Take care of your employees, and they will take care of your business. It’s as simple as that, says Richard Branson.

Easy to say, but what exactly does that mean?

“Taking care” of your employees means different things to different people.

More money? More responsibility? More flexibility? A future career? Fun?

However, with the number one issue reported by employers as causing the most stress in their business being “wage costs” and number two being “workplace law compliance” (Restaurant & Catering Industry Benchmarking 2022), it seems that taking care of employees is something that can’t be put on the back burner. It costs hospitality businesses too much time, stress and money not to treat it as their MAIN priority.

So what do employers do?

Some ideas include: treating hospitality as a “real” career and recruiting, renumerating and training.

Detailed job descriptions, performance reviews, under-performance reviews, coaching, mentoring, succession planning, and finding out what motivates team members. Sometimes it helps to…just ask!

Offering flexible working arrangements. Treating employees with respect and compassion. Having healthy boundaries and modelling healthy boundaries.

Creating a safe, all-inclusive work environment. Discussing career paths, education pathways, yearly salary reviews, bonuses based on performance, and feedback loops.

There is more the hospitality industry can do to help itself. Look around in your town or city and observe the thriving businesses. Happy, busy staff working with purpose and enjoying themselves. Well-organized workspaces. Chefs and waitstaff who dress with pride. Repeat business from loyal customers.

Employees are the heart of hospitality, which shows when they are treated like gold. Hospitality is one of Australia’s most important industries, generating billions of local and tourist dollars annually.

EMPOWER Agency supports hospitality venues with staffing selection, recruiting, human resources strategy and implementation and helps build your company culture for success!