People First HR Solutions

Your people are your business. This is true no matter what industry you are in. But in the hospitality, tourism, recreation and leisure sector, where people and service are the name of the game, your employees, be they one or 100, are the lifeblood of your business. Without them, you simply could not operate.
Why then, do we spend so much time looking after the bottom line, sometimes to the detriment of our employees? Because, more often than not, employers take their employees for granted.
There still exists in some workplaces that frightening mentality that the employee needs the job more than the job needs them. However, the employee of the new millennium is more assertive, more educated, and far more discerning than even a decade ago.
The employee, even in the least skilled of roles, demands, and deserves, his/her employer's respect for the individual contribution he/she makes to the business. And when we, as employers, show this respect, we are doing more than boosting someone's self esteem (although a gallant act in its own right), we are empowering our employees, encouraging them to take more interest in their work and harnessing their commitment to our business. And that's the bottom line.
Research has shown that a happy employee is a motivated and productive employee. This approach has gained so much popularity in the corporate sector over the past 30 years for two main reasons. Firstly, it addresses many of the problems created by a purely task-oriented workplace, such as demotivation, low work commitment, absenteeism and industrial disputes. Secondly, businesses which adopt the positive employee-oriented practices, are more likely to attract competent, skilled employees.
Harnessing the potential of our employees is not a long and arduous process. It does not need to involve hours of training. It is not about bonuses or reducing work hours. It is about making sure you have an employee doing a job they want to do; one they find rewarding in a workplace which supports them. To illustrate, an important step in this process - one that all employers can relate to - is effective recruiting.
When recruiting, a half hour informal chat with your candidates may give you an idea of whether you like them or not, but it gives you absolutely no indication as to whether they can do the job. An interview is a performance. It is like meeting your future in-laws for the first time. As a candidate, you dress appropriately, you say all the right things and ask all the right questions. You have well rehearsed spiels for all the 'tough' questions and you try and win the interviewer over. Unless the interviewer has a crystal ball, this type of interview just does not cut it. Hiring someone because you have a 'gut feel' for them is as good as a lucky dip. You may come up with a good prize a couple of times, but on the whole, you are not ahead. With a formalised recruitment strategy (and it does not have to be a big or expensive exercise, it might simply be a case of learning how to do it properly yourself), you significantly increase your chances of getting it right the first time, which saves everyone a lot of time, money and hassle. (Tips on recruitment techniques will be discussed in later editions of Super Update).
Sure, getting 'in touch' with our employees does not stop there, recruitment is only one part of a bigger picture. But it is an important first step in a continuous process of making sure our businesses remain sustainable in an ever-changing economic climate. A well-trained, flexible and committed workforce is an integral and enduring element of economic success.