What is the trick to keeping hospitality staff post Christmas?

Bonuses that are given in December can prevent staff from departing their jobs with workers being more likely to leave in January.

• How do you keep restaurant staff post Christmas?
• How can the hospitality industry bridge the skills gap?

According to research by One4all Rewards has shown that bonuses are  key to keeping catering staff at work and prevent departures during the January rush for jobs.

A survey of 1,096 UK employees carried out by bonus and incentives provider One4allRewards.co.uk, revealed catering bosses who give out bonuses in December are less likely to see staff being poached or looking elsewhere.

Workers are more likely to look for a new job in January than any month of the year, so the incentive of bonuses over the December and January period could lead to an increase in staff retention. 

49% of workers in this sector said having received a bonus or gift from their boss recently would prevent them from looking for a new job.

And almost the same number (47%) would be less likely to accept a new job if offered one, if the same had happened.

UK Managing director at One4all Rewards said: “It’s interesting to see just how far a token bonus can impact on the loyalty of those in the catering industry.

“Even if you consider the amount of money that can be lost through recruitment costs when a member of staff resigns – never mind the softer negative impacts and knock-on effects that employees leaving can have, in terms of morale in the workplace – it is clearly something that is worth investing in.”

Last December, research from HR News found that 93% of recruitment agencies say there's not enough trained chefs in the UK to meet the demand with the amount of stress the catering industry puts on the staff over the festive season - read more

What do you think? Let us know in the comments?

By George Heal