We have a staffing crisis, but all is not lost

If you follow any restaurants on social media right now, you’ll have seen a new trend emerge in recent weeks. Reduced opening hours. Frustration surrounding pressure in being unable to deliver at full capacity. EU workers leaving us. Stretched teams pushed beyond their limits. It’s a new pandemic for our industry. 

UK Hospitality recently found that 80% of businesses reported vacancies for front-of-house roles, 85% for chef roles, 47% for housekeeping and 43% for assistant or general managers. We’re struggling. 

While this isn’t “news” in September, as the industry has felt the effects of this for a good few months now, what it does present us with is the opportunity to rethink the way we do things when it comes to hiring new team members. 

Prospective talent looks at hospitality and sees long hours that don’t require academic achievements – two notions that only serve to stand against the UK’s perception of what is deemed as aspirational work. 

It’s time to listen to our teams and modernise our people proposition. It’s not going to be easy but neither is the challenge we are already faced with. Out of necessity, we have the chance to really change our industry for the better and then shout as loud as we can from the rooftops!

Here are Harri’s top tips on how to improve your recruitment process to address the staffing crisis. 

1. Stop Trying to Fill Jobs and Instead Offer Careers

Nowadays, you have no excuse not to have some kick-a** content that seeks to tap into peoples’ beliefs and fears surrounding joining a role in hospitality. Yes, plenty of our teams are looking for casual and flexible work to support a side-hustle or while working at university, but there are plenty of people who would love the opportunity to lead a multi-million-pound operation with a team of hundreds of staff in a few years’ time. However, there are just as many prospective hires who have no idea that this is even a reality. 

Your job adverts shouldn’t just be a list of responsibilities. They should be a window to what skills each hire will accumulate in their role, what development they’ll receive and where this role can take them.

2. Focus on Future Talent but Don’t Alienate Whole Generations

Being part of a generation defines your mindset, highlighted by the fact that of all generations, Gen Z is the most likely to consider a career in hospitality in 2021. However, any brand that unintentionally makes potential hires feel like they are “too old” or “too young” to work for a particular workforce, risk alienating whole generations. What you can do, is highlight your diverse workforce and create a culture that welcomes everyone who shares the same values. 

In a talent short market, you can bet that prospective hires are doing more research than ever when it comes to selecting the right employer. They can be pickier than ever—which is why your shop window, AKA your website and social channels, need to be better than ever and positioned to attract the right talent. Running a summer school for school leavers? Shout about it! Offering hours to suit those in early retirement? You guessed it… The best way to show off your attractive EVP is with an interactive careers site. Attract people with your values and culture, and draw them in with the available job offerings all in one place. 

3. Let Your People Lead the Recruitment Charge

If the pandemic shifted one thing for the better, it was that we saw true authenticity full and centre. Polished content? Gone. Real, home-shot content that screamed realness took off, and this is a trend that is here to stay.

Candidates today can see through shiny production. They’ll head to Glassdoor. They’ll speak to contacts across the industry. If they get a sniff that potentially your content looks great and says the right things – but isn’t a true reflection of your employee brand? They’re gone. Let your people record and share their experiences in F&B or the Kitchen in your operation and use this front and centre in your recruitment process. If this scares the shiz out of you? You need to go back and do some work on your people proposition! 

Further to this, we’re a huge fan of the refer-a-friend scheme. Why not incentivise your teams to share the content they’ve made on their own socials. Seek out your influencers. Leverage their personal brands. Then incentivise them for the hires they make – it works, we promise!  

To find out how Harri can support your talent acquisition efforts, you can request a demo here.

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