Our new study examining workers’ feelings at the end of their shifts is now out. With more than 170,000UK responses, it has revealed that hospitality workers are the happiest at work, compared to those in retail, services and healthcare — despite the cost-of-living crisis and the ongoing challenges in the sector.
Hospitality workers came out top, with 50% feeling ‘amazing’ and 30% ‘good’ at the end of shifts worked between January and June 2023. A further 14% said they felt ‘ok,’ and only 7% were ‘frustrated’ or ‘stressed’.
Despite this positive sentiment, hospitality is known for its long hours, irregular schedules, and demanding work environment. This can affect your team's physical and mental health, leading to burnout, stress, and other health problems.
If you want to find out how all your team members can feel amazing, and not just 50%, Deputy has spoken with managers in Atlas Hotels, the biggest IHG Hotels & Resorts franchisee of Holiday Inn Express Hotels in Europe, CitizenM, and Honest Burgers, about the best ways to recruit and retain a happy team in a demanding industry.
They all share that a happiness program, or an employee wellbeing program as it’s more formally called, can help mitigate hospitality’s occupational risks and improve your team's health and well-being.
Here are some tips on how to implement a happiness program tailored specifically for your team:
1. Start by assessing your team’s needs. What are the most common health problems that your employees face? What are their most significant challenges in terms of work-life balance? Once you have a good understanding of the needs of your employees, you can start to develop a program that addresses them.
2. Offer a variety of wellness activities and resources. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to employee well-being. What works for one person may not work for another. That's why it's vital to offer a variety of wellness activities and resources so that employees can find what works best for them. This could include things like:
Meditation or yoga classes
Health screenings
Nutritional counselling
Financial planning workshops
Stress management workshops
Employee assistance programs
3. Make it easy for employees to participate. The program should be convenient and easy for employees to join in. This means offering activities and resources during times that fit into their work schedules and ensuring the information and resources are easy to find.
4. Get management buy-in. The success of your happiness program depends on the support of senior management or business owners. Make sure that managers, owners and founders are aware of the program and that they are encouraging employees to participate.
5. Evaluate the program regularly. Evaluating the program regularly is essential to see what's working and what's not. This will help you to make adjustments and improve the program over time. Seek input from your team to understand their needs and preferences. Use the gathered data to make necessary adjustments and improvements to the program, ensuring its continued relevance and effectiveness.
Following these tips, you can implement a happiness program explicitly tailored to hospitality shift workers. This will help improve your employees' health and well-being, leading to a more productive and engaged workforce.
Here are some additional tips that are specific to hospitality shift workers:
Offer flexible scheduling options which promote work-life balance. This will allow employees to balance their work and personal lives better. Shift work often disrupts the natural sleep-wake cycle, making it challenging for employees to maintain a healthy work-life balance. Shift scheduling apps like Deputy can help you implement flexible scheduling options. They make it easy to balance your team’s availability and shift preferences when you’re building the rota. They also give staff a simple way to request time off or swap shifts on the go.
Provide training and skill development: Invest in comprehensive training programs that equip shift workers with the necessary skills and knowledge to perform their roles effectively. Training should focus on technical skills and stress management, conflict resolution and self-care techniques. Empowering employees with the right tools can enhance their confidence and job satisfaction while reducing the likelihood of burnout.
Foster a healthy lifestyle. Provide access to healthy food options. This could include offering healthy snacks and meals in the workplace or providing discounts at local gyms and restaurants.
Create a supportive work environment. This means fostering a culture of respect and understanding and providing employees with the resources they need to succeed. Encourage open communication and foster a culture of support, teamwork, and respect among all staff members. Empower your employees to voice their concerns, provide feedback and offer suggestions for improvement. You can help reduce stress and enhance overall job satisfaction by fostering a positive work environment.
By following these tips, you can create a workplace conducive to your team's health, happiness and well-being. This will help attract and retain top talent, ultimately leading to a more successful business.
At Deputy, we understand how important it is to create a supportive environment where people feel valued and respected. That’s why our employee rota software offers various features designed to make managers and employees happier in the workplace - from automated scheduling tools to streamlined shift swapping and instant communication.
After all, having the right tools in the workplace is critical to ensuring staff are healthy, happy and productive - now and in the future.
