Happy employees are vital for success in the hospitality industry
Despite a difficult 18 months, there were more still than 40,000 pubs across England and Wales at the end of 2021, which makes the competition for customers extremely high. Without a celebrity chef in the kitchen or an independent brewery attached it can be incredibly tough for a pub to stand out in today’s market, but training and maintaining a reliable team of employees is one of the best ways to attract and retain clientele.
Employees should be treated well in any industry, but in customer-facing businesses such as in hospitality, positive and happy employees can make or break the atmosphere of an establishment.
The difference between success and failure
Pubs are only as good as their staff. Even with a unique location, celebrity endorsements, and fantastic food and drink offerings, if the customer service is slow or rude then a pub will struggle. In the world of Google Reviews and TripAdvisor, a string of bad reviews because of a grumpy employee behind the bar can have a dramatic impact and so it is more critical than ever for pubs and restaurants to value their employees and make sure they are happy at work.
All businesses rely on their staff to succeed. However, that relationship is even more important in the hospitality industry, with bar and waiting staff constantly interacting with the clientele and representing the public face of the business, as well as handling payments and replacing stock – any weak link can quickly cause problems. Bad employees can break a business, but happy employees who do their job well are key to giving a pub the best chance of success.
Training and upskilling
Training and upskilling staff is a great way to engage with employees and demonstrate that you value their work and loyalty. Showing new staff how to pour a perfect Guinness or carry three or more plates to a table will improve customer satisfaction, but employees may also be interested to learn more about other parts of the business and keeping them interested in their job is critical.
It is the nature of the hospitality industry that a segment of staff will always be transitory, with students and other young people choosing to work in the industry before later deciding on a different career path. However, for a pub to succeed landlords need to find a baseline of long-term reliable staff that can be trusted to both run the establishment with minimal oversight and take on additional responsibilities such as helping to train up new hires.
Indeed, trust is central to any employee-employer relationship, but the stakes are even higher with hospitality due to how much influence any employee has over the profile of the business and the access to customer payments. Allowing staff to cash up your tills is not without its risks. It can increase the likelihood of employee theft if you trust the wrong person. This is one of the reasons it’s important to have specific pub insurance to manage the risk. Employee theft is rare, and even more so with happy and valued employees, but it is better to protect the business just to be safe.
A good team is hard to find
Keeping your employees happy is vital to giving your business the best chance of success. They will keep customers coming back time and time again, and building a reliable and hard-working team can be difficult to build. With businesses in the hospitality sector likely to find it more difficult to fill vacancies than other industries, pub landlords need to focus on treating their staff well to keep them loyal.
Keep employees happy and a pub has every chance of success.
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