THE GREAT EXCHANGE

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THE GREAT EXCHANGE IS AN IMMERSIVE THOUGHT LEADERSHIP EVENT SERIES, BRINGING TOGETHER THE BEST MINDS IN THE BUSINESS TO DISCUSS THE TOPICS AND TRENDS THAT MATTER TO THE TRADE.

Since starting out “The Exchange has come such a long way over the five years that it’s been running. We continue to evolve. We are so much more than a supplier solely selling booze. We strive to take things to another level. We’re trying to be at the forefront of what’s happening and be the drivers for positive change” explains Dan Beale, The Exchange National Business Manager. “In Australia, there are limited opportunities within the trade community to come together and celebrate the trends, innovations and issues in the industry. We have always wanted to create a platform that connects, supports and inspires local trade talent across Australia.”

For the maiden lap around Australia in The Great Exchange event series, the theme of ‘Health in Hospo’ was chosen to spark conversation and break down barriers within our industry. International guest speaker Tim Etherington-Judge (co-owner of Healthy Hospo) helmed the tour alongside a host of local talent in each city.

Together, these industry leaders debated the health of the industry and shared their personal experiences, while giving trade audiences the inspiration and tools to shape a better future for themselves and their peers.

As the series progressed, clear themes emerged. Whether it be the role management play around health in the workplace, the benefits of a happy and healthy team to business success or how to look after yourself and your employees, the issues

LOCAL LEADERS PANEL

SYDNEY: Julian Train, Sam Egerton, Shannon Rosie

MELBOURNE: Shay Leighton, Caleb Baker, Orlaith Belfrage

ADELAIDE: Raymond Matthews, Ollie Margan, Kate Rowlands

PERTH: Brett Robinson, Claire Bass, Brie Maddox

BRISBANE: Aaron Clark, Kwan Leigh Fong, Ceri Kidby-Salom

our industry faces are consistent irrespective of location.

Above all, it was clear that genuine conversation and empathy within the trade community is a crucial factor in ensuring the health, longevity and success of the industry from both a personal and commercial standpoint.

CULTURE IS KING

One of the most consistent things to be discussed across all states was the importance of culture; instilling a positive one and then setting the example from topdown. “At the Court (Hotel) what I’ve learnt over my time is how important the culture is, because our workplaces operate at the time when we would normally be out socialising with our friends. We are one of the unique industries where we are the friendship group. We don’t get to clock off at 5 o’clock and go have a drink in places like this.” explains Brie Maddox in Perth.

“The other thing I find that is really important when leading my team is, I need to show them as well that I’m not immune to having moments of my own. We’ve all broken down at the hotel, we’ve done massive renovations at the hotel, and at times I’ve been the one in tears. Or our senior manager has been the one in tears. We always have this thing of “if you fall, I’ll pick you up”. And if I fall, you’ll pick me up”. And that is invaluable. If you can instil that culture in your staff, if you can take nothing else home from this but going back to the place that you work and looking at your culture and thinking, is this a good influence in my life? Make the place you work at a positive impact on your life. And then it will lead to better health outcomes, be it mental or physical.”

Kate Rowlands in Adelaide also touched on the importance of setting values as a mentor of younger staff members just starting in the industry, “…one of the things that I’ve become really conscious of is moderation. And that my version of moderation is going to look very different from your version of moderation. Having that conversation within the workplace is very important.”

HEALTH STARTS AT HOME

Shay Leighton, the organiser of Tough Guy Book Club, spoke passionately about having more real conversations during the Melbourne panel discussion. “The “Party Party Party” nature of the industry itself is something that we perpetuate. We’re the ones that say, “c’mon have another shot, another beer, let’s go out every night”.

“In those times, when people aren’t able to look after themselves, we need to start acting like a community, not just start talking about ourselves like a community. We need to be more empathetic and more caring about the bartenders we work

with and build relationships that are not just based around booze.”

“But how do we broach that subject? How do we actually talk to each other about things that are not just “do you want another shot” or “how was the football game on the weekend?” It’s having better communication, having better conversations with each other.

Tim Etherington-Judge builds on this saying, “the ‘are you okay?’ question is something that’s asked a lot, but something that needs to change is answering it honestly. Because so often we say ‘no I’m fine’ when things are not fine. The person asking is not there to judge you; they are probably genuinely quite interested. Be confident enough in that friendship or relationship to say “you know what? I’m not okay today. I’m a bit shit”. Have that conversation.”

Brett Robinson in Perth shared some invaluable information on how he leverages governmentsubsidised support available via local GP’s. “I see my GP and have a mental health plan, which probably everybody in this industry should have. It gets you ten subsidised visits to a mental health practitioner, psychologist, to sit down and maybe have the conversations that you don’t have with your colleagues, with your partner, with your family. Because it’s hard to do it. Sometimes it takes someone who’s not involved in your life, to be able to say, “these are the things I’m struggling with, and they can give you some very simple answers.”

“It’s one of the easiest things you can do. Once you start the discussion, it’s so much easier to keep it going. Get the conversation started. Write a list of things you know you can do a little bit better in your life, whether it be sleep, eat etc. and make that time for yourself. Once you start that process, it’s so much easier to keep it rolling.”

Tim reinforced this message further by encouraging us to stay one step ahead. “Even if your mental health is good, still do it! Preventative care is way better and way more effective than waiting until you get sick.”

As owner/managers, you can play a crucial part in looking out for and putting in place systems to prevent or manage mental health issues within your business. However, it’s essential to recognise that this is not something you need to do alone, as Brett Robinson explained, “all of your staff are different, and treat them that way. Different people have different relationships in the workspace and make sure that the right people are looking out for one another. You can’t always be the one to see issues with everybody in your team, so don’t think you’re the person that’s going to fix everybody.”

THE ROLE OF MANAGEMENT

Ollie Margan, the owner of Adelaide’s Maybe Mae, discussed the importance of strong mentoring and leadership during the panel. “When I made the decision four years ago (to move to management full time), it was a time when I made a fairly seismic shift in my direction in life, and one that was going to be bound to the lifestyle of hospitality.”

“In my mind, there had to be a way that this was sustainable and didn’t have to be the lifestyle that I had been exposed to at the time. I think that I have a cultural, social and moral duty of care to make sure that there is a really positive workplace environment and a really open dialogue around these issues that are so inherent.”

Ollie also touched on the benefits of a happy and healthy team.

“The other thing that I latched onto today is the other responsibility that I think anyone when they make that transition actually needs to assume, is fiscal responsibility. I’ve known a lot of great bar operators over the years, and I rarely hear people talk about it in this sense.”

“I know that it costs me about $2,000 to train a new employee. If you say the average tenure is six months, then we are already at $6,000 in cost of workplace unhappiness.”

“It’s never really spoken about as something that should be an investment yet if your dishwasher breaks or you need to get some new menus printed, no one bats an eyelid at dropping several thousand dollars on a problem like that. But when you have a staff member that’s not happy, or not in a good place, there seems to be a reluctance to acknowledge that a small investment from a business point of view might be all that’s required to fix that.”

WORKING TOGETHER

As the series drew to a close in Brisbane, Aaron Clark from The Ghanem Group shared his experience as a senior manager in a business with multiple venues and over 400+ staff.

The key takeout? The importance and benefits of delegation. “When I first started with my company, we didn’t even have a marketing department, we didn’t have an HR department. Now we have a team of five in marketing. You’ve got to learn to delegate the right opportunities to them to get the business growing. With HR, they might have different reasoning. They might be telling us to cut wages, but they don’t understand on the ground level what it’s like for the staff, so I’m the voice of the people, so for me it’s constantly learning and evolving every day, and never think that you know everything, because every single day you’ll learn something new in this industry.”

This even comes down to who should be managing the staff rosters. “For me it’s all about having trust in your teams, and that’s the biggest thing, I don’t write the rosters, they write the rosters, you trust in them that they’re doing the right thing for your business.”.

The most important thing above all Tim reminds us is “making sure you have a really strong separation between work and ‘you’ time. Constantly checking your emails and constantly being at pseudo work all the time, even though you’re not at work and counting the hours, psychologically it has an impact.” Aaron Clark agrees; “one of the biggest things that I’ve done, and I should do it again, I actually deleted my work email from my mobile phone and that was actually the best thing I ever did.”

LOOKING FORWARD

“Health in Hospo is so timely and so important, now more than ever. The way the industry is looking, the number of hours people work, the drinks culture and status of mental health, it’s really making sure we take care of our most valuable resources which are our relationships with each other, and our relationships with our workplace. Ultimately, it’s about taking care of ourselves so we can enjoy the industry and have more fun together” says Cam Pirret, The Exchange NSW Brand Ambassador.

To learn more about The Great Exchange series and to become part of the conversation, follow The Exchange’s social channels below: