Interview with Veryan Palmer: How to welcome teenagers into hospitality

01 April 2022 by

The director of the five-AA-star Headland hotel in Newquay talks about welcoming teenagers into hospitality and making sure their first experience in the industry is a positive one

What set you on the path to recruiting young people to work within your teams?

I started working at the Headland at the age of 13 as a waitress and absolutely loved it.

Last summer, during the lockdown, I was talking virtually on a weekly basis in schools, colleges and universities around the country about hospitality as a career path. Afterwards loads of the kids would email me asking if they could come and work at the Headland.

Initially, I thought, "you're 14, I don't think that's allowed". But I spoke to the local council and asked what I could do, while also telling them I didn't want anyone to do unpaid work experience as I don't think that's right.

They said that I would have to verify positions with the school, but that I could do it. I had to fill in a form and abide by labour laws, but it was totally doable.

So last summer we opened a placement scheme for 14- to 16-year-olds, where they would earn £8.81 an hour. We had 32 young people join us and, in the first week of September, when they went back to school, we held a graduation ceremony. I explained that they needed to keep studying, but that if any of them want to do three or four hours on a Saturday during term-time, they would be very welcome, and 30 of them stayed.

So, we have this group of teenagers who are fully trained. Some are very young and still sound quite young, but 95% of our guests love it and the young team members love chatting about what they've learned, what they're doing and what they've bought with their money.

What impact do you see on the young people?

Some of the 2021 cohort are turning 16 and already have a five-star hotel on their CVs. One came and spoke to me about negotiating a pay rate if they go and work elsewhere. It's great that they trust us and that we've given them the ability to say to someone, "I can do this and I should be paid £9 an hour", it's nice that they have that confidence.

We had messages from teachers… one boy who started with us was very shy and nervous, but he turned into this great cheeky chappy, walking around our main restaurant, which does 260 covers for breakfast, and saying, "Hey, Mr Jones, did you go to that beach I told you about? Wasn't it epic?". This boy went from zero confidence to just brimming with it. It was amazing to hear from teachers about the impact they had seen on the pupils after one summer working with us. Well, from working in hospitality.

What are your plans for this summer?

We opened this year's summer placement scheme in February and had more than 70 applications for 10 places.

The applicants had to do a one-minute video about why they wanted to join the placement, and they then came in for an open afternoon during February half-term, when we spoke to them and their parent or guardian about the rules, regulations and expectations we have. For example, they have to have their own bank account. We refuse to pay salaries into a parent's bank account because the young person has earned the money.

They do various challenges. Carrying trays and playing musical chairs with our table numbering system, and they learn to make a towel swan – which has been lovely, as parents have been sending me emails with pictures of their children making towel swans on their beds.

We then selected our 10 and they will come in for two mornings over the Easter holidays to do initial training. The summer 2021 cohort are all super-excited to have some younger people coming in under them.

How important is it that these young people are properly paid and treated?

At the minute there's no minimum wage for 14- and 15-year-olds in the UK. When I was in schools a lot were saying they were paid £3 an hour, which is just exploitation. I feel very strongly that young people shouldn't be exploited.

We pay them properly and we give them training. One of our hardest challenges is finding adult uniforms in smaller sizes, because we want them to look the same as the rest of our staff. They might only be 14, but they're clearing tables like the 50-year-old next to them.

Do the young team members work across departments or predominantly in F&B?

They are in F&B and housekeeping. In F&B they tend to clear tables and re-lay tables. Those feeling confident that they have learned the menu will serve food as well.

Others with less confidence seem to love housekeeping, because they get to work in pairs for safeguarding. They will distribute clean linen to rooms and vacuum, and after about week four they can often help an older team member change a bed.

They don't do anything with chemicals, they are not fully-fledged team member positions, but they have a great time. We have an amazing executive housekeeper who thinks they're brilliant and trains them. Some of the students say they want to stay in housekeeping and become supervisors.

How much work goes into training the young people?

No one should view it as "we're short of staff, oh, let's just use 14-year-olds". It takes an awful lot of life-skill training. Inevitably, they will be late for work. At school if you're late, you might have to go to reception, whereas with us they have to go for a sit down with HR, who will say to them, "think about the impact of your being late".

When they come into work without having their shirt ironed, they might say they don't know how to iron, so we then teach them to iron a shirt. We're doing a lot of life-skills stuff you wouldn't normally expect to do. For example, we explain what an appropriate conversation is. If someone asks what you're doing that night, you don't tell them because you're only 14 and you don't want someone asking that, so you should report it.

So is this is about the long term rather than supporting staff in the short term?

We're a family business. My parents have owned the Headland for 43 years, so we're not in it for short-term profit, everything is a long game for us. We changed our strategy to much more of a people and planet over profit strategy.

We believe employers should have a duty of care to their local communities. I realised that I had an amazing experience as a teenager, working and feeling valued, so we wanted to recreate that and help young people realise hospitality is an awesome industry to be in. When I give talks in schools I say, "hospitality is the best way to get a global ticket; you can go anywhere in the world and then come back to Cornwall when you want to settle down".

How did your existing team members respond to the scheme?

Last summer, when I told them about it, I was met with a bit of scepticism, so the first few we employed I picked very carefully.

I think with the team it was about them understanding that the first week or so is hard work and we have to make sure the buddy systems in the departments are strong.

For the first week they do two hours of training and two hours practising what they have just learned. We keep it simple and they do short shifts. If a senior member was to ask an under 16-year-old to work more hours than they are legally allowed to, that's a gross misconduct offence for us. We're really strict on that. The team initially were a bit nervous, but now some in particular think it's so cool.

How is your staffing situation more generally?

We now pay an entry level of £10.50 an hour for everyone aged 18 and above, so well above the real living wage. Last summer we shut 20 of our bedrooms so all our staff got two consecutive days off every week. It cost the business a lot of money, but it meant our team had a work-life balance and could enjoy work because they weren't exhausted.

From summer 2020, the first summer of Covid, staff burnout became a big issue. So now all our staff get to swim for free once a week in the Aqua Club, they can use the gym daily, they get to bring friends and family for a competitive rate, and they can dine for free. For a lot of people it's not just about pay, it's about flexible working – some of our team love split shifts because they can surf in the middle of the day. It's about ensuring shifts work around people's lives rather than expecting people to fit their lives around work. We have more staff than ever before on flexible working requests.

We've heard a lot about the struggle to secure staff accommodation, what's your experience?

Accommodation in Newquay is really tough. We're lucky that someone who I helped on his wedding day 12 years ago at the Headland contacted me to say he had a 22-bedroom surf lodge, so our team have direct contracts with him. Previously, a lot of staff would stay in spare rooms over the summer, but Airbnb has taken a lot of that away. The biggest challenge for us is chefs – there physically are not enough chefs in Cornwall for all the restaurants to stay open.

How are you looking for this summer?

It's very different to 2020 and 2021. We have a lot of longer stays, so people stay with us for two or three weeks in July and August, but the shorter weekend breaks are more last minute – within a three-week period. I don't think it will be like last summer, which means Cornwall will be a much nicer place to be.

This summer we're happy because being absolutely bursting at the seams is not always a great feeling for everyone – the guests or the team and our team's mental health is so important. We would rather return to our normal summer business levels where we can look after our guests even more.

What are your plans for the Headland?

This winter we're spending millions on completely redoing our two-storey kitchen and restaurant, the 12 bedrooms overlooking Fistral Beach, plus another four suites and three cottages as well [Headland has 88 bedrooms, including 24 suites and an additional 39 cottages]. As a family we believe we're just looking after this building for future generations, so every winter we plough as much as we can back into the business.

What would your advice be to anyone thinking about employing 14- to 16-year-olds?

Just do it properly. You have one chance. If you upset a school by not paying someone or not looking after them, you're probably not going to be invited back. I'm happy to speak to anyone who wants to hear about it.

Contact Veryan on veryan@headlandhotel.co.uk

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