Analysis: How to attract staff over the next 12 months

Nine in 10 leaders anticipated recruiting new staff this year, while 38% claimed they needed to hire to a greater extent than previously.

"None of these statistics are a surprise," said Karl Chessell, director, hospitality operators and food, EMEA at CGA. "There's clearly a staff shortage and has been for a long time. And while there's been a lot of talk around energy and the government support needed in recent weeks, the staffing issue hasn't gone away at all. Hospitality is impacted by so many things at the same time: staffing, energy, supply chain shortages and the impact cost of living is having on consumer confidence."

Chessell said while operators were facing many different problems, they are all interconnected. "Elsewhere in the report, we've discussed how quality of experience and value of experience is important for consumers right now, and quality is as much about food and drink as it is about people.

"Experience is everything from the presentation of the food, quality of the ingredients, surroundings of a hotel or restaurant and the service – and with how competitive the industry is right now, you need to get as many of those things as right as possible."

The challenge here is how to deliver that quality experience with a shortage of staff. "If you can't get the people it can dilute the experience, as well as reduce the opportunity to up-sell added extras. The staffing crisis really shows how big of an issue this all is and finding the solution is hard for any one operator to solve. The industry needs to come together."

And the industry is collaborating, with organisations including Hospitality Action, Hospitality Rising, and Be Inclusive Hospitality to name only a few, which are all doing fantastic jobs to promote hospitality as a career of choice and championing diversity in the workforce, as well as focusing on looking after staff and their mental wellbeing in hope of improving retention rates.

Claire Philpott, operators director at Cartwheel Recruitment, stressed the importance of looking after your staff. "We're seeing teams being worked harder than ever before," she said, noting how the number one reason candidates were approaching recruiters to look for new positions was because they had become pressured or unhappy in their current role.

"We're seeing a lot of hospitality businesses doing a lot more around the people agenda, with people directors and HR managers becoming more important than ever before. Because it's not just about attracting staff, but about retaining them too."

While Philpott has seen salaries go "off the scale" for some positions, she said it was not always possible to compete with financial packages. Instead, businesses should look at offering hybrid working, such as working four days in seven and offering home working where possible. "Departments are having to be creative," she said, pointing to one large pizza chain which is offering all staff free pizza at the end of their shift.

On a more positive note, 59% of business leaders in our survey have a plan for recruiting and training women into senior roles, while 58% were also planning to address diversity in their businesses.

This is reflected in what companies are currently requesting from recruiters. "There are positive strides towards making boards and senior teams more inclusive and diverse. It's a big wish list people are looking for," said Philpott, noting how businesses were approaching recruiters wanting a better inclusion of gender, race and age in their teams. "The message around diversity is really starting to have an impact and there aren't many businesses that don't have it on their agenda."

Chessell added: "Operators get it – their customer base is diverse and their workforce should be too." And if operators created a more inclusive workforce, along with a happier and flexible environment to work in, this should help ease some of the pressures on the overall staffing crisis by attracting more people into the industry.