Happy workers are a reason to be cheerful
July's Director magazine was called "The work issue", reporting how Britain's bosses are handling changing approaches to dress, stress, technology and homeworking.
The article about stress caught my eye, in particular. It accused companies of relying too heavily on counsellors and other "stress gurus" instead of tackling the root cause - often the increasing demand to do better, without support, guidance and any understanding of human fallibility. Another article talked about the British working longer and harder than ever before, despite the European Working Time Directive.
Occupational hazards
The features raised the whole question of how the hospitality sector can respond to the challenges of modern-day working, especially the stress and long or antisocial hours involved. How can we marry the needs of the individual with the needs of the business when, by the very nature of what we do, we have to work while others play?
One answer is to make work more pleasurable. If people are less stressed in their job, they will be in a happier frame of mind to enjoy their leisure.
I have a simple five-point recipe for reducing stress, and have followed this approach throughout my career.
1. Communicate openly, honestly, regularly and quickly.
2. Set clear, achievable goals and measures.
3. Provide extra support for those who try hard but struggle to meet the challenge.
4. Reward and recognise good performance - as it happens.
5. Create a relaxed atmosphere, based on good humour, laughter and a sense of fun.
People say you can't change a culture overnight and, for the existing management of an established business, they are right. The team has to be convinced that the directors are committed to a new way of working before they will relax their guard.
It is easier if you are a new management group taking on an existing business, and I can offer first-hand experience with our management buy-in of Brannigans in June.
The Brannigans team first heard that the business was to be sold in 1999. Knowing that you are surplus to requirements is not a good feeling, and any sense of insecurity is compounded by the necessary secrecy surrounding the sale.
So we put the five-point approach into action. The day after we acquired the business, every team member was sent a "Dear colleague" letter from me, describing the Mustard Entertainment style of business and setting out our ambitions for their brand.
Managing director Caroline Madden, who stayed with the business and joined the Mustard board, sent an e-mail on the morning of completion to every manager, announcing her personal support for the new owners.
Within a week of the deal going through, we gathered together managers, deputies and supervisors for a getting-to-know-you session.
Honest approach
There we explained the targets we had set for the business; how the staff, as individuals, could help us meet them; and the substantial rewards they could expect for contributing to our shared success.
In case this sounds overly results-driven, let me explain that, while some of our goals were financial, others were about maintaining good standards of housekeeping, guest satisfaction and consistency of delivery.
In addition, we introduced on-the-spot rewards. The directors carry £20 vouchers to be given to team members who have done something "over and above the call of duty". It is a simple, immediate and very effective way of saying thank-you for a creative idea or a special sign of commitment.
The style of the session, with plenty of opportunity for questions and feedback, underlined the informality of the new business. Once this was understood, there was plenty of laughter.
The Director articles highlighted the fact that the hospitality sector cannot easily adopt the solutions used by other industries. Homeworking, for example, is a non-starter for most operators. However, while our team has to work late into the night, the good news is that they do so in a party atmosphere. Provided they feel comfortable with the way they are being managed, they should stand a better chance of enjoying themselves at work than, say, an employee in an office.
In his book, Losing My Virginity, Richard Branson writes: "For us, our employees matter most. It seems common sense that if you start off with a happy, well-motivated workforce, you're more likely to have happy customers. And, in due course, the resulting profits will make shareholders happy." I'll second that.
Stephen Evans is chief executive of Mustard Entertainment Restaurants, non-executive director of Dineline and a member of the Restaurant Association national committee
