Insights
The last few years have been hard on hospitality, as businesses have suffered a double-whammy of pandemic-related issues, in addition to a vast loss of workforce due to Brexit. Recruitment issues within the industry are widely known and being short-staffed due to self-isolation requirements or staff illnesses due to the current Omicron wave has not helped matters. It’s clear that in circumstances like these, pre-pandemic service standards are extremely challenging to achieve. But the important question is, have consumers noticed the issue too?
Unfortunately, they indeed have, as a majority of respondents (61%) believe service standards have slipped during the pandemic. From a demographic perspective, there are two age groups that stand out that seem particularly disgruntled, and those are the 26-35 age group (63% dissatisfied) and 36-45 age group (70% dissatisfied) – both can be categorised as ‘millennials’; arguably the biggest consumers of hospitality services.
All other age groups are below the median (61%), with, interestingly, the 66+ age group being the least dissatisfied (48%). Whilst women are stereotypically portrayed as more complaint-prone, according to the results of our survey, male consumers are more likely to be disappointed with service standards (65%) than female consumers (59%).
Service has suffered in some areas more than others, and it will be useful to know customers' perceptions to help focus the recruitment efforts into areas that need it most. Here's a breakdown of the service areas that have led to disappointing experiences by customers:
So, what can be done when businesses are short-staffed, whilst also struggling to recruit? We asked our consumer base whether they would be more lenient towards any service issues if they knew that the venue was trying, but struggling, to recruit, and the answer was, overwhelmingly – yes.
Almost three out of four (71%) customers said they would be more inclined to forgive service mishaps if they knew about the venue’s recruitment struggles.
It’s therefore incredibly important for businesses that are struggling to communicate with their customers, letting guests know they are doing their best. Perhaps it could be a ‘staff wanted’ poster on the wall, a cute little card on the table asking nicely for a little patience, or a server explaining to customers at the start of their experience that they are short-staffed. Whatever the medium, it will encourage customers to be more understanding and can help save a venue’s reputation whilst they are rebuilding their workforce.
However, this must only be a short-term measure, as we asked our consumer base if the same excuse would work for the next time they visited that same venue, and the majority (67%) said – no. Fool me once... as the saying goes.
In summary, being open and honest about recruitment issues will draw sympathy from customers temporarily, but venues mustn’t let it become a crutch, as compassion fatigue will set in rather quickly.
The Department for Work and Pensions has recently unveiled its Way to Work scheme, which proposes to get 500,000 unemployed back into work by June, which hopefully can help solve the hospitality staff shortage. Kate Nicholls, chief executive of industry group UKHospitality, said: “We hope that this new initiative will contribute to plugging hospitality’s jobs gap, which remains a huge threat to recovery for the sector and, by extension, the wider economy. With restrictions now lifted, it has been heart-breaking to see venues that were so desperate to trade fully for the first time in nearly two years, forced to reduce their opening hours or simply not open at all due to a lack of staff."
More information about the Way to Work scheme can be found here.
We investigated what consumers consider their preferred measure for operators who are struggling with workforce issues to implement in the short term, and over half respondents (51%) suggested that venues should reduce table numbers / the size of the area being served. Almost a third (31%) of customers would be happy to order from a reduced menu, if necessary, and 13% would prefer if the venue operated on reduced hours. A small percentage of customers (5%), however, believe a venue should ‘power through it’ and not use any temporary measures to help alleviate pressure from being understaffed.
Interestingly, 36–45-year-olds seem to be the toughest age group, because as many as 10% believe venues should just try to deal with the difficult situation, without implementing any alleviating measures. On the opposite end of the spectrum, we have Gen-Z (18-25-year-olds), as none of them believe venues should just try to cope, nor do they think reducing opening hours is a good idea. Instead, almost two thirds (65%) of Gen-Z consumers would be happy to accept a reduced number of tables / smaller serving areas as a temporary measure, and the rest would prefer to order off a reduced menu, if that helps a venue when they are understaffed.
We have been keeping track how safe our panel of consumers feel at the idea of going out into hospitality venues, and the most recent results show that despite high case numbers and Plan B restrictions implemented by the government, consumer confidence has not plummeted.
The average safety score is now 7.6 out of 10. In October 2021, confidence was at its highest since the beginning of the pandemic, at 8.34, so the drop has been substantial, however – confidence didn’t go down as low as July 2021, when this figure was only 7.19, which is when the Delta variant hit.
From a demographic perspective, as one would expect, confidence amongst Gen-Z has hardly changed (8.2) since October, and data shows an inverse correlation between confidence and age: as age goes up, confidence decreases, and is at its lowest in the 66+ age group at only 7.34. Male respondents (7.7) are likely to be more confident than their female counterparts (7.55).
For those of you who care more about facts and less about opinions; here's pure statistics for you.
Gen Z (18-25)
Millennials (26-35)
Millennials (36-45)
Gen X (46-55)
Boomers (55-65)
Boomers (66+)
Women
Men
