As a hospitality employer, you’ll be overseeing a diverse workforce. Some of your workers will have been in the industry for years, others are far newer to the field; some workers take on shifts to supplement another income, others will be working full-time. You should recognise that workers have their own distinctive skills, experiences and goals, while pushing everyone to achieve their full potential as a team.
Every business benefits from having a workforce which is not only competent, but actively gets better with every shift. Your workers will be motivated by feeling that they’re developing under your leadership, whether they’re committed to a career in hospitality or not. There are several ways you can improve a workplace’s atmosphere, but here are some career-enhancing traits you can build up in your workforce.
1) Collaboration
From greeting customers at the door to serving drinks at the bar, each of your workers will have their own immediate duties to attend to. However, when it comes to interdependent tasks like coordinating events, problems can emerge among team members; clashing priorities and a lack of commitment, to name a couple.
You can take immediate steps create a truly collaborative atmosphere for your team. Where possible, ensure that work is distributed equally among team members; encourage each team member to take on a range of tasks to broaden their skills and understanding; keep abreast of how the team is functioning so you can step in if problems emerge. By improving how your team functions, you benefit your business and develop your workers for the collaborative tasks they take on in the future.
2) Attention to detail
Hospitality can often be fast-paced, requiring your workforce to multi-task while focussed on overall customer satisfaction. There are many potential mistakes which could be made over the course of a shift; mistaking an order, neglecting customers, forgetting menus or utensils, for instance. It’s important to avoid these mistakes to maximise customer satisfaction and so your business isn’t judged as badly run.
A crucial element to encourage attention to detail is adequate training. In a bar serving a range of cocktails, ensure that your staff is fully up to date with the recipes; you can even give tests to check. If one of your workers is hosting an event and carrying out ad-hoc tasks, make sure they’re fully aware of their duties and expectations. Some mistakes are unavoidable, but if your staff have a comprehensive amount of information to draw on then you’ll minimise glaring mistakes. When your team members have a strong attention to detail then they will succeed in hospitality and beyond.
3) Openness
Openness, behaving with transparency, is vital for an effective workforce and for the integrity of a business. A lack of transparency can come about in numerous ways, sometimes due to a confusing chain of command, unclear work duties or dishonesty; it can lead to a lack of accountability in your workforce and a difficulty in resolving issues.
Therefore, encourage every worker to be straightforward and honest about their actions. Be supportive when mistakes happen, minimising the chance that problems will spiral out of control. Lead by example and make sure you behave with transparency. If ever you’d like a worker to carry out a job duty beyond their particular remit, spell out why you’ve chosen them and to end what end it serves. While every business has its need-to-know information, be forthright where you can and good workers will respond to your approach accordingly.
4) Ambition
Even the most experienced and skilled workers in your team will want to branch out and see what new roles they can take on, whether in hospitality or a different sector. This can be daunting for any employer who relies on trusted staff members to drive the team and achieve success for the business.
However, you should encourage ambition in your workers for assorted reasons. Your workers will feel motivated by you wanting them to succeed in the role, it helps create a positive atmosphere and emphasises the meaning in work. Give enterprising workers extra tasks and responsibilities to learn what they’re capable of; notice when a worker feels held back by their functions and offer opportunities. In doing so, you could allow your company’s next top worker to flourish.
Improving your workforce can require time and persistence, but the rewards are worthwhile. If you successfully develop the traits your workers possess – the ability to work together, attention to detail, transparent behaviour and ambition – then you’ll develop your business as well.
