How to address the skills shortage

With the hospitality industry making a strong recovery post Covid, finding skilled talent is proving a major challenge, with fierce competition for candidates.

At a recent series of roundtable events, hosted by Caterer.com , we asked industry experts what they are doing to find, train and keep skilled hospitality talent.

What are the barriers to hospitality recruitment?

Jonathan Baillie, Regional Sales Manager at Caterer.com, started the discussion by outlining some recent findings among job seekers.

In a survey of 2,000 UK adults, in January 2022:

• 55% think a job in hospitality is more of a temporary role than a career option
• 44% think the hospitality industry doesn’t allow for career progression
• 65% think that the government’s kickstart scheme doesn’t do enough to encourage people to enter the industry

The statistics shine a spotlight into how preconceived ideas about hospitality still prevail and are a barrier to young people entering the industry.

What are hospitality businesses doing to address the skills gap by engaging and training entry level talent?

The sector has been building links with schools and colleges for some time, but in general educational institutions proactively push the more traditional careers and opportunities in other sectors.

Organisations like Youth Employment UK are actively working with schools to promote the vast range of areas and opportunities within hospitality, but there is very little information out there for the majority of roles in the industry.  Within education the primary focus is on the kitchen with very little exploration of all the other functions within the sector.

Hospitality is not proactively presented as a possible career choice, and this must change if more entry level talent is to consider the sector as a career.

Using apprenticeships to upskill your business

Dan Power, FIH, is Head of Projects at Umbrella Training, a leading UK nationwide training and apprenticeship provider working with the hospitality and corporate sectors.

Dan was keen to share the employer benefits of setting up an apprenticeship scheme. ‘For employers with skills gaps, the apprenticeship levy has created a learning and development budget that didn’t exist before. There’s a pot of money available for employers to train unskilled people and to know that there is the safety of at least a minimum 12-month program to train and develop their workforce.’

Dan continued, ‘Apprenticeships have about 70 to 78% retention rate after 12 months and that’s across all of the hospitality standards, whether you’re looking at front or back of house, housekeeping, management, team leading kitchen. Roughly eight out of 10 apprentices will still be with the business at the end of their first year.’

Is the hospitality sector visible across all platforms?

Putting apprenticeships and the availability of training in the sector aside, there’s a wider question about how entry level talent even finds hospitality vacancies in the first place.   It’s vital to engage entry level talent to we have a talent pool to train.

Today’s cohort of entry level talent don’t use traditional methods to communicate or find work. Social media must be factored into any recruitment campaign to reach young talent.

Parents and key influencers also need to understand the opportunities hospitality can offer to support their young people in their career choices. Parents and guardians are increasingly using online research to make decisions about their children’s futures. This is where hospitality should focus marketing activities, online and social media, to send the message that hospitality is a great place to work.

Should apprentices be paid more than minimum wage?

Katie Forrest is Head of Engagement, Learning and Development at Dakota Hotels. Katie was keen to share her experience of apprenticeship schemes. ‘When it comes to paying apprentices, the recommendation is national minimum wage.  Typically, we pay everyone the same, regardless of age, which is really encouraging as it recognised the contribution apprentices are making to the business.’

‘Businesses can always do more for their apprentices. Offering a retention bonus at the end of 12 months is one way of securing skilled talent that is engaged with your brand.  So, it’s vital that as an industry we do all we can to support our apprentices.’

Rethinking your workforce to cover skills gaps

One final point about skills –if you’re struggling to find new young talent, keeping your existing skilled workforce is paramount. You want your people to stay with you whilst you search for new blood to fill the gaps.

This isn’t necessarily about offering more pay, but it’s advisable to think about the benefits and support your teams need. They are probably working harder than ever, filling the gaps until you find a new hire so recognise the contribution they are making and reward them.

It’s also worth exploring opportunities to recruit from diverse groups to reduce your skills gap. Women returners, early retirees, and candidates from disadvantaged or vulnerable groups all make excellent potential hires, bringing experience and skills to your business. They can also play a mentoring or coaching role.

Research Findings: School leaver perceptions

• 55% think a job in hospitality is more of a temporary role than a career option
• 44% think the hospitality industry doesn’t allow for career progression
• 65% think that the government’s kickstart scheme doesn’t do enough to encourage people to enter the industry
• Top 3 factors which make hospitality an attractive career: good pay (31%), opportunity to learn new skills (30%), flexible hours (28%)
• Top 3 factors that make hospitality an unattractive industry to work in: poor pay (38%), stressful career (36%), anti-social hours (27%)

Source: Caterer.com commissioned research through Opinium to survey 2,000 nationally representative UK adults between 21st – 25th Jan 2022

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