Hunt Hospitality operates a suite of pubs in the NSW central coast region. Front man Stephen Hunt is known for his proactive approach to staff management and thus far hasn’t had any difficulty getting sufficient numbers. The group reports while the environment has certainly brought pressures, the team has been “really responsive” to inclusion in the ongoing communication.

“We employ like-minded people whose mission is to make people’s days,” says operations manager Ricci-Lee Wheeler. “At times it’s hard to stay true to our purpose with such a heavy focus on compliance, but we have not seen our teams moving to other industries.”

Some large hospitality employers who report not having had problems also cite focus on creating employment opportunities through new business opportunities, which has bolstered retention.

WHAT STAFF NEED

Hospo Voice is the hospitality arm of the massive United Workers Union. It surveyed 1,150 workers across the industry (including pubs) at the height of the pandemic; coming so soon after the bushfires, the results demonstrated how exposed the workforce continues to be.

The survey found 60 per cent of the hospitality workforce had been stood down without pay or lost their jobs. A further 25 per cent were on reduced hours. Four out of five workers were casual and nearly half (47.5 per cent) of these did not have enough savings to cover rent, food and bills, effectively forced into poverty overnight.

The survey found: 35 per cent had to borrow money from friends or family, 32 per cent had to access super, 30 per cent had to ask for a rent reduction or deferral, 20 per cent had to go without essentials, 12 per cent needed help from a charity or foodbank, 10 per cent had to move out of their house, and seven per cent suffered a relationship breakdown.

Even before COVID-19 shook the world many employees in hospitality were becoming increasingly aware and dissatisfied with aspects of their work, most often around hours and working conditions, underscored by the socially unpalatable problem of employers underpaying. The movement gave rise to venue rating website fairplate.org.au, where hundreds of workers around Australia have spoken out in the quest to hold employers to higher standards, which the Union suggests could prove valuable insight.

“There is a real opportunity for good employers to step up and lead,” offers Hospo Voice spokesperson Karma Lord.

“Employers that want to attract and retain good staff need to pay their staff properly and treat them with respect.

“Hospo Voice members are determined to make sure COVID-19 a turning point for this industry; where we can finally start to build a better industry, based on fair pay, secure jobs, and respect.”

Stephen Hunt is himself a third-generation publican, and looking at a half-century in the game of life in not too many years. He believes today’s youth have more pressure on them, and the relentless eye of social media. He has observed coping mechanisms he acknowledges are a “little different” to his own and sees some finding the crisis a bit more difficult. He felt his group had to ‘get on top’ of any problems, for the sake of the individual and the whole.

“The way we look at it is, the more we do, the better they’ll perform and the better the team is,” says Hunt. “We truly do want everyone we have in our team. We have a strong ‘no-dickhead’ policy, so we look at it as why wouldn’t you look after them, if you want the best from them.”

Last year Hunt Hospitality set up an employee assistance program in association with Newcastle outfit Newpsych, which has access to psychologists all up the north coast. Notices were put in the team newsletter offering confidential help from Newpsych if it was needed. The program was beginning to see traction, and this has been accelerated by the pandemic.

The arrangement is that the group pays for three consults for a staff member. As per advice, the psychologist will typically know by the second session if the person needs ongoing help, at which point they are trained to get them into the public health system.

The realisation ‘we’re all in this together’ has brought some teams closer, finding a sense of comradery in their frontline brotherhood. This has frequently translated into a strong sense of duty in operational compliance, on behalf of the business and the industry as a whole.

Indeed some positives have transpired; some staff working less hours than usual have spoken of the opportunity to connect more and find better balance in external pursuits to work, benefitting relationships, fitness, health, study and more.

But enjoying downtime must usually be coupled with financial surety, and with JobKeeper set to be scaled back at the end of the month many hospitality workers will again face financial issues. Many were forced to turn to their super for financial support even with the full support payments, compounding concerns about long-term security.

“Between January and July this year, super contributions for hospitality staff at Intrust Super dropped 61 per cent,” reports Brendan O’Farrell, CEO of hospitality specialist Intrust Super, who believes financial security will become a big consideration for jobseekers in a post-COVID world.

“That’s a pretty clear indication that people in the hospitality industry are currently doing it tough. So, it’s understandable that financial security has jumped to the top of the priority list for a lot of people in the industry.”

DURING THE PANDEMIC

Where possible, much of the workforce were eager to return to previous employment. Some groups tweaked the roles of many employee – food and beverage attendants, chefs, even management – to assist with tasks such as cleaning, delivery driving, painting and strategizing. This diversification reportedly allowed employees to return to work far quicker.

The disruptions across society ultimately produced obstacles, particularly around the revision to school hours and at-home learning, forcing parents to find alternative arrangements. Greater flexibility in working arrangements was needed to accommodate these staffers.

Initially some employees (typically over 50s) were genuinely concerned about the possible health effects of the virus. Increased hygiene measures were adopted back of house as well as front to help ensure these employees were comfortable, and again flexible working arrangements were adopted, allowing some jobs to be carried out in off-hours, facilitating minimal contact and social distancing.

Hunt Hospitality went further to consider alternative skillsets in their staff, and after getting legal assurance put it to the team.

“We asked, what are some other skills you might have, and would you be prepared to do them at work?” relays Hunt. “A lot of them filled out a survey. We got one young fella who’s helping us with employment management incentive programs and he’s also into marketing, so he’s been coming in and helping us boost marketing stuff.

“We wouldn’t have known previously that these staff had these skills.”

In the height of the shutdown some larger groups chose to invest in financial support of their staff, realising the potential long-term benefits. Australian Venue Co. initiated its ‘Meals for Hospo Mates’ in-house support program for employees and their families, and furthered it when Melbourne venues shut their doors for the second time. AVC also created a $100k+ financial hardship package helping visa workers not entitled to government assistance.

Similarly, Merivale went above and beyond government support, both financially and in providing reassurance.

“During the first phase of COVID-19, the Merivale Benefits Programme provided immediate financial relief to all eligible staff and also provided the opportunity for those team members experiencing significant hardship to access further support,” explained a spokesperson.

“As we continue on the road to recovery, regular communication and supporting resources to our team is our priority. There is so much information out there it gets confusing, so keeping in touch with our team is crucial.”

Marcello Colosimo’s Momento Group was one of those that swiftly found alternate business and ways to utilise and employ staff, launching pseudo supermarkets in drive-though bottleshops. What began largely selling toilet paper to locals when supermarket shelves were bare evolved to offer all manner of goods not normally sold by the pub, and variations on many things that were normally sold, from packaged meals to pre-batch cocktails.

Momento reports staff were very adaptable. The pandemic trading sees all staff required to log-in the same as customers, and to have their temperature checked. A mandatory mask policy has been implemented for all kitchen and front of house staff. Far from the employees, the biggest challenge is said to have come policing COVID regulations with customers, sometimes inclined to stand and mingle and ignore directions. Unfortunately, this has led to several “frustrating” 1-star reviews.

The group reports team culture is “super important” and has communicated to the teams using Facebook groups for several years. The system has paid dividends through the tough times, clarifying and communicating group values – known as ‘The Momento Way’ – to structing reward mechanisms, such as the ‘Wheel of Wonder’ that every week recognises a team member in each venue displaying and living one or more of the group values, and ‘Star of the Month’ where one employee is recognised and awarded, getting their name on a perpetual trophy and receiving a $500 debit card.

“These systems help to keep the team cohesive during this challenging business environment,” says group GM Jason Jelicich. “While these don’t sound like ‘new’ initiatives in the face of COVID, they are systems we planted and have nurtured for a number of years now, and enable us to reap the rewards when the business was turned upside down.”

ON THE HORIZON

One of the great challenges of the current situation is that no-one is an expert. Almost every day we become aware of something new we realise we didn’t know, nor even that we would someday need to know. Some insights are being teased from the symbiotic relationships seen in some businesses, but likely the passage of time will change things further as the dust settles.

Hunt has seen a staff preferential move toward short, sharp shifts, and speculates there may be significant further adaptations as unemployment rates increase unevenly across the population. 

“It will be interesting to see the workforce change. I believe we may even see older people coming back into hospitality as they may have been laid off from other sectors and need the work. This was the trend after 2008, during the GFC.”

Momento is addressing the situation head-on, which has involved engaging the services of employment specialist firm HospoHire. The founders of HospoHire worked in bars and saw first-hand the continual challenge of finding staff. Eyeing friends applying for corporate positions and being subjected to psychometric tests, the principle was applied to hospitality. 

The strategy is to give the employer access to an ongoing supply of candidates. This starts with notifications in the likes of university campuses and markets as well as the venues and its social media. Initial applicants are given a toned-down version of the corporates tests, first determining details and experience, asking trade-specific questions to test knowledge, then a general character assessment on role-orientation. It automatically does reference checks, emailing referees, and collates information and presents to the employer in a dashboard.