HR in Hospitality following a busy festive season

Before Christmas, we spoke about how the January downturn in trade provides a perfect opportunity to book in appraisals and invest in your staff. January is traditionally one of the two biggest periods for staff turnover (July being the other one) and so demonstrating to your team that you’ve got their back after such an exhausting season can go a long way in keeping turnover levels down.

Key things to consider following a busy season:

  • Have appraisals booked in for January and ask the team to reflect on what did and did not work so well over the festive period. Ask them what they want to achieve over the coming year so that they know you are invested in them.
  • Business owners need to reflect on the Christmas Period whilst it is fresh in their head and write a list of actions straight away. Which menu items sold well? Did any dishes create a bottleneck in the kitchen and as such avoid adding to the menu next year? Was there a particular band or DJ that went down really well? If so, you may want to book them for next year straight away so you don’t miss out.
  • Did any local businesses do something different that worked well that you could implement next year?
  • Did the table plan and service times work?
  • What are the most important lessons you learned in 2024 and how do you ensure you don’t repeat any mishaps again?
  • Have all your staff got the most up-to-date training and are there any opportunities for them to learn further?
  • What do you want to achieve in 2025 and how will you ensure your staff feel valued in recognising these goals?
  • Re-evaluate the salaries of your team members: have their salaries increased in-line with inflation? What are competitors offering their staff in terms of salary and perks?

Patricia Colden of Colden HR and Greg Gabriel of The Mixing Jug share their insight into why prioritising your people is so important.

Supportive Culture

Workplace culture goes beyond a friendly hello in the morning and a positive culture creates the perfect environment for your business to flourish. A supportive culture fuels creativity, reduces the risk of employee burnout thereby improving retention and fosters innovation. A positive workplace culture can be fostered via many different means but the reward is an environment in which staff feel listened to, valued and respected.

For Greg, both recognition and open communication are key to creating a positive workplace culture:

The small things can mean a lot; recognise and appreciate when your team do great work and especially when they go above and beyond. Carrying out 1-2-1 meetings, regularly structured reviews and being proactive with pay reviews is also important. We review pay at 6 months and 12 months minimum and ideally aim to give pay rises before they are expected.

It’s also important to give your team different platforms and different chances to be heard, whether it be an ad-hoc informal chat, a direct message or a planned 1-2-1. Often people need encouragement to discuss things they care about, especially when it comes to more difficult topics. Inform them up front of the confidentiality so they can talk freely and respect their courage in bringing up challenging topics.

For Patricia Colden, effective communication from managers and team leaders is also an important factor in creating a positive workplace environment:

The effective communication of each employee’s value is one of the most important factors when fostering a positive business culture. Celebrating achievement and contribution to the organisation is essential for boosting morale and motivation and overall job satisfaction and employee engagement. While they may not always be viewed with enthusiasm, the use of appraisals or regular performance reviews can also support in this area.

Continuous feedback is a powerful tool for reinforcing the value of employee contributions and they allow employees to be recognised for their own hard work. Managers should engage in regular performance evaluations, highlighting specific accomplishments and areas for growth. Constructive feedback not only communicates value but also demonstrates a commitment to individual development.

For more HR help, visit Colden HR | NCASS or for training opportunities for your staff, visit Training | NCASS.

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