Short of good staff? Let's grow our own
l There are 266,000 establishments in the hospitality industry, reflecting growth in all sectors except hotels, which showed a decline of 9,000 establishments.
l The pubs, clubs and bars sector is the major employer, with 399,000 employees, followed by restaurants (332,000) and hotels (259,000), with contract catering taking 150,000. The remaining 617,000 employees work in what is called "hospitality services" which covers organisations where the primary business is not hospitality (schools, hospitals, local authorities etc).
l Businesses with between one and 10 employees make up 85% of the establishments but employ only 36% of the total workforce. Large organisations (employing more than 25 people) employ just over two-fifths of the total workforce.
A friend related an interesting story recently. He owns an excellent restaurant, ideally situated, with a first-class reputation. He has invested heavily in new fittings and insists on only the highest quality produce. In fact, there's only one thing missing - the staff.
I wonder how many other employers can relate to this. As an industry, we employ nearly two million people but, nationwide, we still can't fill vacancies and, when we do manage to recruit new staff, they may not even stay long enough to give a return on the investment.
So what's the solution? It may be tempting to throw our hands up and look for something or someone to blame for the industry's problems - but the only way forward is for us, as employers, to take up the challenge. We have to attract the right people into the industry and use structured training programmes to help them develop the right skills, both for our businesses and for their own future careers.
Solid commitment
However, this needs the solid commitment of employers from all industry sectors. We have got to invest in training to develop the staff we need right now.
Until recently, one of the biggest barriers to training for employers has been the sheer number of training initiatives. Look at what's currently available. At a macro level, we have a range of Government initiatives such as National and Scottish Vocational Qualifications (NVQ/SVQs), Modern Apprenticeships, National Traineeships, the New Deal and more. At a regional level, we encounter the implementation of these programmes through Training and Enterprise Councils, Local Enterprise Companies, the forthcoming Regional Development Agencies, tourist boards and more.
Then we have the industry's own wide range of activities aimed at career promotion, training and education. Put all of these together and you have more than 100 key bodies and probably three or four times as many initiatives. Where do you start?
The situation is confusing, and this is one of the reasons why more employers do not train. They don't know where to start, or who to turn to for help and advice. Fortunately, the situation is now changing.
Last November, I spoke at the launch of the hospitality industry's Education and Training Strategy. The aim of the strategy is to help ensure everything the hospitality industry does in relation to education and training is united. The strategy was co-ordinated by the Hospitality Training Foundation (HTF), the industry's National Training Organisation.
It focuses on three things: attracting the right people, looking after these people throughout training, and improving the professionalism of the industry.
This means that employers can now take one of two options. First, they can play a part in the strategy by signing up to an initiative or to get involved in an existing campaign.
Second, they can find out exactly what training and education is available for their staff simply by calling the HTF's national helpline.
Modern Restaurant Apprentice
At the Restaurant Association,we have long been aware of the difficulties facing both largeand small companies in the restaurant business in finding suitable staff and developing a structured training programme. We decided to do something about it by developing the Modern Restaurant Apprenticeship Programme.
This new qualification offers the opportunity to earn whileyou learn, achieve an NVQ/SVQ at level 3 (supervisory/craftskills level) and develop the all-round skills we so desperately need.
To develop the qualification, we have worked in close partnership with the HTF, the Academy of Food and Wine Service and careers body Springboard UK. The net result is a valuable training programme that I hope restaurateurs across the UK will at least look into, if not use.
Attracting the right people into the industry is paramount. Once they join, it is just as important to invest in training to equip them with the skills and knowledge they need. To support the apprentices once they have started, we have also developed a pledge of good practice. To raise standards among employers, we must treat these new recruits fairly.
I have signed up to support both the Apprenticeship and the Education and Training Strategy for the simple reason that they will both work. I would urge all forward-thinking employers to do the same. n
Michael da Costa is chairman of the Restaurant Association and managing director of Richoux.
For information on Modern Restaurant Apprenticeships or the Education and Training Strategy for Hospitality, call the Hospitality Training Helpline on 09068 443322. Calls cost 50p a minute, Monday to Friday, 9.30am to 4.30pm.
