More online In association with www.thecaterer.com It’s up to us to create a buzz around a career in hospitality


Tim Rumney, chief executive, BWH Hotels GB “The hotel industry thrives on the backbone of its people. As we move through 2024 at pace, the industry faces a unique set of challenges in recruitment, development and training


that are shaping its future. As a brand that represents over 200 independent hoteliers, we hear every day the challenges that our hoteliers face on this topic. “Recruiting the right talent is paramount in the hotel industry, where guest experience is directly tied to employee performance. In 2024, the challenge is twofold: attracting skilled professionals and retaining them in a competitive market. “Over half of our hoteliers, when asked


about this topic, said, while challenges remain in recruitment, their main concern and focus is around retaining staff in an ever-competitive environment. Personally, my view is that, as an industry, we need to take collective responsibility to create an excitement and buzz around hospitality that has lacked in the post Covid and Brexit narrative. We allow the media to present a picture of long unsociable hours and low pay, which in many cases is far from the truth. Alongside this, brands and industry


leaders must step up and talk more about the opportunities and career progressions that exist. “In response to recruitment challenges,


BWH Hotels GB, like much of the wider industry, is placing a greater emphasis on employee development. A positive workplace culture has emerged as the most common employee benefit in the recent Hireology study in the Future of Hospitality Hiring 2024. This focus on culture is not just about retaining staff but also about developing a strong brand that attracts top talent. “For example, I heard from hotels in the


BWH Hotels GB portfolio that are introducing large incentives for length of service, free gym memberships, flexible working patterns and investing much more in team building and wellbeing events. And here at BWH Hotels central office we are celebrating improving our internal NPS score once more to +52, a direct correlation to the fantastic wellbeing, values and engagement improvements we have been making to our workplace culture. “For me, hospitality is still seen as the


‘Cinderella industry’ young people do before they get a ‘proper job’ or while in higher education. Schools need to be more responsive to the opportunities that exist in hospitality and government needs to get serious about creating a properly funded and fit for purpose


What’s your plan for recruiting this year?


94% 20%


of leaders anticipate recruiting new staff this year


need to hire to a greater extent than previously


site dedicated to onboarding colleagues and supporting their training. Every recruit also attends an initiation with the restaurant group’s founders Shamil and Kavi Thakrar. O’Callaghan says: “We place a big emphasis


on showing people what we want the business to be. We have a mantra that while the busi- ness grows, we want to deepen what we do, not dilute it. To do that we need to have a culture that’s identifiable and consistent. We want to be big-hearted and generous in everything we do throughout the business and if we weren’t big-hearted with how we treat our teams on a day-to-day basis, how could we possibly say and do that?” Both businesses have introduced initia- tives to support their teams’ physical, mental,


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financial and social wellbeing. Dishoom has launched a savings programme for its employ- ees as well as having all managers undertake mental health training. It provides access to an employee assistance programme and launched a fitness tracker where employees can share their updates. At the Grand, initiatives have included the establishing of Sue’s Shop, where staff can buy essentials such as toilet roll and washing pow- der at cost price. It has also given access to dis- counted bus travel, provides breakfast, lunch and dinner for team members and has a hard- ship loan scheme. Bellwood adds: “We really look after people


when they’re here. If anybody is in need, we all rally around and that comes from the top.


We’ve recently done an engagement survey and one of the questions was: ‘What makes it a great place to work?’. I felt so proud read- ing the responses about it being a family and people feeling they were nurtured, cared for and understood.” Outside of improving retention, Bellwood


is clear about the impact this focus has on the wider business. She adds: “It reflects on our guest scores, as anyone who walks in the build- ing feels it’s a good place to be. The team and culture are reflective on the guest experience. “Guest scores last year were the highest


they’ve ever been. We had the lowest turno- ver, the highest team engagement, the high- est guest scores and the highest revenue of the 12 years the hotel has been open.”


Money talks Pay has been an area where hospitality has traditionally had a troubled reputation and a salary survey by Access Hospitality found that 37% of those working in the sector earn a sal- ary of £30,000 or less, compared with 30% in 2023. However, when it came to pay and con- ditions, 51% of leaders considered their busi- nesses market leading and 49% said they felt they were in line with the market. In terms of staff training, development and retention, 47% felt they were market leading and 52% in line with the market. The Grand has several training schemes for team members, including internal


July 2024 | The Caterer | 11


apprenticeship system. This sentiment was echoed by a number of our hoteliers, who engage actively with local educators to promote our industry. As a brand we’re partnering with Future First, a fantastic social mobility charity to help promote hospitality as a first-choice career for young people and we offer weekly training courses to our network of hotels to upskill their staff as we know training provisions are often an overlooked investment for hotels, or difficult to access without significant upfront costs and commitment. “The future of hospitality hinges on our


collective ability to attract and retain talented professionals. By fostering a positive workplace culture, emphasising career development, and actively promoting the huge variety of opportunities within our sector, we can reshape the narrative around hospitality. It’s time for industry leaders, educators and policymakers to unite in elevating the reputation of hospitality, making it a desirable and respected career choice. The success of our industry relies not just on addressing the challenges of today, but on engaging the workforce of tomorrow.”


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