Hospitality was undoubtedly one of the hardest-hit industries due to the pandemic.
Only 42% of travel and hospitality employees working full-time feel valued by their company, with 36% of travel and hospitality employees also saying it’s been harder to feel connected to customers now compared to before the pandemic.
The hospitality industry is experiencing huge staff shortages, which has led many businesses to focus on hasty recruitment efforts to fill gaps – but what are hospitality businesses doing for the staff that they currently have, and is it enough?
Here’s how you can retain hospitality employees and reduce your staff turnover.
Show your appreciation
It might sound basic, but showing appreciation can go a long way.
47% of hospitality workers are seeking greater recognition and appreciation from their managers, with 44% also stating that being more respected by colleagues and customers would make them feel more valued.
Primarily, employees want to feel as though their hard work is not just noticed but also truly valued and appreciated by their managers and employers.
Employee recognition is an integral part of positive company culture, and the results speak for themselves – companies identified as having a ‘recognition rich culture’ experience 31% lower turnover rates than their peers, and recognition increases employee engagement up to 60%.
But how can you best show your appreciation?
The two primary situations in which appreciation and recognition can be best implemented are in the moment, or during team meetings to reflect on the effort employees are putting in and the small victories.
Both are valuable given that they promote a wider culture of recognition that reinforces the behaviour, rather than making it a one-off.
Offer incentives and benefits
Wages are, of course, a significant talking point in the hospitality incentives and benefits discussion.
The demand for this varies across sectors:
- 80% of hotel workers and 73% of pub and bar workers would feel more valued by better pay
- By comparison, 63% of restaurant workers would feel more valued by better pay
- 28% of hospitality workers in the study also mention that having more paid holiday would make them feel more valued and motivated
Though better pay is inevitably a great incentive to keep your hospitality staff, there has to be an effort on a wider scale to see a prominent impact on retention efforts.
Flexible working is an area that is rising in popularity as an incentive in hospitality, and 1 in 3 hospitality workers state the option to choose shift patterns would significantly impact how valued they’d feel in the workplace.
The fast-paced nature of hospitality work combined with the long, in many cases unsociable, hours can mean that burnout is inevitable unless change occurs.
Though flexible hours may be difficult to implement, they may go a long way in reducing the stress and fatigue levels of employees and thus help to retain them.
Additionally, incentives such as free meals during shifts and staff discounts are beneficial to have as part of wider employee benefits efforts.
Cultivate a positive workplace culture
As we covered in our last blog, mental health and wellbeing in hospitality are becoming a greater priority for employers and managers, and much of this comes down to the company culture.
Communication is key for hospitality – do employees know what their career progression opportunities are? Are there regular one-to-ones and team meetings? Is there a clear point of contact for any issues or ideas that employees have?
If communication is strong in your company, in the event that an employee is frustrated or is experiencing a problem, they will communicate this to someone within the company rather than just leaving their job.
Implementing opportunities for career development through training days is also a great way to clearly show a commitment to employees and their career progression.
Showing appreciation and implementing more employee benefits and incentives also come under the umbrella of company culture, as it fosters a culture of support, encouragement, and positivity – this could make the difference in employees remaining or leaving.
Involve your employees
All of the above are great ways to increase retention, yet the best source to find out what can retain employees will always be the employees themselves.
Giving employees the space to discuss what it is that they think needs improving, which areas are already successful, and which changes they’d like can be a great basis for forming a solid retention strategy.
This could be done through in-person group consultations, online surveys, or even focus groups – any format where employees feel comfortable to give feedback is ideal (so anonymous options should be available for those who may not want to give in-person feedback).
Certain elements may be overlooked in the wider retention efforts, such as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and diversity and inclusion because they are seen as either being more related to recruitment or not as big of a priority, but employee feedback may counter this belief.
By involving employees in the process, you are treating them as a valuable and integral part of the business, which is also great for retention!
In conclusion
High turnover rates are a big issue in hospitality, at a time when shortages are also causing difficulties in the industry.
Combined with high stress and burnout, turnover can be detrimental to a company unless they implement a solid retention strategy sooner rather than later.
Putting your employees at the centre of your retention efforts is vital.
Ask yourself what the common issues facing your employees are – stress, lack of work/life balance, burnout, lack of career progression – and then begin to form your strategy around these pain points to best address them.
Making sure that employees feel valued not only helps to retain staff, but also helps your reputation as an employer and your recruitment efforts.
Once your company culture shifts to one of support, encouragement, and opportunity, you’ll have a retention strategy that helps to keep employees satisfied and healthy!
Give us a call to find out how we can help you today.