Angie Mason, Chair, HBAA
How can we attract, develop and retain top talent to be the next generation driving the hospitality and events industry forward?
That is the key question that the sector has been facing and has been having to solve with greater urgency as the number of EU staff working in the UK industry declines.
As an association that represents and typifies the industry, HBAA has been addressing this question in planning its own future. Our approach has been to engage with the next generation within our membership by inviting a group of young executives to attend our Executive Committee Meetings as shadows – our Next Generation Board.
It’s been a great success for everyone involved. For the experienced like myself, we have been gained valuable new insights into how, in some ways, they think differently about events, working, careers and communications, and how we need to change the way we operate. For the younger professionals it’s given them boardroom experience that will help them in their careers in the industry and future roles in the HBAA.
I’ve realised from this engagement that among the important questions we need to answer is: “What do young people like about working in the hospitality and events industry?” Once we understand we then need to leverage the positives they tell us.
Every day is different
We asked our Next Gen Board members this and several more questions. Their responses were nearly unanimous, “Every day is different”, “I never have the same day twice” and “no day is the same” were among their replies.
Anthony Kwokori, Business Events Account Executive at the Barbican said; “I like the fact that it is multi-faceted job, that every day is challenging and that I have to be both proactive and reactive.” Olivia Woolley, National Account Manager at Hotel and Travel Solutions Ltd, added: “It’s also the variety, working with a variety of clients in all different industries.”
Like Olivia, Ryan Doyle, Sales Manager at the Park Regis Birmingham enjoys the variety of the events that he gets involved with, also “the diversity of the people I work with and the support that people give one another. It’s a close-knit industry.”
Asked about the extra information that would help those thinking of making careers in the industry, Max Simpkins, MICE Sales Manager at the Shangri-La Hotel at the Shard who started as an apprentice chef said “What is not promoted enough is how you can work your way up in this industry.” Ryan Doyle observed that, in industry education, “there should be more on the agency sector. It is too focused on the operational aspects.” Both Olivia and Anthony said that there should be more careers information about variety of opportunities with Olivia suggesting a careers social media channel for recent graduates searching for guidance.
So how do they find out about what is going on in the industry? Social media, particularly LinkedIn was confirmed by all as the primary source of information, along with trade media online.
Finally, we asked them what they would say to someone considering a career in this industry. Olivia said; “Whether you are working in a venue or an agency, you never know what is going to happen from one day to the next, days fly by.” Max Simpkins added; “You’ll never be bored,” while Ryan and Anthony highlighted the career potential: “It’s a fantastic industry to be involved and to develop your career in.”
We may be from different generations but I wholeheartedly agree.