The hospitality industry is facing a talent crisis. With many workers having moved into other industries during lockdown, and a reduced flow of international workers, it’s no secret good people are in high demand and short supply.
This has unfortunately come at a time when many businesses are in desperate need of staff as things start to ramp up again ahead of the summer season.
The balance of power has shifted. Employees now have more of a say in where and how they work, and they’re voting with their feet. People are looking for fair hours, management they can trust, and above all, a great workplace culture. Businesses that ignore these demands risk losing their top talent and face the prospect of staff shortages or even temporary closure.
How can you create a great workplace culture to ensure your high performing people stay with you to help your business thrive? Here are some practical ideas.
Create a memorable onboarding experience
Creating a great first impression is important, but it starts long before your new hire turns up for their first shift.
Your onboarding process sets the scene for your workplace culture. If you’re disorganised in getting forms out, or you ask people to come in and collect paperwork before they’re even on the books, this isn’t a great start.
Set them up for success with great communication, digital onboarding, and a proper training plan in place to welcome them into your business. It’s a good idea to invest in a good onboarding tool to help streamline the process.
Research has shown that a great onboarding process can make a huge difference to retention, as well as people’s productivity levels. Yet, a Gallup study found only 12% of businesses have a great onboarding experience.
By putting your business in the 12% of those who have an easy, seamless onboarding experience, you’re setting your people up for success and ensuring they stick around for longer.
Find a work-life balance that works for everyone
The pandemic has highlighted the fact that there’s a better way to live, balancing the things you love doing with your working life. People have more choice than ever about where and who they work for, and if you’re not offering the flexibility they need, chances are they can easily find another business that can.
As an employer, it’s important to understand how your work fits into your people’s lives and create rosters that support both your team and your business. Allowing your people to set their own availability or to swap shifts with other team members are simple ways to create a better work-life balance.
This can be tricky to manage manually. A good rostering tool can do the heavy lifting for you, allowing you to quickly spot gaps in shifts, offer them to eligible people, and approve the roster on-the-go.
Offering flexibility is really a win-win: your people get a sense of control over when and how they work, and you get peace of mind you’re going to be staffed accordingly.
Build trust through transparency
Trust is crucial for developing loyal and engaged workers. The problem is it often takes time to prove you’ve got their best interest at heart, so how can we quickly build trust upfront?
Create an environment where your team are comfortable sharing feedback with you about how they’re feeling, or any concerns they might have. If your employee knows their voice is being heard, they are more likely to consider themselves part of the business and want to proactively contribute to its success.
One study from Gallup found that engaged workers are 21% more productive than disengaged workers.
Ask staff what they think would make a difference to the business. To make it easy, invest in a team feedback tool. This makes it simple for employees to provide feedback quickly and anonymously.
But it’s not enough to just ask, you must also act.
Turn this feedback into action by creating plans to improve workplace sentiment and engagement. And if it’s not possible to action it, at least acknowledge their feedback and explain your reasoning behind your decision.
Ready, set, go.
The race for talent is well and truly on. Don’t be fooled into thinking that people will stick with you because they need the work. Chances are, there are plenty of other businesses out there who are offering better conditions, more empathic management, and greater flexibility.
As things start to open up, your customers are eager to enjoy the hospitality scene more than ever before, and you need top quality staff that will stick with you for the long term. To ensure a healthy bottom line focus on keeping your number one asset, your people, happy and engaged.
Streamlining your onboarding and scheduling processes can give you more time to focus on creating a remarkable workplace culture. Sign up for a free trial of Deputy to get started.
