Managing change and building strong teams in the hospitality industry
As part of UK Hospitality’s series on ‘Reopening Hospitality’, Caterer.com examined how businesses can successfully manage change to build strong confident teams that will drive the sector forward.
Hosted by Kathy Dyball, Brand Director at Caterer.com, the session brought together Michael Bonsor, Managing Director of Rosewood London, and Klaudia Mitura, Learning and Development Specialist and Co-host of the podcast “& Happiness” Science Museum Group to share their insights on how, as hospitality reopens, businesses can manage change and team expectations.
How do we manage increased demands on hospitality teams?
There’s been a strong customer response to the reopening of hospitality, with some venues booked out until late summer. It’s a positive start but one that places increased pressure on a workforce that has been furloughed and is finding its feet after a long period of inactivity.
Kathy opened the discussion, ‘The demand is there, job vacancies are rising, and the focus now is on how our teams are set up and supported to ensure they can meet the consumer need and build momentum as we go through what is inevitably going to be a challenging and exciting year.’
Understand how your people are feeling
The Rosewood London has been open since September 2020 and Michael was keen to share his experiences. ‘It’s been great to see such a positive return but to manage bookings we’ve made a lot of changes to our teams, uniting departments and altering roles.’
Michael continued, ‘The structural changes we’ve made across the workforce have been stressful and we need to manage those changes. We’re checking in with the team regularly and naturally, some of our people are excited to be back whilst some have chosen not to return.’
‘As employers, we need to recognize how people are feeling and not shy away from that. You have to acknowledge that some people are hesitant and will take time to reassure. Others are already asking for more hours and we’re getting lots of questions about the future.’
Managing change for positive outcomes
Picking up on Michael’s comment on managing the changing workplace, Klaudia agrees, ‘I think there is a move towards a more employee-centred industry, where employees are becoming the brand.
‘We have some good insight into how people typically respond to periods of change and what we’re seeing now could be described as ‘change management in practice’.’
‘it’s been a difficult time and how people deal with those challenges differs depending on their level of resilience. Some people were very excited to be back, and we need to utilise that commitment.’
‘We have to be careful not to allow people who are keen to be back after such a long period to burn out. Hospitality people want to jump right back in, but by letting them we may be putting their wellbeing in jeopardy.’
Management may not have all the answers and that’s OK
The industry is moving into a period of intense activity and teams will inevitably have questions about the future. It’s OK for leaders and managers not to have the answers, and to say so.
Klaudia commented, ‘Currently businesses are in the experimentation period, trying things out and settling teams back into place. It’s not a decision-making time and so we should give teams short-term updates, for the two weeks ahead, to reassure and engage them.
‘It’s the best way to really involve people who are hesitant or anxious or worried about change. Taking this approach allows us to be human and empathetic, to be authentic, which is how we will achieve success in the end.’
Klaudia continued, ‘We need to be agile and flexible in how we engage people in any change process and have two-way communication. For example, ‘we’re thinking about doing this, what do you think?’
Increased demand on the sector
Michael’s experience over the past few months is interesting. ‘We’re seeing guests who are staying longer, spending more, with bookings being incredibly last minute, for example, high-value bookings are coming in at midnight for arrival the next morning.’
‘Guests want all the services. We’re putting everything back into the hotel in a very safe manner. Average spend on food and drink is up and we’re seeing an increase of 30% more per table than we did last year.’
‘More guests are in touch with us, before arrival, than ever before. They’re leaving less to chance and staying on the property more. So, there is a great deal more communication from us to them and vice versa pre-arrival. I think we’ll continue to see this trend throughout the summer.’
Customer demographics are forcing change
With global restrictions on travel, overseas visitors are in short supply which means the UK leisure market is more important than ever. Consumers are looking for increased levels of engagement, reassurance and have higher expectations – how can hospitality meet those needs?
Michael and the team at Rosewood London have restructured to meet demand. ‘The past year has made us look at our businesses in a new light and think about how we can adjust roles to meet a changing market.’
‘For example, we’ve brought all our F&B teams together to create flexibility and agility and made changes within our sales and marketing teams too. The changes across the property had to happen quickly and the teams have been superb at flexing and stepping into new ways of working.’
Michael continued, ‘‘I think there are some tricky months ahead of us, but I believe as long as the team is aware this is all a little bit experimental, and as long as we have everyone on board with the same information, then we can all work towards achieving the main goal of getting the business back on track to where we were in February 2020.’
Consumers identify with hospitality people
Change management is happening for consumers too as they adjust to the new hospitality. Caterer.com recently carried out two sets of research to get a sense of what customers wanted as the sector reopened.
Unsurprisingly, despite restrictions and fluctuating regulations, going out more, spending more, and high levels of service expectation were top of the list.
Consumers have missed hospitality with ‘chatting with service teams, waiters, bar staff’ and
identified with people working in the sector, understood what the sector has been through, and wanted to support hospitality people. To quote one respondent, ‘It’s a long time since we were able to speak to somebody behind the bar, serving us drinks and we missed it.’
The hospitality industry has experienced many changes recently, some temporary, some more permanent, and the task now is to manage those changes in a way that unites people behind the common goals of driving the sector forward and helping individual businesses to thrive.
With strong customer support, the sector will bounce back, and the success of that bounce depends on the people working every day in the sector. This can be achieved by building strong, confident, skilled and empowered people and managing change with skill and understanding.
Michael & Klaudia’s Top Tips for building strong teams and managing change
1. Overcommunicate and be flexible in your communications
Your teams want to know what the strategy/plan/options are and feel involved in the process. Now is about experimenting to find the best work practices so give teams short-term updates, for the two weeks ahead, to reassure and engage them.
2. Consider how you manage change
Not everyone will be on the same page and whilst some will embrace change with excitement, others will find it unsettling and challenging. Find out what your people’s concerns are and listen to their responses. Use that information to create a strategy that considered everyone individually and tailor it to maximise positive attitudes to change.
3. Think about how you can use an individual’s personal skills and strengths
Its important to allow for more flexibility and development within your organisation.
4. Be authentic
Share your own experiences of returning to work so that your teams can imagine how it will be for them. ‘Walk the Walk’ with them and be honest in response to their questions.
5. Embrace change
Hospitality is a people business, so focus on developing the skills and strengths that will enable your people to accept change in a positive and engaged way. By doing this, not only will your business benefit, but so will the UK hospitality sector.