The RSPH has released concerning figures about how employee’s mental health is affected by the hospitality industry.
Today, Thursday, 10 October 2019 is World Mental Health Day and it needs to be addressed particularly in the ever increasingly stressful hospitality sector. Research by the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) found that mental health and wellbeing is under significant strain amongst hospitality employees. In its latest report, Service With(out) a Smile, over four out of five (84%) hospitality workers reported increased stress which was believed to be a direct consequence of their job.
Many of the report’s findings are shocking. Almost half (45%) of respondents said they would not recommend working in hospitality and almost two thirds (62%) do not think the hospitality sector takes care of its employees.
As industry insiders we know that stress is a major contributor to mental health problems, as was demonstrated by another report last year by Hospitality Action and reported here in The Caterer. The HA survey revealed that 80% of hospitality professionals said that their job is stressful sometimes or most of the time and more than half described their job as stressful most or all the time. Only 5% of respondents reported their job is rarely stressful. Three-quarters of respondents said that work was a source of pressure in their lives, way ahead of other causes of stress. Moreover, 79% said that stress had increased over the past three years.
Advice to Employers – What can be Done?
Employers should take note. They have, of course, a responsibility to ensure that stress and its consequent effect on mental health is reduced to the minimum. But they also have a business interest at stake. “Personal and health issues can have a major impact on the way people work, resulting in reduced performance, lack of focus and absence. These, in turn, can lead to lost productivity and significant cost to employers,” Mark Lewis, Chief Executive of Hospitality Action told The Caterer.
At Bizimply we fully endorse this self-enlightened perspective. We know that apart from the benefits of greater efficiency that our work management solutions bring to employers, they also help to reduce major contributors to workplace stress among employees. Our software provides full transparency over shift working and ensure that workers are always paid for the actual hours worked, thereby eliminating sources of doubt and friction between employees and employers.
Based on our experience with these issues we are also happy to advise owners of franchises and independent stores and outlets on their responsibilities towards employees – both in terms of employment law and softer issues that help to reduce stress.
