Human resources support for the hospitality sector

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In the hospitality sector, a business’s most important asset is its people. Of course, the right setting, the right suppliers and effective pricing strategies all play their part, but it’s the people who really make or break any hospitality-based business.

Whether it’s an exceptional receptionist at a hotel, or an attentive and reliable team member washing dishes and glasses, everyone has an important job to play and needs to be carefully managed and supported to ensure they’re performing their best.

In order to properly support both your people and your business, it’s imperative you have the support of expert HR advisors.

Some of the HR-specific challenges related to the hospitality sector are:



Recruitment, including administration, onboarding and pre-work checks

A number of factors impact recruitment at any one time; in recent years, employers have seen a reduction in the talent pool, partly due to Brexit and other influences, such as the advent of entirely flexible and remote working. 

When you consider the comparatively higher staff turnover in the hospitality sector, this is particularly problematic. An experienced HR team can help with your recruitment efforts. It’s particularly important you undertake pre-work checks and onboard team members properly. Without effective onboarding, you may struggle with creating the sense of loyalty and cohesion your business would benefit from. 

 

Retention

Once you’ve recruited someone, the next challenge is to retain them. Treated properly, employees will stay with you for years. While it’s less common for people to remain with one business than in previous generations, it’s still important that you do everything you can to maximise the time people stay with you.

Putting a rewarding pay structure in place; mapping out clear routes of progression; even effective onboarding contributes towards retention.

 

People development

Learning and development is incredibly important in today’s workforce. A reported 94% of individuals stated they would remain with an organisation that invested in their learning and development.

Not only is it important for an individual’s development, it’s also likely to (perhaps literally) pay dividends for your business too. Keeping on top of the latest trends, technology and techniques is a surefire way to keep your hospitality business performing at its best. 

 

Operational support, including rota management and documentation

Whilst this is typically a task for an operations manager, rota management and documentation are arguably important in terms of HR support too. Making sure you have the right staffing levels at the right times, ensuring people have adequate breaks, and that tasks that need to be completed are clearly documented are all people-related and can impact employee motivation and performance. 

 

Contracts

Employment contracts are incredibly important, both for the employee and employer. When everything is working well, contracts perhaps seem less important, but any time a grievance occurs or something becomes unclear, the first port of call is often the contract. If a contract is too vague or doesn’t cover off all of the key areas pertaining to employment and employee/employer rights, decisions become much more difficult.

An effective HR service will ensure your contracts are watertight and robust, particularly in the ever-growing gig economy. 

 

Wellbeing


Employee wellbeing is of utmost importance across all sectors. Hit particularly hard by covid, the hospitality sector and its people need adequate wellbeing support moving forward. Undoubtedly wellbeing issues may have developed as a result of isolation, with many losing jobs and income for a prolonged period. These issues will remain in place and more may emerge over the months and years to come, but employers can do a lot to proactively support the wellbeing of their people. 

HR Circle can help with a cost-effective, proactive and tech-enabled wellbeing solution. 

At HR Circle, we support a number of clients in the hospitality sector, with our helpline and our fully managed HR service. Talk to us now for a no-obligation chat about how we might be able to support your business. 

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