Stirring the Pot - Cooking up Change

Even before the advent of the COVID-19 health crisis, the hospitality industry grappled with significant challenges concerning mental health and employee wellbeing. Research by Cambridge University highlighted the prevalence of mental health problems such as depression, and particularly in the hospitality industry.

Hospitality Amid the Health Crisis

The global pandemic brought about an unimaginable crisis in the hospitality industry and our people suffered tremendously due to travel bans and isolating. According to the commons library parliament website Between the first quarter of 2020 and the last quarter of 2021, the hospitality sector saw a substantial workforce reduction of 90,000 employees in the UK, a decrease of 3.6%. This contraction is particularly significant when compared to the broader 1.3% employment decline across all industries in the same period.

Our industry leaned heavily on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), a lifeline that preserved jobs during this period of uncertainty. Throughout the scheme's duration, a staggering 2.13 million hospitality jobs were furloughed, making up 18% of all furloughed positions.?I am sure with out this support many hospitality businesses would have closed. The problem was that many people were at home alone, with uncertainty and left to deal with the media aggressive covering of the pandemic, there was no balance all was doom and gloom.

Once things had improved and the economy embarked on its recovery process in 2021, the hospitality industry began battling staff shortages due to a multitude of factors. Just to give some perspective for the UK in the three months leading up to February 2022 there were 166,000 job vacancies in the hospitality, representing 7.8% of all jobs and these could not be easily filled, and restaurants, bars and hotels were busy in general with customers on a mission to get their lives back from the controls placed upon them during the Pandemic.

Financial Implications and Employee Wellbeing

Since the recovery from the health crisis we have seen inflation growth in double digits, the interest rates for mortgages and loans are at the highest levels since 2008. This additional financial burden has put significant pressure on peoples mental health due to the increased cost of living and demands from their jobs due to the employee shortages and increased workload and profit loss clawback expectations from business owners.

The "State of Financial Wellbeing: Hospitality Outlook 2023" report revealed a disconcerting understanding gap between hospitality workers and their employers regarding financial stress:

- 87% of hospitality workers reported deteriorating mental health due to financial worries.

- 67% had to cut back on their spending, and 30% dipped into their savings to make ends meet.

- 42% missed a bill due to the cost of living crisis, a likelihood 56% higher than the rest of the workforce.

- 21% struggled to focus at work as a result, 31% higher than the rest of the workforce.

- 30% worried about money daily, but only 1% of employers recognised this.

- 14% had no savings, a fact acknowledged by a mere 1% of employers.

Rising Salaries in the Hospitality Industry

When you see the figures above it makes sense that the industry has increased its pay for employees but lets too understand it was driven by the shortage of staff in general and not out of concern for hospitality employees mental welfare and this is what needs to change.

In recent times the hospitality industry saw higher-than-average salary increases, a response to the ongoing skills shortage as already mentioned.

One thing you have to give credit to our industry is the resilience of hospitality and its capacity to adapt and respond to pressing issues. Nevertheless, while pay rises offer a temporary solution, addressing the systemic issues outlined earlier will be crucial for a sustainable, long-term transformation of attracting talent back into our industry. By focusing on improving mental health support, providing financial stability, ensuring job security, and investing in employee development, our industry can offer more than competitive salaries alone—it can promise a healthier, more secure work environment for its employees including managers who are often overlooked.

How can we Pave the Way for Change

These statistics illustrate a stark reality: the hospitality industry, renowned for fostering human connections, care, and wellbeing, has been neglecting in general the very people responsible for delivering these values. It's essential to address the pressing issue of poor employee wellbeing and the industry's tarnished image, contributing to recruitment challenges and waning interest in the sector.

Organisations need to place mental health at the forefront of their operations. This can involve offering mental health support, reducing work stressors, and promoting an open and understanding work culture where employees feel safe to express their struggles.

Employers need to understand and address the financial stress their employees face. This could involve offering fair wages to everyone, provide financial literacy programs, and creating emergency funds to support workers in times of financial strain.

Offering stable, secure employment can encourage previously furloughed and relocated workers to return to the industry. This can also help to restore the industry's reputation, attracting new talent and reducing job vacancies. Employers need to reassure employees they have job Security and support.

Training programs and career progression opportunities can increase job satisfaction and motivation for those looking for a career, leading to better retention and attracting ambitious individuals to the industry and in particular for junior managers too who are often promoted and left to find their own way.

My final point:

The hospitality industry's true transformation from employee washing to genuine care relies on a shift towards prioritising employee wellbeing in the true sense of the words. Implementing the solutions I have mentioned won't be easy for many, as it requires an intentional way of taking care of employees and will impact the bottom line in % of the profit on the profit and loss statement, but there could easily be more cash profit.

Hotel owners regardless of if they want to hear it or not need to adjust their future expectations on profit % flow though or invest in changing how hotels operate their food and beverage - (this will probably be my next blog). There are solutions but for some reason many hotels seem to work to the same blue print of the past frustratingly.

For me it's crucial that we create a more resilient, sustainable, and human-centric Hospitality industry. It's not just about serving others alone; it's about taking care of those who do the serving too. Thank you for reading my article.

I would love as always to hear your views on this topic too. If you enjoyed this article please share , if you have some thoughts please share them too in the comments :).

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