Beyond the bonus

When it comes to employee rewards and benefits that really make an impact in recruiting and retaining staff, the annual bonus and Christmas party just won’t cut it anymore.

As Felicity Barnes, HR manager of London contract caterer Just Hospitality, says: “New entrants into the hospitality market look for rewards / benefits based on culture, lifestyle and an indication as to how well their prospective employer will treat them.

“Today people want more than just a job; they look for a workplace that fits their lifestyle and expect the rewards and benefits package to reflect this.”

As Joycelyn Neve, managing director of Seafood Pub Company, says: “Financial rewards are obviously very nice but there is so much more to hospitality. Great food and service comes from people who genuinely care and believe in the product and the company they’re part of.

“To attract such people and create the right working environment for them to flourish the non-financial public recognition often means more.”

Perks which appeal to millennials, who now account for around 75% of the hospitality workforce, is of course key.

Mark Robson, managing director of Publican Awards 2018 Best Pub Employer finalist Red Mist Leisure, says: “It is widely recognised that millennials are healthier, more discerning and want a better quality of life and it is essential we reflect this in what we offer with benefits.”

Jill Scatchard, HR director at Oakman Inns, ranked for the second time in the top 20 companies in ‘The Times Best 100 Companies to Work For 2018’, says: “Rewards and benefits need to be in tune with what’s important to team members. This is why we look at bespoke rewards in addition to a standard offer.”

The reward needs to be tangible and personal – not just a few pounds in the pay slip

She adds: “The reward needs to be tangible and personal – not just a few pounds in the pay slip – and one that can be visually represented on our internal social media platform or shared on team members’ own social media.”

Scatchard insists rewards that have a strong ‘experience’ element are highly sought after and drive Oakman’s teams to excel within their field.

New World Trading Company’s pioneering employee engagement initiative Tribes, which launched two years ago, also focuses on ‘experience’ rewards. Team members each belong to one of six Tribes, and earn points on a dedicated app towards team experience treats for doing random acts of kindness, training or getting great customer feedback etc.

Natasha Waterfield, HR director for the group, which was the top ranked hospitality company in the Sunday Times’ list this year, says: “It says a lot to our teams when Tribes covers all the financial costs for them to go out locally together, in events that are chosen by the team themselves. Ultimately, Tribes is our channel to show our team members how much we appreciate them, every day.”

In addition to being highlighted by bosses for recognition, peer recognition is increasingly valued by the younger members of today’s hospitality work force.

Oakman’s main reward and recognition scheme, ‘Heart of Oakman’, allows both managers and teams to nominate colleagues for recognition and at NWTC Tribes also now includes the company’s own internal postal service. This is used by employees to send colleague messages, through the Tribes app, of praise, appreciation, jokes or friendship which are delivered in mini bottles, with 300 sent in the first five months of the ‘Message in a Bottle’ scheme.

As highlighted by Oakman’s Scatchard, recognition on social media is also highly valued by millennial employees.

The benefit of extra paid time off is something more hospitality employers are offering staff through paid sabbatical opportunities, such as Brewdog’s ‘Dog Years’ programme where staff can take four weeks off after five years to go and do something “exciting”.

Paid volunteering days are also an increasingly offered benefit, including by bespoke hospitality provider Bennett Hay.

Claire Huish, the company’s colleague services manager, says: “Our volunteering scheme has been running since 2016 and has seen team members helping with everything from working in community gardens to food banks, to cookery clubs and bicycle recycling schemes.”

She adds: “Organising volunteering opportunities where colleagues work together to complete an altruistic task can also help them connect through a shared sense of achievement and is something we have found extremely valuable in terms of increased engagement.”

Mitchells & Butlers offers ten days additional paid leave for people training to reservists or rescuers.

A day off on your birthday and when your child first starts school are benefits offered by operators including Just Hospitality. As its Felicity Barnes says: “This is really well received as no one wants to work on their birthday, but often people don’t want to use their holiday entitlement for this either.”

At BrewDog employees are given a week’s ‘Paw-ternity leave’ when adding a four-legged friend to the family. Co-founder James Watt, says: “It’s not easy trying to juggle work and settle a new dog into your life, and many members of our crew have four-legged friends at home.”

Well-being focus

With increasing focus now being put on mental as well as physical health, it is unsurprising that hospitality employers are upping their game on benefits in this area.

Just Hospitality’s Barnes says: “New entrants aren’t just looking at financial wellbeing but also at the physical and mental wellbeing provided through the benefits and rewards on offer.”

A rapidly increasing number of employers are now registering with employee assistance programmes, with charities such as the Licensed Trade Charity (including Ei Group and Stonegate) and Hospitality Action, to help staff with issues they may be experiencing outside of work.

Some such as Georgian House Hotel in London’s Pimlico, offer their own in-house ‘Well Being’ programmes. The hotel, which is currently working towards The London Healthy Workplace Charter, host weekly staff ‘Wellbeing Wednesdays’, where topics such as sleep, exercise or diet are discussed with related activities such as smoothie making. General manager Adam Rowledge says: “This shows that we understand the pressure of our team’s roles and have their health at the forefront of our priorities, which has been greatly appreciated by everyone.”

Bennett Hay has a ‘Restore’ healthy eating manifesto for team members, developed in partnership with a food and nutritional consultant, which focuses on four key health areas of fuel, heart, core and mood.

The company’s Huish says: “Through this initiative and range of foods created by our culinary teams, which our people can enjoy as part of their daily meal allowance, we’ve been able to better support the wellbeing of the team, something we believe is essential in creating a happy and efficient workforce.”

Staff benefits that have the biggest usage at Bennett Hay is its entirely company funded ‘Health Cash Plan’ which gives staff a contribution towards their health care bills for treatments such as physiotherapy, dental and chiropody. Huish says: “As a company with wellbeing as a priority we needed to put something tangible in place to help our colleagues stay healthy.”

NWTC is among those currently developing a company Wellbeing programme, with a.key focus on mental health. This will include a self-developed Mindfulness programme covering mindfulness specifically within the hospitality industry and the importance of self-awareness for everyone.

Brewhouse & Kitchen, winner of the Publican Awards 2018 Best Pub Employer (up to 500 employees), is investing in wellbeing courses, including mental health first aid courses for its managers. Hayley Connor, head of people and learning, says: ““The courses will not only raise awareness of the signs a person may present when experiencing anxiety or depression, but give managers confidence in approaching the subject and helping an individual through a tough time.”

At Just Hospitality the ‘International Day of Happiness’ (20 March) was celebrated with a week full of events aimed at helping staff to live a happy life, including a lucky dip (with prizes ranging from an extra day off to £50 for charity), a nutrition workshop on the link between the food we eat and mental health, a joke exchange, and a happiness survey to gauge employees’ level of happiness and find out what engagement activities they would want to attend.

The company’s Barnes says: “We now hold happiness activities each month, which have included a tea blending workshop and ice cream tasting.”

Engaging with an external provider to deliver a staff benefits package is recommended by Red Mist Leisure. MD Robson says: “We pay a monthly subscription on behalf of staff to Perkbox, an online platform that our staff can log on to and get an array of free and discounted perks such as mobile phone insurance or cinema tickets. It has a high uptake with our staff.”

Of course key to a successful staff benefits and rewards programme is finding out exactly what is going to push staff buttons.

Georgian House’s Adam Rowledge says: “We use Purple Cube’s Talent Toolkit to find out what our team will value most and this helps further our communication across the business.”

The company has also created a staff committee, which gives the team ownership of staff welfare and social events.

Perks of the job

• Educational subsidies to help fulfil a further education of staff’s choice. Free team meals on shift (replacing 50% food discount on shift) - NWTC.

 

• Equity share ownership programme. Colleagues of all levels who achieve above-and-beyond what is expected of them are gifted a percentage of the company by way of a reward. The company can then buy the shares back at a multiple based on the growth of the business in a set number of years - Bennett Hay

 

• Staff all day festival party – when the business closes for one day to ensure all employees can attend a festival style event so that the company can say ‘thank you’ to them for their support in the past year. – Oakman Inns

 

• Dinner bed and breakfast in their own pub or a sister pub - a reward for team members and benefits the business as a form of training – Seafood Pub Company.

 

• Trips and days out including Taste of London trip and Marylebone Gin Makers trip -Seafood Pub Company.

 

• Once a year staff get a 60% discounted break at any UK Village – Center Parcs.

 

• “Good Egg” charity ambassador at each site to empower teams to support their own causes is and enable real engagement with local communities – NWTC.