Hospitality leaders talk positive action for planning ahead – for our industry and ourselves

We’ve been speaking a lot recently about the power of giving our teams proper notice with our rotas. Why? Because we’re concerned. According to a recent survey by Planday, 69% of shift workers are given one week’s notice or less – with a huge 22% given just 3 days’ notice or below. This isn’t just an inconvenience: many of us know from first-hand experience that the consequent feeling of instability can have a huge impact on our lives. That short notice means we aren’t able to build time around the fundamental things that make a meaningful and fulfilled existence – seeing friends and family, enjoying hobbies or exercise, even the basics of financial forward planning, which leads to housing instability and more.

In an industry which has historically coasted on a culture of “that’s just how it is”, things are changing; a shift which began with Millennials beginning to acknowledge and prioritise wellbeing, work/life balance and human-led workplace culture, and continues with Gen Z’s increasing outright rejection of any workplaces which do not adhere to these priorities and to their values. With managers and owners generally occupying the Gen X or Millennial demographic, and the workforce increasingly made up of Gen Z and younger, there can be tension between the previous generations’ acceptance and the next generations’ insistence. But since people are at the centre of our industry, failing to acknowledge and act upon the needs of the upcoming generation condemns hospitality to stagnation and further staffing crisis.

So how do we take action? And what does that action look like on the ground? We spoke to three industry leaders, from three different disciplines. Chantelle Nicholson of Apricity, a business owner who builds her restaurant around a holistic approach to human and environmental sustainability; Merly Kammerling of Me Myself In Mind, who offers mental health and stress reduction training and therapy to individuals and teams in the hospitality industry; and Rebecca McGauley-Dyke of St. JOHN Restaurant, who provides insight from a managerial and operational perspective over multiple sites. They each tell us the effect that forward planning has on teams and businesses, and how they make it work at the coal face.

CHANGING NEEDS

Merly is in the interesting position of having an overview of numerous businesses across many varied sizes and models, with a laser focus on overall and individual wellbeing. Along with her own previous experience working both in the kitchen and front of house, this allows her unique insight into changing and evolving needs, and the meaningful actions that businesses can take to adapt.

“Through my experience over the last 5 years of working with hospitality professionals in a 1-to-1 capacity and group training, (compared to millennials) I have noticed that a higher number of Gen Z seem more attuned to placing their own time and self care as a priority, they aren’t as willing to ‘put up’ with such intense shift patterns and pressures which are to the detriment of their well-being. Rather they are seeking work that suits their values and lifestyle. I have seen many Gen Z exit the hospitality industry for this reason. I have noticed a lot of millennials burning out through their early 20s and into their 30’s and placing work as priority over personal relationships, commitments, enjoyment and special life events such as weddings, birthdays and holidays. For millennials, self care becomes more of a priority more towards middle-age, however Gen Z make/ maintain this as a priority much earlier in life.

I am a millennial myself and I can understand and empathise with fellow millennials as being aware of self care and shift patterns. Realising that “it doesn’t have to be this way” wasn’t even a concept when I was in the kitchen 5-10 years ago – Instagram and other social media platforms didn’t have the same influence and so the message didn’t reach the wider industry. Now these issues are being discussed as a collective: frontline workers are speaking up, and businesses are listening. They know that unhappy staff leave. A new generation of leaders, many millennials themselves, are pushing for change. They want a better work-life balance, not just for themselves, but for everyone. It’s a new road for the industry, and it’s paved with better workplaces and happier employees.”

Interestingly, it’s not always a one-size-fits-all approach. Rebecca McGauley-Dyke emphasises the individuality of each staff member and each site, and the value of keeping a strong feedback-react culture: “At one of our restaurants, where the majority are Gen Z, we rota two weeks in advance, we have kind of trialled it for a few months. Generally this works, although some prefer the rota sent just a week in advance as they don’t plan their diaries that far ahead! We plan on asking our other teams, a mix of ages, which they would prefer going forward – I assume it will be a mixed bag but will be keen to see the result and react accordingly.”

ALIGNING VALUES

Tuning in to that generational emphasis on a more forward-looking and human approach to the workplace, we see that giving staff more notice on rotas isn’t only about logistics. Chantelle Nicholson points out that it’s also about businesses and management being seen to respect their workforce: “In terms of creating a culture and workplace that ensures team members can plan their time accordingly, I think a balanced approach is best. For me, rotas need to be done a minimum of a week out, ideally a fortnight is helpful. In saying that, if you’re always closed for 2 days a week, I think it’s perhaps not quite as crucial, but it represents a willingness to align values.

“Ensuring everyone gets the time off they need, and can take holidays, without it impacting the team, is also quite important. I think ebb and flow is part of hospitality, and sometimes what we love about it, but all within parameters that everyone is aware of so everyone can make plans to fulfil things outside of work too.”

MAKING IT WORK

Some may look at that list – the holiday requests, the regular days off, the minimal team impact, the work/life balance, the protected wellbeing and (of course!) the forward planning – as a pie-in-the-sky wishlist. But there are people making it happen. It’s not without hiccups, it’s not always perfect, but if it works most of the time then teams will feel secure, cared-for, respected – and happy. So how do we do it?

Every business is different, and so every strategy is different. For Chantelle’s Apricity: “we have the benefit of Sunday & Monday closures. We then work around events that are happening within the business. We do have some periods that we have more of a buffer than others, but we work together to ensure it’s manageable amongst ourselves. Everyone is great at stepping into each other’s roles and supporting in any way they can.”

For Rebecca, it’s all about listening: “At St. JOHN, we ask for ‘requests’ the week or two prior and always do our best to honour these. We feel it’s worth the extra time taken to construct the rota to ensure staff have time off for the important stuff – whether that’s therapy, boxing or a book club – staff are happier in work if they are able to feel fulfilled outside of work! Obviously the caveat is that we expect flexibility in return, otherwise the rota would be an impossible feat”.

But once you’ve listened, how do you keep track? Crucially, as millennials become more tech-savvy and Gen Z is entirely tech-native, leaning in to apps and software is key. Chantelle adds: “Compared to having to do rotas on an excel spreadsheet, the rota systems just make it so much easier to ensure everyone can request certain time off, and that we have full sight of who is available and who isn’t’, whilst ensuring everyone takes their holidays.”

MAKING THE DIFFERENCE

As an authority on workplace wellbeing, Merly is well-placed to provide the last word: ”I don’t think there is a single-pronged approach to creating better work-life balance, but I do certainly think that considering how to create rotas that provide sustainable shift patterns and notice is only going to be better for the individual and thus the business. Humans need to feel a sense of control and autonomy over their life and future. Constant shift-uncertainty and not allowing ample time for employees to plan their life is incredibly unfair and has a great cost to a persons’ well-being.”

Merly notes that, for a truly transformative workplace culture, these are the additional measures that businesses should consider putting in place:

• Directly asking staff what they think could improve their experience of work-life balance. A company’s workforce is their most valuable intel when it comes to creating a better culture. Typically what the business thinks their staff need are and what their staff actually need can be quite different. It’s important to get to know staff and create a line of communication to understand their challenges, needs and desires. Doing an in-house survey is a great way to gain insight into the workforce, providing information on what issues need immediate attention and what pain points can be worked towards solving.
• Management is a huge part of a person’s experience at work. I have seen many people feeling forced to leave their jobs because they have been managed or treated poorly. Managing others is very challenging and providing training to managers so that they can upskill and manage themselves and others better would create a paramount shift.
• Providing education on self care so people can learn how to look after their well-being in such a demanding lifestyle, as well as providing a form of external 1-to-1 psychological support so staff can seek support during challenging personal and professional times.

The people at Planday know the difference that advance planning can make to individual lives, and the effect those life improvements will have on each of our workplaces. On Monday, 25th March at the HRC Show in London they are launching something new, embargoed until its release at midday, to create a driving force behind a forward planning revolution.  Stay tuned to our stories for details of the launch.