Think Again special issue
things, so it’s key to keep the training fresh and relevant,” she says. “We hold discussions about what type of training people want and listen to feedback. Our team members can become trainers within our training model and gain the skills to create their own training sessions. We find that in most cases our younger employees enjoy this challenge.” As well as strengthening internal communi- cation through one-to-one meetings between team members and managers, she makes use of the hotel’s internal consultative committee to understand what young employees want and need. One member from each department attends the meetings to air their ideas and ask managers questions. Any good business ideas are then rewarded at the monthly Team Teas. Whelehan also emphasise the importance of creating a well-bonded team: “We work hard to ensure our young employees are taken care of and given clear goals. Our social com- mittee meets regularly to organise fun ways for our teams to socialise and get to know each other outside work,” she says.
Looking at the bigger picture, Whelehan believes HR teams have a crucial role in show- ing young people why hospitality can be a rewarding career. “To open doors of opportu- nity, it is important that young people under- stand what goes on both in their department and other departments at other levels,” she says. The hotel achieves this in a number of ways
including ‘back to the floor’, where managers work alongside frontline staff. This creates an opportunity for dialogue and is a more relaxed way for employees to find out how they could move up the ranks. The training team also introduced a ‘learning week’, where depart- ments held 20-minute workshops open to all to explain their functions and roles. “It was a brilliant way to spread the possibil- ity of moving between departments,” says Whelehan. “But, when people are interested in transferring, we give them a cooling-off period to ensure they have made the right choice.” The hotel also works hard to engage staff across all generations. “We have long-service awards, but we also have one-year awards,” she says. “We ensure as many people as possible are involved in apprenticeships, training and mentoring to share stories and build relation- ships, and this helps colleagues of all ages.”
Small means nimble
Of course, smaller companies don’t have as many resources, but what they do benefit from is being able to approach staff retention at a more personal level. Edmund Inkin, joint owner of Eatdrinksleep, the pub and rooms company behind the Felin Fach Griffin near Brecon and the Gurnard’s Head and the Old Coastguard in Cornwall, says: “It’s difficult in a small business to get everything right. We don’t have the infrastructure or experience to cover all the bases. But we do have the advantage of being more nimble and certainly more personal in our approach. That kind of thing does matter in an industry where people can go under the radar day after day.”
18 | The Caterer
Gibbon Bridge hotel Peach Pubs
A year ago, recognising the need to invest in staff retention, the company created a full- time role dedicated to “people”. “Apart from allowing the directors to focus their time elsewhere, it has massively improved our attention to detail in every part of an individual’s working week, year and career,” says Inkin.
The plan for 2017 is to introduce a talent module to identify those employees with the qualities to be future leaders and to then invest in their training and development. “In a difficult labour market, an hour spent on finding ways to keep your people is much better spent than an hour trying to recruit. Improving retention of the good people has to be a starting point of every hospitality busi- ness,” says Inkin.
Leading by example Janet Simpson, owner of the Gibbon Bridge hotel in the Forest of Bowland, Lancashire, believes that treating staff well is key. She opened the hotel in 1982 with six bedrooms and a bar, and it has grown to 30 bedrooms, a restaurant and conference and events facilities set in 23 acres.
“My philosophy has always been to pay staff for the hours they work, to treat them well and as I would expect to be treated,” says Simp- son. “The result of this is that my senior team have been with me for between 20 and 34 years. I never ask anyone to do anything
Top tips to tempt talent
●●Have a solid recruitment and screening process to ensure you hire the right person with the right skills and cultural fit in the first place.
● ●Offer a decent, fair wage and working conditions.
● ●The longer an employee works for you, the more likely they are to stay, so make sure you get your induction programmes right.
● ●Create a happy, thriving working environment through arranging fun events to help employees bond and appreciate their hard work.
● ●Help your staff to reach their potential through training and development and a clear career pathway.
● ●Recognise individual achievements.
I would not be prepared to do myself and like to think that I lead by example. “Working this closely together means we have become a family, which is now an ethos that runs through the whole team, from the top to the bottom, whether they have been
www.thecaterer.com
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