In July, I was asked to speak at an event organised by Sussex Downs College called 'Hospitality Conversation'. Around 30 local hoteliers from Eastbourne attended to hear Dan Power at People 1st discuss the new government apprenticeship reforms and the proposed apprenticeship levy.
It was heartening to meet like- minded people and listen to all the positive attitudes surrounding apprenticeships and the commitment of Eastbourne Businesses to hiring more apprentices in the coming year. I was also asked to speak at the event and shared my thoughts on not only how use apprentices at the Grand, but also how they form part of a much bigger picture when it comes to recruitment and nurturing talent.
The Grand employ 170 permanent staff and over 70 more casual members of staff. We have seven apprentices currently working for us, with an 8th just about to sign up. We have worked with Bournemouth and Poole College for the past 16 years on its Specialised Chefs programme taking a new student for a three- year apprenticeship each year and we also work locally with Sussex Downs and Sussex Coast Colleges with apprentices working in accounts, food and beverage and back of house.
I spoke to one of our Bournemouth apprentices who graduated last year and asked her what it was that made her want to become a chef. She said that for as far back as she can remember, she had always wanted to cook and she recalled a chef visiting her school when she was 12 who taught her about different flavours, the use of salt and pepper and who encouraged her to try foods she hadn't previously.. This goes to show that inspiring people at a young age is key to them wanting to join the hospitality industry and that's why The Grand believes in encouraging and nurturing talent and creating opportunities for young people to be supported when they enter the industry.
According to the charity Springboard, 53% of school students are positively considering a career in hospitality and research has shown that work experience is the biggest influencing factor when it comes to career choice.
So far in 2016, we have given 32 people the opportunity to come and have work experience here with us, either in the kitchen, front of house or sales. This equated to 126 days in total, in just 6 months. This year our placements have resulted in 2 permanent job offers and 2 casual opportunities, and the four 15 year olds who came last summer with their school work experience all contacted us this year when they turned 16 to come and work casual hours in Banqueting.
The Grand has recently been accredited by the Springboard INSPIRE program. Springboard is the hospitality industry's charity and the INSPIRE accreditation demonstrates that we deliver first class work experience. We take it seriously and not only do we interview every possible placement (both to ensure they are right for the job and show them what real life interview is like) but we also have a buddy system, tailor the programme to suit the individual and always give feedback throughout. . The icing on the cake is if we are also able to offer that person an employment opportunity afterwards too!
Much work is still to be done on developing young people's soft skills, such as how to participate in conversations, shake people's hands, make eye contact and talk confidently about themselves.
I often tell the story of a young lad who came for an interview on his skateboard and our chef had to ask him to take his baseball cap off so he could take him seriously - that's the type of thing that can be ignored when there is so much focus on qualifications.
To reach out to the local community as well as schools and colleges, we exhibit at local carers fayres and careers days. Any genuinely interested young people we talk to are offered taster days to experience working in a five-star hotel and some go on to full weeks of work experience and give up their time in the summer holidays too.
There are fantastic opportunities for progression available to young people who begin their careers at the Grand. In the past year alone, we have completed 45 internal promotions - that's a quarter of all our employees. 22 out of our 23 heads of department have been promoted internally, myself included, and many of those are people who started in entry level positions
While The Grand regularly takes school children on their scheduled work experience week, we are also open to genuinely interested people who would like to gain some experience. We welcome enquiries from local schools, colleges, charities, parents or individuals.
For more details, please contact me: shoyle@elitehotels.co.uk
Sarah Hoyle
Personnel and Development Manager, The Grand Hotel.