Extensive Survey of the Leisure Industry Reveals Just 10% of Employees Are Loyal

We all know that finding, nurturing and retaining top talent is one of the most talked about yet toughest challenges that businesses face, and has a direct impact on your bottom line. That’s why our study, the largest of its kind of the leisure and hospitality industry, was designed to provide leaders with useful information on what engages and motivates staff, including what will keep them committed to their current roles as well as their job seeking habits.

We surveyed over 500,000 employees from a variety of job roles including chefs, front of house, management and office staff, working in restaurants, pubs, fast food, QSR, fine dining, hotels, contract catering and facilities management. The results provide valuable insights which will help you strike that delicate balance between keeping costs down and staff happy.

Of significant concern for leaders, the survey revealed that just 10% of those working in the leisure and hospitality sector would not consider moving jobs, with 43% actively looking for a new role. In addition, 68% think their good work goes unrecognised with only a quarter feeling their opinions count. When asked what would keep them committed to their current role, the top factors respondents listed were clear career progression, salary increase and a better work/life balance.

The good news for leaders is that 64% of respondents said they find their line manager’s leadership style effective or very effective. That said, 41% of those surveyed said they don’t feel they have someone at work that encourages their development. When it comes to training, just under half (49%) of respondents said they receive internal training and development opportunities, and half said they don’t receive any external training and development opportunities. With training and development opportunities listed as one of the top benefits people in the sector look for when job hunting, is it time for the industry to step up in order to improve staff retention levels?

We’re sharing these fascinating results with you with the aim of supporting recruitment, remuneration and retention planning across the leisure and hospitality sector.