Hospitality is an industry that has gone through so much change in recent years. For many businesses, they’ve had to adapt their management style to build team resilience - after all, a happy team makes for a happy guest. 

I have been in hospitality for over 11 years, and in that time, the industry has evolved rapidly, and as a result, leadership styles have had to change too.

I’ve seen first-hand how creating a people-focused environment can drive growth. By focusing on team happiness and employee engagement, businesses can keep their teams motivated and foster a culture of adaptability; so that when change happens, the team sticks together.

And the proof has been in the pudding too – this year, we were named by the SundayTimes as one of the top 10 Best Places to Work in the UK, in the Very Big organisation category.

The evolution of leadership in hospitality

Just in the last half a decade, hospitality has seen skills shortages, rising costs of energy bills, changing consumer behaviour and a global pandemic affect usual ways of business.

AtValor, people have always been our thing. But in these tough times, we had to get creative about how we brought the team together, raising the energy levels.

Prioritising people centred leadership

Your team spends a lot of their time at work, it doesn’t have to be a robotic environment. Build an authentic connection through asking questions, encouraging your team to make their voice heard, and in turn, feel like their opinion matters. It could be as simple as thinking up a new way to deliver great service to guests, or a new eco-friendly incentive for everyone to try.

This shows your team that you have a genuine interest in them and ensures they feel like they can make a difference.

At Valor, we put people-focused initiatives at the top of our culture, so that it filters down through all our hotels. We run regular internal awards, challenge our team to build healthier habits, and we encourage our team to give each other shout outs for great work. We run a programme, Future Leaders, which I am actually an alumnus of, to help our team progress, and we recently launched the Valor Development Programme, offering a range of front and back of house apprenticeships.  And this investment in our people pays off – in our recent WorkL survey, 87% of our team felt happy and safe at work.

Being an authentic leader

One thing I’ve learnt through the challenging times of recent years is the importance of being an authentic leader.  Developing my emotional intelligence has been a game changer for me, by focusing on my own style of leadership, rather than trying to be like someone else. This has helped me understand how I make an impact on others through my words and actions and it’s something I’m continuously learning.

In a world where hospitality continues to face unprecedented challenges, people-centred leadership is more important than ever. By prioritising genuine connection, fostering an inclusive culture, and investing in our teams, we can create environments where people feel valued and motivated to succeed.

For more on how our people centred leadership helped us win the Sunday Times BestPlaces to work award, see here: https://www.valorhospitality.com/news/valor-hospitality-has-been-named-by-the-sunday-times-as-one-of-the-top-10-best-places-to-work-in-the-uk-in-the-very-big-organisations-category  

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