Mark Lewis of Hospitality Action: ‘Operators have already squeezed out every saving they can’

Hospitality managers today are often expected to support teams through far more than just operational challenges. Are leaders increasingly becoming ‘accidental counsellors’?

What tends to happen is that it builds over time. A colleague might open up after a shift or message later in the evening because they see the manager as someone who will listen. And once that trust is there, those conversations can move into more personal territory, such as anxiety and financial pressures.

The challenge is that this support can become ongoing and informal, without clear boundaries or structure. Managers are doing their best, but often without the training, time or external support to step back from it. But that’s where we come in. We ensure there’s somewhere people can turn when things are getting difficult, so those conversations don’t sit on one person’s shoulders.

You’ve also spoken about the rise of ‘quiet resilience’ in hospitality. What does that look like in practice?

Resilience has always been part of hospitality, but what we’re seeing more of now is what people are calling ‘quiet resilience’. Rather than talking openly about pressure, people find small ways to reset and carry on, things that help them stay steady in the rhythm of a demanding day. This isn’t a bad thing – it’s why the Employee Assistance Programme is in place, to give people the tools they need to overcome problems on their own. The issue is when this alone isn’t enough.

Quiet resilience does have its limits. It can make it harder to see when someone is struggling or when pressure is building beyond what they can manage alone. That’s why it matters how we think about resilience. It will always be part of hospitality, but it shouldn’t only be quiet. Sometimes, for it to really work, it needs to be loud too.

Despite many challenges, there are still clear moments of unity and support. What do those moments say about the industry today?

Those moments show us that, for all the pressure the industry is under, there’s still a really strong sense of community at its core. Back to the Floor is a good example of that. You’ve got senior leaders stepping out of boardrooms and back into service in a way that’s energetic, fun and genuinely collaborative, but underneath that, it’s also about people coming together to support their own industry.

This year’s Back to the Floor was the most successful yet and raised a record £405,000, which is an incredible result. And that’s the wider point. Hospitality Action exists because the industry understands we are living through incredibly challenging times. That hasn’t gone away. But what hasn’t gone away either is the willingness of our people to look out for each other, and that is what gives us all confidence to carry on. Not that the storm isn’t there, but that people know how to move through it together.

Find out more about Hospitality Action and its Employee Assistance Programme or call 020 3004 5500

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