Five challenges facing hospitality HR leaders right now

Meanwhile, Azumi, which operates over 40 restaurants worldwide in locations ranging from Miami to Hong Kong under brands such as Roka and Zuma, has also been struggling to maximise its international appeal amid the tightening of immigration rules. Ellie Hickling, head of people and culture at Azumi Group, said: “One of our big attractions is that we have fantastic seasonal locations, and our USP has always been ‘stay with us for 20 years and experience five countries’. It used to be that people could also come and live and work in London, but we can’t have that same movement of people anymore.”

2. Perception that hospitality is a stopgap and not a career 

Hospitality’s age-old perception problem has prompted operators to come up with creative ways to capture market share. And while industry-wide campaigns such as Hospitality Rising in 2022 made good progress in highlighting the fact that the sector is a career and not just a job, Liz Flynn, people director at Cubitt House, affirmed the industry needs to do more to recruit and retain new talent. “Whether we like it or not, people are still talking about low salary, long hours and lack of work-life balance, so we do need to be better as well. That’s a huge piece of work.”

The roundtable acknowledged some sectors within hospitality can offer more flexibility than others. For example, B&I caterers can capitalise on the fact that they can offer staff sociable hours, with Karen Wellbelove, head of people at Gather & Gather, having pointed out: “We do attract people from hotels and restaurants who still want a creative foodie job, but can come in early and go home at 3.30pm.”

Meanwhile, Andrea Jardine, HR manager casual resources at Marriott, has been actively working with young students from local schools to provide work experience opportunities at JW Marriott Grosvenor House on London’s Park Lane. The partnership also helps to futureproof her pool of casual staff for large-scale events at Grosvenor House, which famously hosts one of Europe’s largest hotel ballrooms. She has recommended providers such as Enterprise Advisers and Hospitality Connect for fellow operators.

3. Unintended consequences of the Employment Rights Act

While those in the room agreed that the Employment Rights Act which came into force earlier this year was generally good practice for industries, they expressed continued concern that it may lead to unintended consequences for hospitality.

Attendees echoed some of the concerns raised by Greene King boss Nick Mackenzie in his recent opinion piece for The Times, in which he used the extended pub opening hours during the World Cup and the short-notice rota changes that inevitably came with it to illustrate the need for greater flexibility when drawing up legislation that aligns with hospitality’s unique set of operational challenges.

Jake Wolfe, category director for indirects, non-food and strategic projects at Elior, said: “We’ve had some [sporting] fixtures when the interest in the fixture wasn’t as big as we had expected, so the sales revenue just wasn’t there, which meant that we had slightly overstaffed. Those can sometimes be explained away, but it’s about still trying to be flexible enough to react.”

Cubitt House’s Flynn added: “The government are so anti-zero hours, but don’t seem to realise that some people want it. It’s different to working 40 hours for two years with zero commitment.” 

4. Day-to-day rota planning 

One of the long-standing, day-to-day challenges for hospitality operators is rota planning. Attendees admitted the industry has notoriously struggled with providing staff rotas in advance, unlike other sectors such as retail and medicine. Azumi’s Hickling said: “We should know what a dream rota looks like. You can be clever about it; the second week might be subject to change, but at least give people the reassurance.”

Yasmin Boromand, people director at Iconic Hotels, diagnosed hospitality with a larger “mindset” issue that has led to an unhealthy status quo. “Sometimes I sit in those forums and I’m thinking, ‘You know it’s just us, right?’. The finance and media sector have been doing this for 50 years, but it’s just part of how we operate,” she said.

Flynn agreed that the industry has “got away with a lot for a long time”. She said: “There’s no reason why you can’t do a rota two weeks in advance. You can plan events a year in advance, so why not rotas?”

5. Uncertainty about the future of the workplace 

Alison Fitzer, business development director at Indeed Flex, said there was still a lack of certainty around the nitty-gritty of the Employment Rights Act. The Caterer hosted a roundtable with Indeed Flex to discuss how hospitality can prepare for changes to employment rights back in October 2024, and while the Bill received Royal Assent in December 2025, it is being rolled out in staggered phases throughout 2026 and 2027, with specific details still yet to be seen. “It’s all up in the air and it’s difficult to plan because you don’t know what the government is going to do. Now that we have a new PM, who knows what’s going to happen,” said Fitzer. “It’s a volatile place. You just need to keep listening and speaking to your peers.”

The roundtable also touched on the bigger unknowns in employment as a whole, especially the disruptive nature of AI. But for Frasers Hospitality’s Smith, tech-induced uncertainty around the workplace could work in hospitality’s favour. As more and more young people struggle to find employment in traditionally sought-after sectors that are now prone to automation and AI, the HR lead suspected hospitality will have a chance to reinvent itself.

“One thing that is different now is we don’t know what the next five years look like from an employment perspective,” Smith explained. “People coming through their education now are going to be more aware of automation in fields like medicine, so in a few years’ time, the best jobs will be the genuinely human jobs, which are in hospitality.”

The roundtable concluded with a cocktail masterclass hosted at the Alchemist in London’s Victoria, during which attendees learned to make the bar’s signature theatrical cocktails, including the Berry Bellini and the Cherry Bomb. The experience served as a stark reminder of the importance of those “human jobs” that Smith was so right to point out.

Who was at the roundtable?

• Yasmin Boromand, people director, Iconic Hotels
• Karen Wellbelove, head of people, Gather & Gather
• Alicja Kalamarz, head of people, CH&Co
• Liz Flynn, people director, Cubitt House
• Ellie Hickling, head of people and culture, Azumi Group
• Andrea Jardine, HR manager casual resources, Marriott
• Chad Smith, head of recruitment and onboarding EMEA, Frasers Hospitality
• Jake Wolfe, director, Elior
• Sarah Peck, country manager, Indeed Flex
• Alison Fitzer, business development director, Indeed Flex
• Tom Braine, senior client executive, Indeed Flex 

A note from the sponsor, Indeed Flex 

We were delighted to partner with The Caterer on this roundtable. Honest conversations about workforce challenges including retention, engagement, flexibility and the changes ahead are vital for the hospitality industry. Bringing together leaders from across the sector makes that progress possible.

About Indeed Flex

At Indeed Flex, we work with hospitality businesses every day to help them build flexible, resilient teams. Hearing directly from operators about what is working and what isn’t is invaluable to us. We are proud to support a space where these insights can be shared, and to play our part in strengthening the industry’s approach to its people.