Another One Bites The Dust

Research worldwide has shown that staff turnover in the hospitality sector (hotels, restaurants, bars, catering etc.) is one of the largest in the UK and there are many reasons for this.

Predominantly though, its’ mainly due to its transient, seasonal, casual and part-time workforce.

With changes in immigration patterns and a degree of de-regulation in our labour market and recent changes in migration administration, there is now a growing divergence in our migrant population employed in low- paid, low-skilled service jobs, which can be, found in the hospitality industry. Of course, there’s no telling whether these migrant workers intend to stay in the UK for the long term, let alone with their employer.

Many of the jobs on offer within hospitality are not only ‘flexible in nature’ but are often seasonal.  This makes working within this sector appealing to not only overseas migrant workers, but students and those wishing to work part-time.

In many respects the hospitality industry has benefited from such a workforce – it has found it easier to scale both upwards and downwards as the market fluctuates.  However, there is an incredibly close correlation between high employee engagement and high customer advocacy and our research shows that where staff turnover levels are high, employee engagement tends to be much lower.

The challenge for the hospitality industry is to find a balance between having a flexible workforce that can quickly adapt and change to business needs, aims and objectives, but also creating an environment where its people can be not only engaged in their work but also the business as a whole.  This would lead to increased levels of customer advocacy and that means a distinct benefit to the bottom line.

When you also factor in the associated costs of managing a business with high turnover (both direct and indirect), there are many benefits an engaged workforce can bring.  Businesses typically see higher profit, turnover and productivity and employees benefit as well with fewer accidents at work and also taking fewer sick days.  So, the business benefits and you end up with an emotionally and physically healthier place for your people to work.

There is no doubt that coming up with ideas for retaining employees within hospitality is an ongoing challenge, but in order for businesses in this industry to achieve and sustain success, it needs to be addressed.

If you would like to learn more about creating an engaging environment for your employees then why not contact us on +44 (0) 1255 850051.