Pub trade needs to work on training and keeping good staff
The pub industry needs to do more to train and keep hold of good staff, according to experts.
Staff training and retention were the key issues to come out of a panel conference between top industry leaders at The Publican Conference last week.
All agreed that the industry had a bad reputation and needed to do its best to change the situation for the better.
The debate chaired by British Institute of Innkeeping chief executive John McNamara (pictured) saw Karen Forrester, managing director of Laurel Pub Company, Stephen Gould, head of recruitment and training for Punch Pub Company and head of recruitment at Pret a Manger, Esther O'Halloran all tackled the issue of staff retention and looked at why the pub industry has such a high turnover of staff.
Alex Salussolia, managing director of Glendola Leisure, and Declan Swan, director of the Hospitality Training Foundation were also on the panel to offer their views.
Mr McNamara said: "Staff are our biggest asset and our biggest priority. Ultimately if we work on staff retention and customer service this will drive up sales. The benefits to the industry are enormous."
Training was one thing the industry could work on to ensure staff stay longer, according to Ms O'Halloran. "When coming into the industry, people want to join companies that take training and development seriously," she said.
Karen Forrester added that it was important for employers to listen to staff and encourage them to have fun at work: "Make sure they have a good time while they are there. It has to be a fun environment.
"Often staff will say they want more breaks and better uniforms that don't make them feel alienated. These things really do make a big difference to 18 and 19 year-olds. Standards of service neatly follow."
Tips for employing and keeping good staff
- invest in training and development for staff
- make sure staff are working in a fun environment
- give staff more breaks
- let them choose a uniform they feel good in.
More on staff retention from The Publican Conference
"Things are worse than they have ever been," according to Jane Sunley, managing director of the country's first staff retention consultancy, Learnpurple. "Labour turnover in the UK is at record levels, some companies have a turnover of 200 per cent - and it's costing you a lot of money."
Ms Sunley's talk focused on the need for managers in the pub industry to show leadership to their staff.
"Quite often it comes down to lousy communication," she said, quoting a survey which suggests that 85 per cent of employees are not getting progress reviews.
With the right management, other research has indicated that 70 per cent of leavers could be kept.
The cost of high staff turnover is hard to measure, she admitted. "There are direct and indirect costs, but it's big money. This is not a girly thing, it's a strategic issue. If someone invested this kind of money is a property and it disappeared, heads will roll.
"But it's seen as a fact of life - and it's time it stopped being that."
There was hope, she added, if managers built teams and talked to them. "It is about finding out what people want and giving it to them. Why don't managers consult their staff, listen to what they say and change things accordingly."
She left the conference with "one single tool" to go away with: "Ask your managers to put themselves in their staff's shoes and ask whay they should be led by you?"
Recent research in America showed that most people left a job because "my boss is a jerk". "This will stop you doing the most jerky things," she concluded.
