Your biggest stakeholder: Ambassadorial role of employers in a candidate driven marketplace

As an employer and ambassador, you are an official representative of our industry and its culture, a custodian of its well-being, and a role model to attract new generations to join. It’s vital that you are aware, that not only are you promoting your own products and services, but that of the industry as a career of choice. Each of us has a role to play in spreading the message of the benefits and professional aspirations that a career in our industry will provide, and cultivating a strong image of professional development & opportunities. It’s important to highlight that how you interact with your employees and customers daily, shows how you authentically operate your business daily.

We all know ‘word of mouth’ is one of the biggest mediums of marketing, and in a close-knit community like hospitality and tourism, people DO talk. I will always research a company before I partner with them, as do candidates before they apply; I know this first hand as I usually get a call…. Potential employees want to ensure that firstly, they will be looked after and valued and secondly,

that the new employers will build and develop their career (and won’t be somewhere that might push them to their limits, and out of hospitality altogether)! The reality IS, too many people are leaving hospitality to pursue other industries, due to the lack of work-life balance and not being rewarded for extra hours.

Leaving the industry in its entirety is a FAIL, not only to the individual but to the entire industry!

What was so bad that a person decided to leave an industry they have devoted many years to?

We as ambassadors have a duty to retain hospitality professionals in our industry, to guide them and develop them into tomorrow’s leaders. Too many times I hear negative reports from an employer on the employee once they have left, when realistically they had a duty of care to those they manage and a role to maintain as a leader within the industry. Speaking negatively of an employee lowers your creditability, not only within your own team but the wider market.

Take the reasons they have presented for leaving and investigate what the problem is. No one likes criticism, but sometimes in these situations you have to listen and act, especially if you are hearing the same reason over again… Use this valuable information wisely!

When any person walks in to your premises, you are acting as an ambassador to the hospitality and tourism trade, and as an industry we need to focus on that. The great work of Hats and Springboard etc. can only go so far if everyone doesn’t play their part in making our industry a welcoming and enjoyable one, like the way it used to be (and the reason many of us are still here years later).

Through unity and collaboration, we can turn this around by working together to make small improvements to daily operations, taking on board comments from staff and implementing improved solutions.

Have you thought about...

In a time when Springboard, Hospitality Ulster and HATS are working together to introduce new programmes and solutions, and with the Well Being Promise in place, it’s vitally important that employers’ avail of these services, and work together to ensure we retain people within our industry.

Having the Well Being Promise in place, is crucial for a business to attract and retain in today’s market. By signing up to this pledge you are hereby telling potential employees that your practices are in line with industry best practice. You are saying you value your staff as an asset to your business, you value their family time and wellbeing and that you want them to enjoy working for you, not walking away feeling dishevelled and worn out, pushing them to leave the industry altogether.

The ten-point promise is very concise and features all the elements that we know as an industry we must improve on; no more of ‘we did it this way in my day’. Times have changed and moved on and that means as a industry we have to adapt. The pandemic has brought a different prescriptive to many people on their work and personal life. To ignore this and not sign up to the promise, you are ignoring the work and guidance being given to you to assist and guide you within the recruitment market. You are losing out on this USP to your competitors.

Many employers fail to see they have the tools and access to the problems to change in front of them to enable them to make changes for the better. For instance:

• How many of you perform exit interviews upon someone handing in their resignation?
• How many of you act on the information provided?
• How many of you check in with your staff to see how they are getting on, trying to avoid a resignation getting to the problem before the problem gets to you?

Exit interviews are an essential tool to improve on business performance and attract talent, failure to conduct and act on such crucial information is a failure to future recruitment campaigns as the problem will sadly always be there! If you have a high turnover and you are repeatedly hearing the same feedback, you need to take ownership - adapt, change, and implement the well-being promise to ensure your reputation as a bad employer is managed and managed effectively for the greater good of your business, its brand and the sector!

Each one of us, no matter what level of hierarchy we work at, are all equal when it comes to being an ambassador for our industry.

Take note and sign up to the Wellbeing Promise, show your commitment towards making our industry a better place to work and deliver the ten points daily in all your operations!

Use your hospitality and tourism ambassador hat to encourage and attract talent, retain, and develop them into tomorrow’s leaders.

Being a good ambassador for our industry is paramount to the future of our industry and its talent!