Investing in your hospitality business means more than upgrading your facilities or refurbishing your premises. Simon Soar, CEO of the Jersey Hospitality Association (JHA), says that investing in your staff can pay off in many different ways.
‘At the JHA we are seeing a steady increase in the number of people who are investing in training sessions for their staff. We offer a number of different courses to the industry and almost every time we launch one to our members we see it over-subscribed. It really shows that businesses care about their people.
‘People still sometimes think of hospitality as being a low skill, low-paid industry across the board, which simply isn’t the case. The level of education that those working within the industry can access is very high. As the JHA, we’re not just offering minor courses for CPD, we can provide training all the way up to a level five Chartered Management Institute (CMI) qualification, which is a widely recognised high level professional qualification.
‘The misconception that all staff in the industry are low paid is also a very frustrating one for us. Many of the jobs within hospitality are highly technical and people are remunerated accordingly. The wages of chefs, for example, are at a very good level in the island and those staff that take up the opportunities to train and push ahead can end up with an excellent career path.
‘Training is hugely important for staff retention, which is crucial to a business’s success in this industry. If you make your employees feel valued you are far more likely to keep them. Plus obviously the more trained and qualified they are, the more valuable they become to you. People are definitely recognising that and we are seeing businesses take every opportunity they can to invest in their staff.
‘The industry has certainly had to change. In years gone by, hospitality businesses simply brought in the people with the skills they needed. These days they take people with the right attitude and give them the skills they require. I love seeing that as the JHA wants to see staff develop.
‘As part of making sure development occurs where it’s needed we go out to our members and ask them what skills they are missing in the workforce. This is constantly changing and is never an exact science, but it gives us a good idea of where we should focus our attention. Our social media and marketing courses, for example, repeat twice per year because they are so popular but we are also running everything from mixology training and food safety courses right up the CMI qualifications, and we’re currently investigating the viability of a sommelier course. We do our very best to give the industry the opportunities they want.
‘As the JHA we have been able to focus more on training because of the subsidies available. We have subsidised many courses, including the CMI qualifications which are very expensive courses to put together. Now we are able to get funding for up to 75% of the cost which makes a huge difference and ensures training is accessible to many more people within the industry. That funding comes from the business licensing scheme and the money paid for registered permissions. It works well as the industry pays to bring people to the island but it can then use some of that money to invest in its staff.
‘Overall, investing in your staff through training and development is beneficial to everyone and the JHA always encourages it. It provides more longevity in the workforce and allows people to feel appreciated and secure in a stable career. We are seeing a good investment in staff at the moment and we hope that continues.’
