
MANAGEMENT
As an employer, it is your responsibility to ensure good management of your business. A positive relationships with managers and colleagues together with feeling valued and appreciated by an employer contributes more to retaining employees and comes second to people. Poor management or a bad manager will make employees run for the hills faster than lightning.
PAY & INSENTIVES
Pay is another major reason people leave a job, pay your staff an above-average salary for their role. This reduces the chances of them looking else where for a better salary. It is your responsibility as an employer to generate enough revenue to pay your staff well.
Excuses will not do if you want to retain talent. It is your job to push sales and get customers through that door. It is your employee's job to look after those customers once they are inside the door.
Perks such as free meals, bar tab facilities and discounted rates also contribute heavily. Additionally, benefits such as cars, computers, phones also play a big part in retaining employees.
TRAINING & CAREER DEVELOPMENT
Research shows that when it comes to retention, employers who deliver training and career development opportunities are significantly more likely to retain their staff and build brand loyalty.
Like a new born baby, the first few years are difficult because you have to nurture the business as you would nurture a baby.
The minute a baby learns how to walk and run, the dynamics change. Allow the business to grow and develop. Your staff will develop with the business naturally.
The biggest mistake most company owners make is the attempt to keep their business in the same position. "MY BABY". attitude. At some point you have to let the child grow and find its own way in the world.
Maybe the business is making just enough money for you to live a comfortable life but what about your employees? A good example is the Hilton Hotel Group. If Conrad Hilton had kept his business as just his baby, the company would not be a worldwide brand that it is today.
Successful Retention
1. What do you need to do in order to maintain a high team retention? For a start, consider your company as one big family, something born out of enthusiasm, pride and passion that permeates every aspect of the business.
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2. Offer real career opportunities aimed at all aspects of the industry. Take the long view on retention, and consider being ahead of your time. Set up training programs that offer industry-recognized qualifications and career progression for your teams.
The results will speak for themselves.
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3. Sign your team up for at least 12 – 15 months of structured development either internally or externally through a recognized institution for education or career development.
4. Make sure your teams are visiting all the right places be it other successful similar businesses, food markets and butcheries, meeting suppliers and developing an understanding of the financial impact of their role within the business.
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5. Set up meetings with industry leaders. Allow your staff to interact with inspirational Chefs, F & B managers, Housekeeping Executives, Operations Managers, and General Managers.
6. This will broaden their understanding of the business no matter how limited the interaction.
Training & development
The hospitality & catering industry spends a great deal of time and resources developing managers who are skilled in their roles. However, once a manager reaches a certain level they can become frustrated by the lack of further career progression and opportunities.
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You need to recognize that losing vital managers will have a detrimental effect on your business so you need to think ahead and create an advanced management program which is designed for your current managers who want to take the next step in progressive career development.
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Create annual projects which are focused on developing self-awareness, coaching and project management skills. This might be business expansions where you want to invest in some areas of your business by creating new revenue streams.
At the heart of these development projects should be the opportunity for managers to embrace real business topics that demand a creative approach to solving problems facing your business.
This should also include developing strong leadership and management skills. Let each participant take on their own projects within your company and develop it with your support. Let them develop their own teams to generate new lines of revenue in line with your business goals.
Engage experts if necessary in training, coaching and mentoring.
Although challenging, the hard work is worth it. The progression of the employee through the project they will implemented, will make them feel valued, an integral part of your business and they will also feel very thankful for the opportunity.
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