Hotel Cateys 2023: People Manager of the Year – Martin MacPhail, RBH Hospitality Management

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Since joining RBH Hospitality Management as HR manager in 2010, the People Manager of the Year has gone from strength to strength.

Martin MacPhail was appointed to the position of HR director in 2017 and he now heads up the central RBH Hospitality Management HR team, which consists of six HR specialists, as well as overseeing the HR teams at the management company's 56 hotels.

MacPhail has been instrumental in launching the people strategy, ensuring a strong and positive culture is created and embedded. This complex task involved looking at key areas of HR, including culture and reward, learning and development and talent and resourcing. RBH's people-focused mentality has seen it recognised in The Caterer's Best Places to Work in Hospitality, as well as achieving many other accolades, and it is MacPhail's influence which has helped secure this industry recognition.

Judges marvelled at the complexity of his day-to-day role, supporting both remote and central teams, and his dedication to encouraging his immediate team to develop their skillsets was highly praised. For instance, in the past year his HR operations manager took an external paralegal course at Strathclyde University, and his learning and development manager has undertaken a coaching course. This has not only brought additional expertise to his team, but also made members feel more valued, respected and appreciated.

MacPhail has also led RBH's Giving Something Back programme, alongside the managing director, which commits the company to giving back to the environment, local communities and its people.

And when it comes to people, MacPhail is a strong advocate for physical, mental and financial health. He has been focused on building a diverse and inclusive workforce, as well as sensitively managing and adapting the business's hybrid working policy, while also ensuring different teams from across the UK get to know each other.

All of this effort would mean nothing without employee buy-in and retention rates continuing to improve – over the past year, RBH's retention rate was 85% across the management company, while across the portfolio it rose by 7%. Furthermore, the portfolio's 90-day retention rate has improved from 95% to 99%, indicating the success of the company's induction process, which judges agreed were "fantastic results".

These retention rates, combined with MacPhail's thoughtful and effective wellbeing programmes, are what secured his win in this category.

What the judges said

"Martin demonstrates a clear people strategy underpinned by strong values in a complex operation. He leads by example and is a role model for his team and the wider business." Jo Harley

"Martin has a clear coaching style and support for his team. The programmes were all clearly structured and linked to strategy. A highlight was managing the challenge of culture for a group that owns different brands." Samantha Hamilton-Green

The shortlist

• Jasmine Brash, Dakota Hotels
• Frazer Gander, De Vere
• Sarah Powell, Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons
• Kirsten Price, The Belfry Hotel & Resort
• Martin MacPhail, RBH Hospitality Management