I have been speaking to people in the hospitality industry for three and half years now and still, the main gripe of management is staff recruitment and retention, while a key issue for line-staff is the availability of proper and adequate training.
The theme is recurrent throughout this issue, identified by F&B managers on page 18, addressed in our preview of Salon Culinaire on page 58 and investigated from all angles in our in-depth report starting on page 38.
The two issues are clearly interlinked; the theory being that if staff are offered more training, they will have more reason to stay with their company. The fear of course, is that if they continue to develop, they will become more appealing to competitors and look for their promotion elsewhere.
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It’s a tricky dilemma, but along with the risk of people leaving, comes the chance that they will stay. And even if some staff do move, the ones that are left will be far better equipped to perform well.
Ultimately, there is no excuse for not investing in training and even if fluctuations continue, it will result in a happier, more motivated team — surely the goal of every manager?
So take a look around your restaurant or kitchen: are your staff keen as mustard, or has their drive gone flat as a pancake? Is their passion red-hot or cool as a cucumber? If their attitudes are on the verge of being icy, then it’s time to take a look at your training programme.
FoodFund has set a great example by teaming up with City & Guilds (see page 5); what other initiatives can you come up with? After three years, it’s surely time there was a significant shift in the attitude to staffing.
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