One of the most widespread legacies of Covid is the staff and skills shortage which has been a significant problem for everyone across the hospitality and catering sector. While many industries are struggling to adapt to the new normal, entrepreneurs like Steve Sidd have been working to develop strategies to end this unprecedented shortfall.
Steve has been struggling to find a quick and permanent fix for the staff shortage. It’s the talk of the town in the Australian catering industry. Many hospitality businesses are also developing effective strategies to tackle the problem of post-covid skills and staff shortages.
Steve points out two aspects to the issue – the shortage of staff as a recruitment problem and the shortage of skills as a training and education problem. “We employ more than 350 staff members across 26 dining concepts and over 40 event spaces that we service, and right now, we’re still short by 120,” shares the hospitality mogul. His aim from the beginning has been to create a more positive work environment and craft a fun and productive culture. To get more people on board, he thinks it’s important for hospitality and catering businesses to invest in their staff. He also encourages these industries to inspire young people to enter the industry and instill in school students that hospitality is a great career.
While explaining momentary strategies for staff shortage, he encourages people to invest in staff, starting with paying relocation costs for staff. “If there is a need for people in regional areas, the hospitality and catering businesses should be willing to pay for transport for staff accommodation and transportation,” shares Steve. In addition, Steve explains how he has also implemented referral fees; anyone who refers a family member or friend to work with him in his business gets a $100 gift card.
Another strategy that Steve has implemented in his hospitality business is for them to become part of the share plan venue if they have been working with him for 12 months and they meet their KPIs in terms of customer service and performance standards. The strategy proved quite effective because the staff now views this opportunity as a way to level up their career, which pushes them to work harder and grow in the business. This ultimately enabled him to retain staff. Moreover, he has also got his team of free financial advisors to improve their economic well-being. By executing such strategies, Steve is catering to all the concerns of the employees, and that’s how he is revolutionizing the whole hospitality business.
