With World Mental Health Day just around the corner (10th October), we have rounded up three key figures in the hospitality industry who are passionate about the wellbeing of their staff and their customers alongside the success of their business.
A business with mental health at the core:
Dave Lee – CEO of Planday.
In 2023, Dave Lee became the CEO of Planday, the shift planning software designed to help hospitality operators provide a clear shift structure for their employees. 57% of hospitality workers want to leave their job due to uncontrollable hours and 85% of hospitality employees have experienced poor mental health in the last year – this alarmingly low staff satisfaction rate makes hospitality one of the most unstable working environments. To overcome this, Dave oversaw Planday’s ‘Single Biggest Shift’ campaign, created to provide solutions to the hospitality employment crisis via robust shift management – addressing both the length of the shift and its planning through giving employees at least two weeks’ notice of their shift patterns. Dave and the Planday team hope to continue helping hospitality businesses drastically improve the mental well-being of all those working in hospitality.
A business dedicated to staff wellbeing:
Sam Harrison – restaurateur and owner of Sam’s Riverside, Sam’s Waterside, Sam’s Kitchen and Sam’s Larder.
Sam Harrison is passionate about mental health following his own struggles managing multiple demanding businesses over the last 20 years. With a combined workforce of over 120, he has a dedicated wellbeing programme implemented for all staff, to ensure that Sam’s restaurants are consistently a positive place for all involved. All new staff have a full induction on day one with an emphasis on the importance of their wellbeing at work, and are granted access to a wellbeing app. With the help of Planday, rotas are always established at least two weeks in advance, and staff have control over the hours that they work. There are monthly 1-1 drop-in sessions with Sam’s business partner Fanny, to try and alleviate any issues in or out of the workplace. There are also two fully trained mental health first aiders that will be on hand to further assist all Sam’s workforce.
A business bringing people together:
Anna Anderson – founder of Kindred, community and events space.
Having founded Kindred in 2018, Anna has made it her mission since its inception to create a beautiful and creative space to bring together members of the London community. The Grade-II listed mansion offers weekday coworking, daily dining and hosts an array of inspiring events each month, from spoken word evenings to live music gigs, networking events and more. In a post-covid era where connections aren’t as easy to make as before, Anna is dedicated to bringing people together and reducing the alarming rates of loneliness in the capital. The most stark example of this is the introduction of monthly ‘community dinners’ where 100 strangers are invited to enjoy a delicious meal together, completely free of charge. Each menu is created by one of Kindred’s in-house chefs, who draw influence from their personal heritage to create an authentic feast to be enjoyed by guests.