It’s easy to get bogged down in staff shortages and wage costs. But look around at your hard-working team. Most of the time, it’s a happy, noisy and hard-working family who deserve some special thanks. Use these two upcoming occasions to share some love.
International Women’s Day
International Women’s Day is on Thursday 8 March and is a great opportunity to celebrate staff and customers.
- Make it a week not just a day, and highlight the women who work for you. Focus on those you have worked with for a while and how they’ve developed. Share photos and stories on Facebook, Instagram and other social platforms.
- Talk about women who inspire your staff. Kate might be inspired by Kylie Kwong or another successful chef. You get the idea — post the Facebook with a small picture of the staff member or their hero.
- Support a women’s cause for the week such as a local women’s shelter or an overseas project. You’ll find the information you need to write about it on their websites.
- Share a food angle and feature recipes from mothers and grandmothers. Nanna food is always popular.
- Hold a special dinner or event. Work with local community groups and give them a chance to raise funds by selling tickets. Organise a speaker and showcase the work of your female chefs with pictures in a Facebook album the next day. Start something regular.
Harmony Day
Harmony Day is on Wednesday 21 March and celebrates Australia’s cultural diversity. It’s about inclusiveness, respect and a sense of belonging for everyone. Hospitality is uniquely placed to celebrate this event — we employ and depend on people from an array of countries. With a world in conflict, let’s promote the people who are the foundation of our business success.
- Take lots of team photos — staff working, group shots, setting up, cooking and serving. Have prints made for people to keep.
- When you share photos on social media, take a few with people holding up a Harmony Day 2018 sign. Use the #harmonyday2018 hashtag so others see your posts on Instagram and Twitter
- Make an extra feature of the kitchen — it’s often like the United Nations and sometimes forgotten because they work behind the scenes. People are always fascinated by how kitchens work and the life of a chef.
- Tell some team stories about the chef from Bali, the Irish manager or the apprentice from Iran. It just needs a photo and a few sentences about when they came to Australia, where they trained and what they like about hospitality.
- Promote the event internally by sharing food, family photos and stories.
- Tell the local paper about your great team with a tie-in to Harmony Day. Talk about your business representing the face of modern Australia, with people from — for example — 12 nationalities serving more than 1500 customers every week.
- Use the customisable posters and resources on the official Harmony Day website.
Don’t forget there’s also a serious side to workforce diversity. Be aware of the stress many staff are under with immigration and visas. These processes are lengthy, complicated and expensive — this is a time to add extra support.
Ken Burgin
