Hospitality venues need to become more flexible to resolve recruitment issues

Hospitality venues will need to become even more flexible to help resolve current challenges faced in recruiting, training and retaining staff, according to a new report.

The hospitality sector in Coventry and Warwickshire is the theme of this month’s SmartRegion report which contains findings from the Coventry and Warwickshire Growth Hub’s business engagements, Coventry City Council, Warwickshire County Council, and other business support organisations.

Fleur Sexton, CEO and co-founder of PET-Xi Training and PET-Xi Restaurants, has urged more businesses in the sector to look beyond traditional routes, such as recruitment agencies, as ways of finding staff, and to be more creative in their searches.

She said: “The general lack of staff means that the hospitality sector must be more flexible in both its approach and its offer.

“Venues need to train managers to be more accommodating in taking on neurodiverse employees, the over-50s, those with gaps in their career, or people who have previous convictions, as well as those who have restricted availability due to childcare or caring responsibilities.

“The Second Chances Charter, The Care Leavers Covenant, and Disability Confident are all charters which encourage guaranteed interviews to people who need more support to help them enter the workforce.

“These are great ways forward in helping resolve an issue which needs tackling urgently as the sector promotes itself as a rewarding, fulfilling, and professional career for people to want to get into.

“Training is a key factor alongside the professionalisation of the industry. We’re working on a national pilot with UK Hospitality to create a recognised training package that will be transferrable across the sector.”

Fleur believes the new regional Devolution Deal will be vital for the under-resourced hospitality sector.

She said: “The West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) is investing a huge amount of money to address training challenges. Many businesses in all parts of the hospitality sector need more staff to enable them to continue to operate viably and provide the highest-quality service. Upskilling and reskilling are key to making sure this happens.

“The Government needs to continue providing a source of funding and grants for training schemes, such as at colleges and training providers, and empowering regional organisations to take a lead on growing the sector.

“The WMCA is making a big push on upskilling, as well as increasing communications between training providers, colleges, and employers to move the process along more quickly which involves working alongside the region’s Local Authorities, including Coventry City Council’s Employment & Skills Service.”

Craig Humphrey, Chief Executive Officer at Coventry and Warwickshire Growth Hub, said hospitality had been very severely hit by the pandemic compared to other sectors which had recovered more quickly, which is now added to with the cost-of-living crisis changing both consumer demand and behaviours.

He said: “Hospitality businesses have had to find numerous ways to offset rapidly growing operational costs, such as passing on increases in costs to their customers, scaling back menus, reducing opening hours, and being more innovative and creative, such as through sourcing more local produce to save on food costs and to ease pressure on supply chains.

“Longer term, when the cost-of-living crisis eases, those businesses that have shown resilience by giving their customers a great experience should reap the rewards with repeat and new business. When interest rates start to fall, more people may be willing to take the plunge into opening new venues, which will grow the industry, although that may not be in the immediate future with the current economic turbulence continuing to have severe impacts for the sector locally.”