People sat in a restaurant People sat in a restaurant

Nov 2021

Standing out from the crowd and winning in the hospitality talent market

Author: John Tarrant

I had a really interesting couple of hours one evening last week. It started with feedback from one of our hospitality clients along the lines of ‘The new ad toolkit is working brilliantly. Nearly all of our vacancies are filled, we have pretty much all shifts covered and, as a result, the footfall and the footfall conversion targets in all of our outlets are being met. Thank you so much, you guys are awesome’. Their success isn’t just down to the sharp, creative messaging in their toolkit however. They had a ‘good covid’, delivered to staff in those moments of truth and came out with their reputation well in tact. (And I should point out all largely self sufficient but with a little bit of help from us along the way).

Afterwards, this happy Dad went out with his family to watch the new James Bond film with a firm plan to eat in the well known Portuguese chicken restaurant next door beforehand. No such luck. Despite being only a third full, the wait for a table was an hour and a half and growing. The reason being ‘We have no staff and we can’t get any staff’. Oh dear. Oh dear. (one of the Double Os). So we then had to go next door again to a well known Pizza chain. A warm greeting from the Manager who told us he’d stopped advertising as all his business was coming in having been turned away from the place next door.

And in a nutshell, there we have the nub of the current talent market with some real winners and some real losers. Don’t believe some of the lazy journalism you see out there. Yes, there are a record number of vacancies but hospitality is a perfect destination for many – those with the spirit to serve who thrive on the hospitality mentality where a sense of home, fun, worth, authenticity and team genuinely prevail. There’s a lot of hard yards of course, it's not just about stand out attraction - you earn your reputation and have to live and breathe your employer brand every day...but the rewards are there for those that deliver.

News & Insights

Back to News & Insights
A sparkler

Mar 2024

Igniting your Employer Brand through Employee Advocacy

Read more
Magnifying glass

Feb 2024

Free Employer Brand audit from DNA

Read more
Back to top
Get in touch