How purpose will unlock growth for hospitality

Fostering this level of engagement across different teams is becoming a big issue for hospitality leaders. Their people felt the brunt of the industry suffering the biggest economic decline during the pandemic and now with the rising cost of living there is pressure to bring the organisation’s purpose to life in order to build loyalty and enthusiasm for their roles.

The guarantee for leaders here is that their people - who are usually the face of the business - will continue to drive growth and keep customers who are tightening the purse strings wanting to come back.

Use your teams to drive innovation

It’s the hotel front desk or the waiting staff at a restaurant who best understand guests’ needs. Not those on the board. They are usually the first to hear feedback, whether that’s positive or negative, yet all too often aren’t involved in any operational decision-making.

Given that they see where the bottlenecks are in day-to-day processes, where jobs can be streamlined, and what the frustrations are for guests, hospitality leaders would be wise to invest time in listening to those at the coal face. Asking what changes they’d like to see and what improvements should be made. And, crucially, what more the business can do to bring its purpose to life.

This will not only improve guest experience, but also fosters greater trust between teams to then drive healthier working cultures - especially when it’s done in person.

Communication can fall by the wayside in a sector that relies on shift work, but it’s a tool that leaders will need every day. Building an open dialogue is inclusive by design, it empowers teams and gives them a voice on how operations are run - as well as providing transparency about other macro pressures.

But connecting with teams has to also go in tandem with more genuine investments into their wellbeing. Offering tangible resources that support staff during hardships and committing to better psychological safety - especially in what can be an intense and highly demanding role - is key to sustaining performance and ensuring people feel engaged in their roles.

Why there is merit in uniting teams behind purpose

Delivering a great service to guests makes people working in hospitality tick. Getting them behind an organisation’s purpose and defining its future makes them stay.

Teams want to work for businesses they care about and that align with their values, so there’s an onus on those at the top to clearly communicate their ethos to the team to ensure they don’t lose sight of it. This guarantees that people commit to the company’s vision and feel motivated to deliver it.

A five minute ‘pause for purpose’ at the beginning of a busy shift can be a very effective way to create consistency and reinforce opportunities for bringing purpose to life. Taking advantage of those sessions to remind teams of the value they add when it comes to shaping customer experiences will be instrumental to teams’ collective attitudes and what they achieve on their shifts.

Recognition of the work that teams do is also a linchpin to motivating teams in these environments. Those on the floor dictate a customer’s experience and whether they return in the future, so celebrating the difference made by people at all levels is an organisational growth issue as much as it is a cultural one.

The hospitality sector will always have a uniquely high turnover of staff because of seasonality, students, and people getting the travel bug. But let's not assume it's at the expense of passion for the industry. Those who leave a job could well return to another in a chain or group if they’ve had a good experience.

Too often, hospitality staff can feel like just another cog in the machine. So leaders who give teams a voice in how things are run, while clearly communicating the mission and purpose of the business, will remind them of their value and offer a meaningful way to contribute. And given those on the restaurant or hotel floor are the face of the organisation, engaging teams in the right way is what will keep customers coming back.