Don’t write off January

By The Secret Bartender

?January is the month dreaded by all. For those working in hospitality, the January blues are heightened. Not only has winter lost its Christmas sparkle, managers and owners are fretting over the inevitable downturn in trade as consumers tighten their spending, as well as, their belts, and bartenders and waiters grow anxious over cuts to hours and income.

At the start of the month, there are those who may well welcome the downturn in trade. I have never wanted it to be December again come January 1st. Christmas parties and lunches and last of all New Year’s Eve celebrations are hard work. Pouring hundreds of pints, shaking similar quantities of cocktails and serving endless roast turkey dinners grows wearing - and quickly.

Everyone has hit that Christmas wall when it feels like the rest of the world is letting their hair down and enjoying themselves at the very point you have never worked harder. It tests your patience with demanding and slightly intoxicated customers, and the desire to work a quiet Monday or Tuesday night, or in fact not at all, is never stronger.

In truth, what is far worse is having no customers at all.

The majority of people I have worked with in hospitality are relatively young and full of energy - and those that are committed to the industry have a definite need to be constantly stimulated. What attracts them is the fast and diverse nature of hospitality, which they feel they couldn’t find in a regular nine-to-five job. So, working in an empty bar, pub or restaurant is actually everyone’s worst nightmare, from top to bottom of the business.

This is what many will experience in January, and after the Christmas rush, it will feel like the almightiest of comedowns. This combined with reduced hours can leave a team that feels light not only on money, but stimulation and motivation.

Is this inevitable? Is it what we have to expect and accept when working in hospitality? In a market that is so competitive, with customers becoming ever more discerning on where they spend their money when eating and drinking, owners surely don’t want disengaged teams at any time.

January, even with its challenges, does have opportunities. First and foremost, the notion that January is the unofficial break for those in the sector has to be dispelled. You need to maintain the momentum from the Christmas period, not with the same level of trade or custom but in levels of stimulation. In an industry that rarely has the opportunity to train and mentor, January is the perfect time to retrain and reinvigorate staff. Over the Christmas period, members of the team from all levels will have had to step up at certain times, do tasks they previously hadn’t, take on extra responsibility.

As a bar-back, bartender, supervisor, AGM or GM there was always more to learn and I was always desperate to learn it. Using the experiences and inevitable lessons picked up over the busy Christmas period, bar-backs can be turned into head bartenders, bartenders into supervisors and so on. January is the most fertile time to train, mentor and develop a team, you have the time to do so, and employees are desperate to be stimulated and engaged.

Doing this negates the January slump. Yes, hours will still have to be reduced for staff, but this will be offset by their employer investing in them and their future and being in a work environment that is engaging.

Working in hospitality can feel like a slog, with long and hard hours the norm. For those working in pubs and bars this was felt even more so this past year as we experienced a scorching summer with England engrossed in a World Cup frenzy that rolled into a busy Christmas period leaving many physically and mentally exhausted.

But one of the best lessons I learned when working one of my first double shifts in the industry, is that when you have hit that wall and all you want to do is sit down, that is the worst time to do so. Because, after that five or 10-minute break, getting up feels nigh on impossible and simple tasks like closing down a coffee machine feel like mammoth undertakings.

The month of January should be treated exactly the same. Although it feels like the perfect time to relax, slow down and take it easy, it is in fact the worse time to do so. It will make your January and the rest of the year all the more arduous. There is an alternative.

The Secret Bartender has worked in pubs and bars in London doing just about every job up to and including GM.