Bridging the Gap – Insights from HOSPACE 2024

As proud sponsors of HOSPA, we were delighted to attend HOSPACE 2024 at the Royal Lancaster London last week. Many of you may have already seen some of the event highlights, including UK Hospitality‘s Kate Nicholls in conversation with James Stagg of The Caterer and the Leader’s Panel discussion that closed the afternoon programme. For us, the day was more than just an opportunity to connect and network with industry leaders. It was a chance to reflect on the unique value we offer our clients. We understand that our role goes beyond simply filling vacant positions. Instead, we focus on working in partnership with our clients to support their overall people strategies, utilising our industry experience and insights offer additional value and drive meaningful results.

Design Thinking in Recruitment
We were particularly interested in the engaging fireside chat with Neil Stone of leapSTONE on “Innovation Through Strategic Design”. He provided a compelling analogy that really resonated with our own methodology. Neal challenged attendees to rethink conventional problem-solving: rather than simply building a bridge, first understand whether a bridge is truly the best solution for crossing the river. This mindset connects with our approach and reminds us of the old medical phrase “Prescription without diagnosis is malpractice.”

This ethos drives our work. By engaging deeply with clients to diagnose the root challenges—whether it’s high turnover, a lack of leadership diversity, or difficulties adapting to market changes— we ensure that solutions are both strategic and impactful. Our role is not just to connect businesses with candidates but to understand the overall challenges and help create lasting solutions.

Elevating the Recruitment Process
Another critical takeaway from HOSPACE was the importance of partnerships over transactional relationships. We understand how some businesses still use mass recruitment strategies, inviting hundreds of CVs without offering meaningful feedback or collaboration. While this transactional approach can potentially save some upfront costs (and of course we are slightly biased) it sacrifices the potential value that a strategic recruitment partner can bring.

We have often seen examples where companies can overwhelm their HR team with hundreds of CVs from multiple sources, including our carefully curated candidates. This can understandably lead to frustration and burn-out. By engaging directly with the team and fostering a trusting relationship, we can emphasise the benefits of a consultative partnership, where fewer but higher-quality candidates are presented with context and rationale. This collaboration ensures a much more effective process and inevitably results in a better cultural fit for the workplace.

Addressing Industry Challenges
Unsurprisingly, HOSPACE also highlighted several pressing challenges for the hospitality sector, including the recent budget, workplace culture and evolving regulations. These issues underscore not only the importance of a strong financial strategy, but the significance of a holistic people strategy. For example:

  • Budget: With minimum wage increases and changes to National Insurance rates and thresholds, many hospitality businesses face tightening margins. FM Recruitment helps clients navigate these complexities by identifying candidates who have a proven track record of driving efficiencies and innovation within their organisations.
  • Workplace Culture: As we have discussed in previous blogs, inclusion and workplace culture was again a key topic at HOSPACE, especially in the Prioritising People discussion and Kate Nicholls’ conversation. It is a topic that we are passionate about and work with clients to ensure that hires align with their values and contribute to a cohesive team environment.
  • Regulatory Changes: From the new tipping legislation to employment classifications, the regulatory landscape remains complex. Our industry expertise ensures that our clients are not only compliant but also well-positioned to adapt to these changes and any opportunities that may appear.

Personalisation
One of the standout themes at HOSPACE was personalisation. Discussions emphasised understanding customers on a deeper level—beyond the superficial perks of an upgraded room or complimentary champagne. As highlighted in the panel “Maximising Profit Potential Through Clever Marketing,” hospitality leaders stressed the importance of tailoring guest experiences by understanding the “why” behind their bookings. The same principle applies to recruitment: effective hiring requires more than just matching skills to job descriptions. It demands an understanding of the organisation’s culture, objectives, and challenges.

At FM Recruitment we adopt this approach by digging deeper into clients’ unique needs. For example, instead of simply providing a list of qualified candidates, we collaborate with clients to try and uncover the motivations and goals behind each hire. This ensures that every placement contributes to the client’s long-term success, not just immediate operational needs.

Value Beyond Recruitment
One of the most compelling insights from HOSPACE was the idea that service—both to guests and employees—should be a company’s guiding principle. By viewing recruitment as a service rather than a transaction, we help clients build stronger, more resilient teams. The goal is not just to fill vacancies but to support broader strategic objectives, such as:

  • Ensure a diverse leadership team
  • Reducing employee turnover
  • Improving employee engagement
  • Supporting long-term business growth

Building Bridges
Ultimately, our value proposition is about connection. Just as the hospitality industry seeks to create meaningful experiences for guests, we strive to create meaningful partnerships with clients. By making it our mission to understand each client’s unique set of challenges and opportunities, we can help build the bridge between problems and solutions, supporting businesses as they look to thrive in an ever-changing environment.

And as many of the insights from HOSPACE 2024 show, the hospitality industry’s future health depends heavily on its ability to innovate, personalise, and adapt to these challenges and opportunities. With a strategic partner like FM Recruitment, businesses can ensure that their people strategies are not just aligned with these goals but positioned to exceed them.

If you would like to discuss how FM Recruitment can support your people strategy, then please get in touch.

Chris Denison Smith, Managing Director
+44 20 8600 1160 / +44 7775 711923
chrisdenisonsmith@fmrecruitment.co.uk

Andrea Shaw, Director
+44 20 8600 1162 / +44 7714 236469
andreashaw@fmrecruitment.co.uk

Tairona Lattanzi, Recruitment Consultant
+44 20 8600 1164
taironalattanzi@fmrecruitment.co.uk

 

“We don’t use recruiters!”

As proud sponsors of HOSPA, we were delighted to attend HOSPACE 2022 and as ever, there were some intriguing discussions with industry experts which we enjoyed. One of the presentations got off to a thought-provoking start when a panel member announced “we don’t use recruiters!” 

At a time when finances need to be so carefully managed for businesses, we understand that the costs involved in recruitment should be fully justified. However, at a time when so many businesses are experiencing huge challenges in retention and recruitment, is this the kind of support you can do without? 

Naturally, as specialist recruiters, we are speaking from a biased perspective and so appreciate that we need to try and understand this challenge from a different angle.  

In that vein, we should ask why someone would feel like they don’t get value from recruiters? 

In terms of value, a good recruiter will solve the immediate challenge of placing a high performing employee in a key role. However, there are other benefits that can be easily forgotten.  

Depending on the size of the operation, recruitment often involves other employees taking the time-consuming jobs of sifting through CVs, contacting candidates and co-ordinating diaries.  

This takes employees away from their day-to-day roles and away from areas where they can offer direct value to your customers. While some businesses are lucky enough to rarely need to recruit, the lack of experience in the market can make this particularly challenging and time consuming when they do.  

In fact, this lack of experience can often lead to an even more frustrating result if a lead candidate unexpectedly decides to pull out of the application after using the process to negotiate a better package somewhere else, or decides to leave soon after starting in their new role. A recruiter can protect your business and your current employees in these positions. 

Of course, not all recruiters will suit your needs, and your needs may not suit the cheapest option. If you simply want to distribute a job vacancy far and wide then that will be an economical way to get hundreds of CVs and applications, but do you have the resources to sift through them all and find suitable candidates to interview, let alone to hire?  

A specialist recruiter can give you and your team the gift of time, and since fees are usually only paid once a candidate has started their role, there is no outlay until the position is filled. With the guarantee of replacing the role should the candidate not make it through the minimum period, it really is a risk-free solution to a particularly challenging problem. 

As it turns out, we were able to ask a few questions of the panellist about their comment and it was interesting to note that they did backtrack somewhat on their comment to support specialist recruiters like ourselves. This was quite a relief to hear, as we have helped recruit roles in the industry for over 20 years, and have actually successfully assisted this individual’s company several times! 

If you would like to have a chat about your recruitment strategy then please get in touch with our team.  

Office +44 20 8600 1160 I Email fm@fmrecruitment.co.uk    

Chris Denison Smith +44 7775 711923 I Email chrisdenisonsmith@fmrecruitment.co.uk  
Andrea Shaw +44 7714 236469 I Email andreashaw@fmrecruitment.co.uk  
Tairona Lattanzi +44 20 8600 1164 I Email taironalattanzi@fmrecruitment.co.uk

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