For those of us no longer labelled ‘youth’ the realisation of decades flying by with ever increasing speed is a leveller. It also points to a responsibility in recognising those the term does apply to need our support.
This applies to the hospitality industry as much as any other, and given the ongoing ordeals of hospitality in navigating the coronavirus pandemic and Brexit, never more so.
The principle of older more experienced people teaching, developing, and nurturing young talent is the very foundation of society, but like everything in life, some do it better than others.
The age profile of hospitality’s workforce is an extremely flat pyramid, with the vast majority at the foot of it, young people. Young people setting out in their working lives and testing out a stint in hospitality.
It is at this crucial point that most are lost to other industries, for a multitude of reasons, some historical, some current.
The scale and scope of the hospitality industry, plus a myriad of complex issues faced by it makes finding a wide range of tactical solutions and applying them to a cohesive strategy elusive. But perhaps looking at things with an inverted perspective is the starting point.
Someone that did precisely that is the relatively new, and relatively youthful CEO of the Institute of Hospitality, Robert Richardson. I spoke with Richardson to try and understand what he is doing, and why he advocates a different perspective to solving hospitality’s people and skills conundrum.
Robert Richardson FIH, Chief Executive, Institute of HospitalityRichardson explained: “I have thought long and hard about hospitality’s people and skills crisis, and use the term crisis in plural, we are short of people and we are short of sufficiently trained people. Hospitality has for a long time been short of well-trained people, now we are seeing shortages in people willing to enter the industry.
“There are initiatives to address the inflow of young people into our industry. The ChooseHospitality campaign being the highest profile example and, in my opinion, undoubtedly one of the best. Everyone in hospitality should now be getting behind this, and please do, it’s fantastic.
“Addressing how in the short, medium, and long term we reset our industry to have a sufficient pipeline of talent development powering growth is best left to those that will benefit most from it. People that can envisage a rewarding career in hospitality, motivated to attain their own goals, alongside those of the industry.
“You also need to start this process through empowering young people to shape their own destiny, not telling them what they want, or how to do things. When we say empower, we have to mean it and live it, which is why the Institute of Hospitality created our first ever Youth Council.
“The Institute of Hospitality Youth Council is set to become part of the wider transition, visioning hospitality’s future, and shaping it. It is a pleasure to be part of this process, and you can join us in being part of that journey here.”
Speaking with Richardson you get a glimpse of what might just be possible if we all join together and embrace the objective of cohesively improving hospitality.