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THE PROBLEM OF QUALIFIED STAFF IN THE RESTAURANT AND HOSPITALITY

We analyze and identify the reasons for the lack of personnel in the restaurant and hospitality industry and propose solutions

February 8, 2024


We live in times of change, no one can deny it, that is why today we are going to analyze the moment that both catering and hospitality are experiencing after the pandemic and how it has affected **qualified personnel ** (Waiters, Cooks, cleaning staff, receptionists, Room Helpers, among many others...).

It is a worrying issue that deserves an entire article to analyze it and try to identify the reasons and possible solutions.

In this first section we will analyze why this situation has arisen and in the next blog we will propose solutions in this regard.

THE REASONS


THE PANDEMIC


One of the main drawbacks regarding personnel has been the pandemic, although it has probably caused the acceleration of others that already existed.

For 2 years, restaurant staff, for example waiters, have had to make a living with jobs in other sectors in order to survive.

These have found jobs with much better schedules for their personal and family life, better salaries and conditions in general much better than those that exist in the restaurant and hospitality industry.

All those who have left are not going to return unless the sector changes its model regarding personnel. A model that today continues with little pay, little training, little motivation, spectacularly long hours..., to name a few.

The pandemic has not been the problem in itself, but rather the accelerator of the model change that must be carried out in the sector no matter what.

SCHEDULES


Schedules are one of the main drawbacks when it comes to finding qualified personnel, especially in the case of waiters.

These catering schedules are very complicated both to manage and to close specific times with the team. Basically because the current model does not take workers into account but the priority is focused on the client.

Another of the big headaches that directly affects schedules is the lack of planning, that is, not knowing how many clients we will have to serve today. If this forecast is not correct, the schedules are the most affected and tend to become lengthened, in addition to adding stress and tension to the team. Not to mention the poor service provided to the client for not having specific plans.

SALARY


What can be said about salaries that has not already been said in this sector. A waiter has an average salary in Spain of €13,000 and a cook about €18,000 and let alone dining room assistants who can be below €11,000, taking into account that the contract is for the entire year. The topic of tips is enough for an entire blog.

The salaries are rather low, if we add to that that the only extra benefit that is usually provided is free meals, it is not very attractive.

Restaurateurs are trying to rectify this, but it is evident that to raise salaries we must increase profits and with it the average ticket per table, which requires us to have much stricter daily control of costs and profits than we thought. We carry many restaurateurs. Furthermore, the prices of menus and dishes must be in line with those of the market, so we must be able to review the menus almost daily.

NEW VALUES


The values of generations change, societies advance.

I remember that for my grandparents work was everything, you lived to work without thinking about other things. My grandparents never had the need to travel, for leisure, let alone have a happy life, they simply didn't even imagine it because there were no airplanes or amusement parks... nothing.

In the generation of the 80s/90s we already began to discover that work was a means to get to live as one wanted.

In the new generations the goals are to live as well as possible and above all without working or doing the minimum to live the maximum. The vast majority want to be influencers or similar, so it will be increasingly difficult to attract professionals to our businesses without extra motivations.

INNOVATION AND/OR TECHNOLOGY


One of the sectors that invest less in innovation and technology is the restaurant and hospitality industry. They are business models that still work as they did 50 years ago, every day we see waiters taking notes with or without a pencil, customers raising their finger or shouting to be served... Wow, the same thing that happened in prehistory, to make a bit of a joke.

From my own experience, of all the restaurants we have visited, 35% it is almost certain that if we check the account there will be some error. The amount of money lost due to this is estimated at 2% of a restaurant's turnover.

Not to mention the wait that can be desperate when a customer asks for the bill and it doesn't arrive. We have seen customers extremely angry for waiting 30 minutes to pay. Obviously, no matter how well the food and the service at the table have been, that customer is not going to come back again, and they are also going to give us disastrous comments about the service on social networks .

And we say all this because in the end the service suffers the stress of all these problems that could surely be easily solved by giving technological and innovative tools to the room staff or even the ** clients**, to give an example.

It seems that in this sense you are beginning to see green shoots thanks to the pandemic and the QR. But having a menu on the web is only the beginning of hundreds of tasks that can be improved with innovation and technology.

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF BEFORE LOOKING FOR PERSONNEL


Sometimes we look for a waiter or cook without carefully analyzing our needs and without asking ourselves questions. As some wise man said, ask yourself 4 or 5 questions before deciding, you may find another solution. So we leave a few questions before publishing the second part of the article where we will address possible solutions to the search for qualified personnel for catering.

  1. Are we sure that we CANNOT optimize the tasks of the restaurant or hotel much more and better?


  2. Can I optimize the waiter's work so that he does fewer tasks at the table?


  3. Can I transfer part of the experience from the waiter to the customer?


  4. Should I have data about my clients to build their loyalty and have more reservations?


  5. Should I have cash and a mobile phone or should I have other forms of payment that generate less workload?


  6. Can you communicate with the diner at the table more effectively and efficiently?


  7. Have I defined what I want to gain/sacrifice and what lifestyle we want for ourselves and our teams before looking for staff?


  8. Do I have historical data and reserves to better plan the necessary personnel?


  9. Do I have the costs and benefits controlled up to date in my restaurant or hotel?