Fair work challenges and opportunities in hospitality
Clearly some of the above are both industry and fair work challenges, and stakeholders acknowledged the areas and practices of fair work that were particularly problematic for the industry. Looking at the issues most cited, stakeholders first recognised that low pay was more of a problem relative to other industries, but some highlighted variation across subsectors of the industry and across occupations, with pockets of competitive and high pay.
Second, they also noted that the nature of the product or service offer in the industry can often involve distinctive working hours patterns (including evenings, weekends and important public holidays), long shifts and split shifts that impact on caring responsibilities and work-life balance. Stakeholders recognised that these patterns made it difficult to recruit into and retain staff in parts of the industry.
Third, and related to the scheduling of work and the operation of shift systems, stakeholders talked of the challenges in accessing and delivering appropriate training and learning to all staff, notwithstanding the importance of training and learning in ensuring professional customer service.
Last, some stakeholders highlighted pressure at times of peak demand that can be difficult for staff with mental health issues and can also lead to conflict between and across staff and management that requires effective management responses. For some, this was more problematic where more traditional or what they termed ‘old school’ management approaches dominated. It was recognised that addressing these issues might require changes to working conditions and to management styles.
However, there was a strong view across stakeholders that the industry is better at delivering good working conditions than it was in the past, and that the need to do so was recognised by most employers. Interestingly, some employers who perceived themselves as long-standing adopters of progressive employment practices now felt that others in the industry were catching up with them. While it was agreed that many in the industry might not have a specific or shared idea of what fair work means in Scotland, many businesses were still seen as delivering it. The need to retain and attract staff was seen as the key driver of better practice, while the potential of fair work to support better work, careers and pay in the industry, enhance the profile of hospitality and enhance business performance was also widely recognised.
Looking more specifically at the dimensions of fair work in the industry, stakeholders believed that employment could offer real opportunities for social mobility for some, citing examples of individuals who had started in entry level positions but progressed to very senior roles. As one stakeholder noted:
“Hospitality is an absolute meritocracy. You can climb the ladder and you can grow and develop. You can thrive more than I think in any other kind of industry. It’s an industry that gives people opportunity.”
Stakeholders also acknowledged, however, that the range of opportunities available may not be sufficiently visible to impact on perceptions of careers in hospitality. The industry is also seen to offer significant flexibility to staff, especially young people, students or those who work in hospitality as a supplementary job.
Stakeholders could point to sub-sectors of the industry and occupations (e.g. chefs[7]) where starting salaries and benefits were competitive with other industries, and expressed a view that pay and benefits were gradually improving across the sector. There was significant indignation by stakeholders that some rewards for staff – that are clearly costs to the employer – are not recognised, such as tips, provision of meals, subsidised accommodation, car use, and access to leisure and social facilities. As one stakeholder noted,
“We invest in staff accommodation … paying for people's driving lessons to try and encourage them to learn to drive … so they could get themselves to work as opposed to relying on the buses. That's a pure cost to my business, but it's an innovative solution to the problems of getting staff.”
Examples were also offered of reported staff preferences for tips, for example, rather than a small increase in the hourly rate, but there is little systematic or robust evidence available on these or any other preferences.
The provision (or not) of secure and stable employment is undoubtedly connected to the range of business models operated in hospitality. Stakeholders talked about career workers as distinct from more transient workers, and their reliance on core and casual workers. For some this was a direct consequence of the business model they had adopted, and subsequent patterns of demand for hospitality services, particularly for rural businesses where demand can be concentrated in specific parts of the week. The challenge in aligning customer demand and staff working hours also meant that some rural businesses reported being unable to open on occasion due to a lack of staff availability or shortages. For employers who recognised the importance of stable and secure employment and hours, but with highly variable patterns of demand, the challenge was in ensuring that employee preferences were accommodated as far as possible (especially in a context of staff shortages), though they recognised that this could not always be achieved.
Understanding staff preferences is clearly linked to the opportunities for effective employee voice. Stakeholders recognised the importance of better communications and communications channels suited to the whole employee group, for example, particular mechanisms favoured by younger workers. But operational issues created barriers to voice: shift systems created pressure on consistent communications in some cases, as did pressure of work, and the diversity of the sector created a range of different challenges in employee voice. Some employers pointed to different types of voice channels, many informal but some more formalised, but noted that these were used variably, and there was little systematic insight into their effectiveness in dealing with employee concerns. Turning to collective voice, none of our respondents questioned the legitimacy of a union role in the industry in principle, though there were significant criticism of union activity in practice and stated preferences for more constructive voice from within and beyond unions.
On the remaining dimensions of fair work, employment in hospitality was seen by most as fulfilling and personally rewarding. Usefully, a number of stakeholders highlighted the attractions of a career in hospitality: that it was often a highly social setting in which to work, with varied customer interactions; that it could involve travel and exposure to different environments, experiences and cultures; that it provided opportunities to develop problem solving skills in response to customer needs; that it involved working autonomously; and that staff were able to learn on an ongoing basis.
On respect as a dimension of fair work, while some employers pointed to their own respect policies and practices and stressed their commitment to respectful treatment at work for all, operational stresses and economic pressures were seen regrettably as capable of undermining respectful treatment in some circumstances. Further, and notwithstanding the above challenges around working hours and patterns, some stakeholders noted that the industry offers flexible working opportunities that are sensitive to peoples’ life stages and caring responsibilities.
Several key stakeholders argued that, despite these strengths in fair work, the industry itself doesn’t “shout about it enough”, nor does it stress and proclaim sufficiently the community benefits delivered by hospitality businesses across Scotland.