STAFFING AND HR: TRAINING IN HOUSE

MAINTAINING IDEAL staff levels has been an issue for the industry at large for many years now, but this has been exacerbated by covid –both through migration and travel restrictions, as well as a portion of employees within venues leaving the industry altogether to start careers elsewhere.

The Albanese Federal Government has begun working on the backlog of working visa applications, committing more than 30 extra staff to tackle the awaiting applications. The industry is already starting to see approvals pick up the pace and the problem is not as dire as it once was, but there is still quite a way to go before pub venues get all their staffing requirements fulfilled.

While initially the problem was specific to chefs and other kitchen workers, the last two years has seen the staffing problem grow to include venue managers and other mid-level group positions.

Luke Butler, managing director of Hastings People, gives his assessment of the current staffing market within industry.

“While it’s clear that talent shortages persist within the hospitality sector, we can now see a light at the end of the tunnel in a few key areas. Hostels across Australia’s East Coast are filling and the return of many foreign workers is beginning to remove a lot of pressure from front-of-house roles.

“Key challenges remain in leadership positions and specialist roles such as sommeliers where the market is still tight.

As there is no quick fix, some operators have begin looking internally to recruit - training up staff with potential to fulfill much-needed roles.

“The focus on building talent is still a key strategy being employed across the sector, as operators have succumb to the fact that talent is simply not going to walk through the door,” suggested Butler.

“Training at all levels is a priority, as is employee experience, ensuring that teams are well looked after to ensure retention is high.”

The staffing issue is even more pressing in regional areas. For Flower Hotels, located on NSW’s Mid North Coast, growing and improving an internal training program is an urgent focus for the year ahead.

“A priority is how we can bolster our staff through our internal training programs. We can’t just put out a job ad anymore, we need to build from within,” stated managing director Alistair Flower.

“So we want to be maximising our training and staff development platforms. The importance of internal development and leadership programs is at the forefront of how we’re evolving our business. And that’s a comment on scale as well.

-Alistair Flower, Flower Hotels

“We employ over 300 people in the LGA now, we want to make sure that we’re bolstering the experience through internal programs.

Elsewhere, one novel external recruitment tactic led one of Australia’s largest pub groups to create more of an internal development program.

In preparation for the summer/holiday period, Australian Venue Co held ‘casting calls’ in October last year in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth to bolster front-of-house staff numbers. The casting calls would hire attendees on the spot, serve them up a free lunch, and give them a two-hour paid induction into the group.

“We recruited about 350, 400 people specifically from the casting calls,” stated Paul Waterson, CEO of Australian Venue Co.

“We recruited in total, 3,200 new members to the team between September and December. That included 2,700 people who were new to the sector.

As such, the pub group had to quickly develop an in-house training program to deal with a large number of new employees with no former experience.

“So what we had to do as a result of that is really develop a very significant front-of-house training team, which has been led by Bianca Dawson, previously CEO of Sand Hill Road,” explained Waterson.

Placing a job ad no longer cuts it when it comes to recruiting – venues have to sell themselves to potential hires, and having a training program that will foster their development is one way of attracting talent with a lot of potential. It also helps businesses hang on to rising stars who could end up being very important to your venues.

The staffing issue may not be as dire in 2023 as in past years, but pub operators can’t get complacent, ensuring that they are doing everything they can to attract the right talent.