Fries & flexibility | Hospitality: getting your employee experience right in a unique industry

There are no two ways about it, people management in the hospitality sector is incredibly unique. Turnover is high, retention is low, and it’s one of the only sectors where the profiles of its customers are unbelievably diverse – with their primary needs being to rest, eat, drink, or have fun.

Most hospitality staff are temporary workers, who do a short stint within the company before going off to university or doing something else. This by itself poses challenges for employers, who must attempt to understand how to accept the reality of this situation whilst simultaneously making it difficult for staff to say goodbye.

Hospitality people managers are also faced with the challenge of their workforce having very different work experiences and job-types – working on the front line and working within the head office. These two types of workers, although under the same company, are likely to be very different people, have very different working hours, and a different working day.

These are all things hospitality people managers must consider, especially when thinking about their employee value proposition and what their employer offering is – because addressing this in hospitality is the definition of one size doesn’t fit all.