Everyone wants to have employees who feel empowered to participate and make decisions in their roles. But how one achieves this is another question entirely.

Often, things that can lead to a feeling of empowerment get cut from the budget or people pay lip service to ideas without proper follow-through. Other times, they simply don’t know which moves to make in order to achieve the right outcome.

Don’t kid yourself though, how your employees feel matters enormously in the context of a hospitality business.

On a recent episode of That Bad Review, I spoke with Cath Bellchamber on this issue (and many that are closely related). Cath had this to say – ‘We spend so much time on our tools, facilities, software and vehicles, but we don’t spend as much time on our people, and they’re the biggest financial investment we’ll ever make.’ One of the best ways to make people feel important and competent in what they do is to make a real investment in them. Cath continues, ‘as a manager with ten employees, your job isn’t to run the business, your job is to empower those people to run your business.’ Staff in the hospitality industry are on the front lines of the business and, more so than many other sectors, are directly responsible for whether a company grows or withers and dies.

This being the case, here are a few more ideas that follow Cath’s philosophy of creating positive, energetic environments where staff are happy and, as a result, guests have a great experience.

Have a clear vision  

Letting people know what the goals are and how a business wants to present itself is of paramount importance. This starts at the top, so an owner or manager should be setting the tone for how things go. Make this vision as tangible as possible and fill employees in on expenses so they understand the monetary processes involved in the business. This makes them identify with the product you’re selling.

Make sure everyone is on the same page  

Clear communication is key to any successful business, regardless of sector. Empowered employees have the knowledge and the confidence to make decisions. To ignite that knowledge and confidence in employees, make sure their individual work goals are aligned with those of the company.

Reward performance  

Ever heard the adage, ‘show me the incentive and I’ll show you the outcome’? Make sure you celebrate the successes of your team and build in some reward mechanisms that benefit people who step forward and make great experiences for guests.

Remove roadblocks and listen to feedback  

A happy workplace is one where people get heard and problems get solved. Eliminate any hurdles – organisational policies, practices or habits – that may keep employees from feeling or acting empowered. There are probably a number of small pain points you could address within your business and in doing so score big points in the morale department.

Listen to our entire conversation here!