THERE are a number of steps licensees can take to help retain and recruit quality staff, according to Heineken UK.
As many in the trade struggle with staff shortages, the brewer and pub company owner has shared a number of tips for staff retention and recruitment, directing licensees to resources including its own online training programme as well as the UK Government’s Kickstart Scheme, which looks to create job placements for 16 to 24 year olds at risk of long-term unemployment.
Guidance from the company said: “Rather than paying for costly recruitment, does anyone in your business demonstrate the behaviours you require from the role? If it’s knowledge and skills they lack, is this something that could be learned? Investing in training your existing team is crucial, given lack of career progression is cited as one of the main reasons people have left the hospitality industry.”
Other tips include:
- Making use of online training resources such as those provided by the Licensed Trade Charity or Heineken’s own Hello Beer programme
- Incentivising existing staff to encourage them to help recruit new team members
- Being careful to word any online recruitment language “to consider the image you want to project to your guests”
- Not focusing solely on skills, qualifications and experience when recruiting, but on a candidate’s personality and potential to deliver great customer service
“Work with your staff to understand potential ambitions or interests,” said Heineken.
“Then establish training opportunities and career pathways to boost employees’ impressions of you as an employer, and increase their likelihood to consider a career in hospitality.
“The ability to support career development should be a key priority. Demonstrate this commitment to your staff to help incentivise existing employees, increase their feeling of being valued and therefore boost loyalty. Benefit from a more knowledgeable and skilled workforce, as well as decreased costs, by reducing the need for recruitment and induction training.”
