Hospitality’s bold new workforce

In the service industry, the responsibilities of employers – and their very relationship with employees – are undergoing a dramatic change

The employee-employer relationship has drastically changed over the last five years, especially with the arrival of Generation Z in the workforce, boosted by the Covid-19 environment. Young employees’ expectations are now mostly short-term. They are linked to instant gratification as opposed to a medium- to long-term vision among the older generation who was concerned with the shape of their career over the following five-ten years.

For any company, especially in the service industry, people are the main asset of the organisation. They require attention, time and regular investments.

For companies to be successful, they need to change their outdated mindset of previous employee expectations. Mentalities and work environments need to adapt and embrace change. The change should not be driven by the employees, but instead by the employer. What can a company do to better understand young employees’ expectations and their need for instant gratification? What will motivate employees to work and stay with their employer?

To begin with, there is a need for better transparency, more open communication, and a tailor-made plan for every employee. We should not think of what an employee would become in two-five years hence, but rather in 6-12 months, as employees will switch companies if they are not understood and have no visibility with their current employer.

We must better think about employees’ personal needs, especially outside of work. Being more personal, paying attention and providing them with what will make them happy outside of work is key. Models such as a four-day workweek and their effect on the business’ bottom line really depend on which way you look at it. Old thinking (cost-driven thinking) will convince you that it is an additional cost. However, you may also look at it in a very different way. Happy employees will lead to happy guests and higher revenues, as well as less employee turnover, less training cost, and less recruitment costs… hence a better bottom line.

However, in my opinion, a shorter workweek is also only applicable to more junior positions with a few lower

NICOLAS BUDZYNSKI GLOBAL OPERATIONS DIRECTOR AT LPM RESTAURANT AND BAR

responsibilities rather than an individual who is in charge of the business’ performance. Not every organisation may be able to apply the four-day workweek, and surely not at every level. Management needs to remain on top of the company’s operations, and remain connected. Therefore, three days of disconnection makes it very difficult to achieve that.

Four-day workweeks can be difficult for small companies operating seven days a week and with several meal periods to cover (breakfast, lunch and dinner), especially if the volume of business and workforce is not high. It would mean that employers would require to hire more employees. Employers will need to fully review their tasks, processes and operational models to ensure it is adapted to this new scheduling.

In addition to a four-day workweek, a few other management models that could further help the employee-employer relationship could involve hourly payments. For the Middle East specifically, hourly pay or part-time jobs should support more flexibility with employee scheduling. However, it is not clear how the visa sponsorship role would play with such a model, as most employees require one employer to sponsor them.

In addition, there should be better communication with a systematic sit-down offering the opportunity for employees to share their feedback and concerns.

Incentives and rewards with more transparency on how employees’ performances impact the business is another management model that could be introduced in the future. All these models are linked to a clear career plan with simple and achievable goals to reach a promotion or a salary increase.