Throughout 2023-24 I was delighted and proud to collaborate with the Cassidy Hospitality Group, a dynamic hospitality group in based in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland to develop the leadership skills of the hotel, bar and restaurant management teams.

Because let's face it, in order to deliver exceptional customer experiences and business success, hospitality businesses need strong, skilled leaders to lead the way.

In hospitality we’re in the business of providing each one of our guests with an exceptional experience. We have so much data available to personalise the customer experience (the CX) but often we get overwhelmed and don’t leverage the information. By using the information at our fingertips, we can start to enhance the guest experience and in turn improve our overall business performance.

Feel the fear and do it anyway.

Hospitality is a fast paced and dynamic industry, and having confidence is an important skill. Whether you are a receptionist, a F&B assistant, chef or a manager having confidence can significantly enhance your interactions with guests, colleagues and your own manager.

Having confidence in your own abilities and judgment can greatly improve your customer service, teamwork and will give you greater job satisfaction.

Often our hospitality managers are great operators, who care deeply about the customer.

However how do you ensure they have the skills to manage their team performance aligned to financial goals? Do your managers know how to achieve wage, food and drink budgets in the face of rising costs? Do they know their ADR from their RevPAR? And do they know how to personally contribute to growing your revenue?

Unless you are very lucky and have a waiting list of people wanting to work for you, recruitment is all about the job advert – at least to get someone hooked.

During 2021 and 2022 I watched in wonder as the Northern Ireland hospitality sector faced and overcame adversity in the post-lockdown landscape. The re-opening of hospitality in May 2021 brought many challenges as businesses struggled to adapt to the new operating guidelines, to rebuilding teams and meeting the demands of their returning customers.

We’ve all heard of company branding for your customers, but what about your Employer Brand? Your Employer Brand is two fold – your reputation as an employee according to past, present and potential employees and how your company communicates its unique offering to the potential candidate.