It’s more important than ever for employers to recognise the importance of workplace wellbeing, says Hospitality Action Chief Executive, Mark Lewis.
The hospitality industry is well known for being a dynamic and rewarding industry, but it also has its challenges. Add the perfect storm of a pandemic, the cost-of-living crisis, and staff shortages due to Brexit, and the impact on many in recent years has been huge, with 76% of hospitality workers reporting mental health challenges.
These momentous events may seem like a distant memory for some, but we have received an unprecedented number of calls to our helplines throughout 2024 from people struggling with debt, poor mental health, and who are struggling to achieve a good work/ life balance.
As a result, more hospitality businesses recognise the importance of creating a mindful and balanced work environment and the good news is that there are many simple steps an employer can take. We recently introduced our new guide – ‘Next Steps: What the industry can do to improve wellbeing in hospitality’ – which offers practical solutions and actionable steps every employer can easily implement to equip hospitality businesses and individuals with effective strategies to support employee mental health and wellbeing. It’s also intended to help normalise the conversation, challenging stigma to encourage a more open dialogue.
The guide offers tips on promoting a positive work/life balance, regular monitoring and communication via employee check-ins, feedback surveys and open discussions, to the introduction of wellbeing champions and mental health first-aiders. Additionally, encouraging teams to support wider wellbeing initiatives like Hospitality Action’s annual Walk for Wellbeing can promote a sense of camaraderie leading to more motivated and productive employees.
At Hospitality Action, we’re on a mission to help all employers prioritise the wellbeing of their teams and actively encourage everyone to take these simple steps which can make an enormous difference towards achieving exactly that.