WE ❤️ HOSPITALITY - Simon Rippin

The last year has been terrible for the hospitality sector. Most businesses have seen extreme financial challenges and its reputation as an employer has been severely affected. We are now hearing from many, many of our clients about their fears for the future from staff shortages to skills gaps and top mid-senior talent moving to other sectors.

Krishnan Doyle is sharing his conversations with service industry leaders and operators on all that is good about hospitality & catering with the purpose to improve the sector's reputation as one of the largest employer worldwide but also as a great place to develop your career. 

How did you get into hospitality? And do you think it is important to have studied hospitality to be a success in the sector? 

It is interesting how you have phrased the question. It clearly comes from someone relatively young in the industry. We should not forget that there are those out there, (and often in charge or on boards of Directors), for whom there were no related subjects to study. I remember that Whitbread, (Beefeater Inns), started a 'fast track' career scheme for those studying the new 'Leisure and Tourism' degree. As leisure was on the ascendant as an industry at the time, (the Steak House wars of the late 80's), this was a positive step forward but, either due to naivety on behalf of the  candidate or holding back on reality from the employer, most candidates left because they were not aware of the hours involved. Back then it was split shifts and we often did 8 to 3.30 and 5.30 to 00.00am 5 days a week, more if there was a Travel Inn attached.  Hours and working conditions and pay have changed for the better.

So, how did I get into the industry?  I left school with O levels and A levels and with zero career or parental support I had been working in several part time jobs, (three at the same time at one point two of which were bar and waiting work). I needed a career and a new job whilst in Norwich. The local Beefeater, The Falcon, were advertising for a House Manager Couple and it began there. Three years later we were on the verge of getting our own pub. I then moved to the Midlands and worked for Centre Parcs and they were progressive as a company. 

Which leader / figure inspired you and why?

There was one head of catering, Gordon Greig, who I found to be a brave and inspiring leader. He had been head chef at the Sherwood Forest Park and was promoted to Head of Catering.  Why brave? He stood his ground against industry Dinosaurs and said that if we have 2 managers working 60 hours each a week, there was no reason why we could not have 3 managers working 40 hours a week. The company profits were huge and we could easily afford it. Once this change had happened the difference in the teams was amazing. Accordingly, works rates and morale increased beyond expectation.

What keeps you in the sector and why to you enjoy working in it? And what advice would you give to those starting out in the sector? 

People come to hospitality and leisure establishments to have fun. When all the hard work and training comes together, the job satisfaction kicks in. 

My last place if work was at a Multiplex Cinema, sure it was old fashioned by today’s standards, (leather recliners being the current customer focus), and the Company had made no investment in it for over 30 years beyond technical necessity, but we had the best customer service and my managers were trained and empowered to contribute to the running of the Cinema. The scope in this particular field, for variety of work, is amazing. It covers profit and loss, use of projector programming, H&S, Maintenance, catering, human resource management and more.

The key is training and investing time in your team and not being afraid to talk to people and, above all, be honest.

I believe most people can be taught anything if they are receptive to being taught.

The most important thing to study/learn in relation to the hospitality and leisure industry is communication. You have to be able to communicate to customers, (especially conflict management), staff (the disciplinary process and it's not all about dismissal), higher management, (whether business is good or bad you need to analyse, report and fix). 

A knowledge of food safety would be advantageous, (why isn’t food safety level two taught in school?). Personally, given my experience, there isn't anything related to my industry that can't be taught on the job. It depends how much time you have to train and your commitment to training your team. 

My advice to anyone thinking about a career in Leisure and Hospitality is to get into a business in its early stages. That way you have time to develop and grow with the business. By the time the company is looking to expand you will be in a strong position to be promoted to higher positions with a, fully, functioning working knowledge of the company and its internal politics and make sure the prospective company has a competent HR department the value of which cannot be overstated. Internal Politics of Companies, that would be an interesting degree subject.

As an employer looking for a staff position, I look for, ideally, some customer service experience and not too many changes of employment on their application form.

For Managers, I look for supervisory experience in a customer service environment. I also look at the scale of the operation they have worked in.

The interview is crucial. I need to know that I am going to be able to 'get on' with the candidate so that they will be more receptive to training, following my instruction and working as part of a team.

Yes, there are negatives and I think the hardest one is getting your head around the fact that you will be working at a time when others will be enjoying themselves.

If you would like to take part as a leader in this thriving sector, get in touch with Krishnan (krishnan@corecruitment.com)