Some 30 months after Covid-19 reached our shores, the biggest challenge for hospitality and accommodation businesses remains finding enough staff, skilled or otherwise, to be able to operate at the capacity they would like.
Many people outside the industry assumed once the borders were re-opened it would be business as usual as overseas tourists returned to mix with Kiwis getting out and about after the two years of restrictions.
How wrong they were, as hospitality was hit with huge staff shortages as immigration settings remained tight, backpackers stayed away, and our own young Kiwis started flying off on their delayed OE’s.
This was something Hospitality New Zealand had feared might happen, and was why throughout last year they put the pressure on the Government to let in skilled staff. Unfortunately, that was to no avail. But in anticipation, they had already launched two programmes aimed at training and upskilling Kiwis.
First was Springboard, which was designed to support businesses, mainly in hard-hit regions, that didn’t have the time or money to train and upskill their staff. Co-designed with the Ministry for Social Development, it supported operators with wage supplements and course fees through the Covid recovery phase to help build a resilient and capable domestic workforce.
The focus was on courses in areas of the greatest skills shortage, including chef training, management, and accommodation, and it offered short, entry-level courses and certifications as well as leadership training and up to NZQA Level 4 modules in cookery.
Then came Hospitality NZ's online training platform Typsy. This was designed to boost skills and capabilities of employees for operators and create tomorrow’s leaders. It had extensive hospitality training content that offered staff, from entry-level to middle management, a choice of courses covering the full range of hospitality categories – beverage, culinary, service, accommodation, housekeeping, business, management, compliance, and COVID.
Both are proving to be real winners; but Hospitality NZ knew they needed to do more, both in training people and engaging workers early, providing access to career pathways and developing leaders of the future.
So, this month they have launched its Emerging Leaders Programme.
This is aimed at developing the hospitality and accommodation workforce using a unique approach of engaging workers as soon as they enter the industry, and provides them with ready access to skills development and career pathways and progression.
The idea is to provide current and future supervisors and managers with insights, information, and ideas on how to develop their leadership skills. The courses will be delivered online to support accessibility with immediate in job application and will provide a programme that is regionally inclusive and relevant.
Hospitality NZ has partnered with world-renowned service culture expert Shane Green. Shane is a New Zealand business leader who consulted with global Fortune 500 companies on customer experience and organisational culture. He began his hospitality journey in New Zealand at the Christchurch Park Royal but has gone on to work with The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, Cipriani, W Hotels, and MGM Resorts. He has also worked with companies outside of hospitality like BMW, NBA, MSC Cruises, and Westfield.
“I have been fortunate to be involved with numerous hospitality groups and properties and over the years have learned how important it is to develop future managers with strong leadership skills, skills that inspire employees to perform at their best and deliver outstanding guest interactions. I designed this programme to provide young New Zealanders with the foundation they need to be successful in the future.”
Our industry is renowned for training people on the job, and operators do a great job of that with the support of our online courses.
This takes it a step further.
With the skills shortages and limits on immigrants, we need to do more to develop future leaders. The one-to-many format of the Emerging Leaders Programme will allow whole teams to upskill together and will embed the culture of development and excellence the industry is so proud of.
“I firmly believe that we are in an employee experience economy; meaning that more than ever before our employees will define how we operate, who we operate with, and our long term success. Companies must invest in their employees and one of the most important ways they can do that is by ensuring there is strong leaders in place; managers who not only get things done but inspire their people to perform at their best.”
It’s an exciting programme I believe will go a long way to making our industry more resilient. Importantly, it’s an investment in the future of hospitality’s people – which is what we’re all about.
“This programme is not necessarily going to have an impact today, though I hope it entices more young people to consider hospitality as a career, but it will ensure our industry, our guests, and New Zealand as a brand, has a deep bench of managers who know how to lead teams who want to deliver an authentic and exceptional service experience.”
