Ready to offer a warm welcome - employability programme supports booming Orkney hospitality sector

Setting the table for success

Tailored programme tackles skills gap for booming Orkney hospitality sector  

Orkney’s hospitality businesses welcomed a new crop of workers willing and able to offer a warm welcome this tourist period - thanks to special behind-the- scenes work by employers, educators and employability partners.

The sector has struggled in recent years to recruit and retain staff, with a troublesome gap between local demand for ‘front of house’ staff, and the number of people available with the skills and experience to take on hospitality roles.

With knowledge of this pressure, Orkney’s Local Employability Partnership has worked with UHI Orkney’s Hospitality department, with input from local hospitality businesses, to try and close this gap and bring to the table willing workers ready to serve - from formal dining settings to barista and cafe service, to reception, mixology and bar work.

The solution – an intensive Orkney-specific programme of skills and personal development, including planned work experience with local businesses, to help fast track willing workers into the sector. 

Lindsey Johnson is Employability Team Manager with Orkney Islands Council and sits on the Orkney Local Employability Partnership. She explains how the unique five week SWAP – (Sector-based Work Academy Programme) at UHI Orkney came about:  

“As an employability partnership we were aware that there are people who would like to work but maybe don’t have the right sector specific skills to enter the workforce, and the specific challenges faced by people when they try to re-enter the workforce, or enter a sector for the first time.  

“At the same time, we know there are sectors that locally are really struggling to recruit staff, including the hospitality sector. 

“We knew there was an opportunity to marry these two needs up.

“It was early this year when we realised as a partnership that a SWAP would be the ideal way to do this.

“So we spoke to the advisory board at the College – sector specific employers, employability specialists and educators - about joining forces to create a programme for hospitality which would fast track people through the skills that local businesses want and need.

“Ideally we wanted the format to also provide some work experience with local employers after completion of the programme, potentially as an alternative to formal interviews, to help fast track the recruitment process and make the whole experience a bit less daunting and a bit more practical for everyone.

“Together with the help and advice of local employers, the UHI Orkney team developed a programme we could offer in February, as businesses would be looking to ramp up their recruitment for the upcoming tourist season.

Local employability partners helped promote the programme to people seeking work and training throughout January.

As a result, ten local people enrolled onto the programme, with all completing it and going on to work experience with local businesses, brokered by Lindsey’s employability team at the Council.

Sheetal Revis is a lecturer at UHI Orkney with extensive experience working and teaching in the hospitality sector. She led on the details of the programme, balancing the theory and practical aspects: “We worked closely with local employers to ensure the programme would give people a real flavour of the industry and the expectations of employers, as well as valuable, practical work experience to help set them up for success in the hospitality industry.

Laura Bruce is also a lecturer at UHI Orkney with a background in business, and helped develop and deliver the course: “Hospitality is really suited to a programme like this. As a sector it offers so much variety for people to get their teeth into. And so many of the skills – time management, conflict resolution, providing excellent customer service – are transferable to other careers.

“What the programme has achieved is ten newly skilled, highly motivated people ready to help local businesses roll out that famous Orkney welcome.

“All that remains is for local employers to take them on board and train them up in the specifics of their business.”

Lindsey, who also heads up the ‘Inclusivity’ work of the Employability Partnership, adds:

“Tackling traditional barriers to work can also really help local employers, by creating a bigger pool of skilled and willing workers to recruit from.

"Actively breaking down some of the barriers that people face, such as no sector specific experience or qualifications, can make a huge difference in a community.

“Orkney is a small place with a finite pool of people who can work – so it’s also true that the industry needs to think outside the box when it comes to structuring their staffing and be open to working differently.

“So for example if a worker can only work 10am – 3pm because of the school run, at least the lunch rush is covered and it’s better than having no worker at all.

“And there’s so much to gain by opening your business up to a wider pool of people like this – from a fresh perspective on things, and new ideas, to increased loyalty.

“And in the longer term you are employing someone who could become an exceptional, experienced full time worker for your business, when their life circumstances allow.”

Lindsey and Sheetal agree the SWAP model is something the Employability Partnership and UHI Orkney would consider working together on again, within hospitality and across other sectors.

Lindsey: “Everyone who has been involved has seen the benefits it has brought. The lecturers have really enjoyed delivering the programme and seeing people make incredible progress, despite the challenges they’ve faced in the past. One lecturer described the cohort as ‘a breath of fresh air’ to work with.

“We’re aware of two who have gone on to enrol at the College in other courses, and one who's secured a job with a local business, and another with the Council's catering team – so for them, this programme has been absolutely transformational and has opened up a whole new world of opportunities and thrown wide open the way they think about their future and what they’re capable of.”

Jeepstar Clewett took part in the hospitality SWAP programme. He went on to carry out a few weeks’ work experience at the Kirkwall Community Centre St Magnus Cafe – and since then has joined the Council’s relief catering team.

Centre Supervisor, Samantha Tomalin, says the course prepared Jeepstar well for making the best of his work experience: “He came to us knowing all the basics, but also importantly with the right mindset. He knew what he wanted to achieve and what he wanted to try out - and what he maybe needed to work on too.

“As Centre Supervisor, I found Jeepstar’s time here really valuable too. It was clear that Jeepstar really enjoyed many parts of the job, he got on great with our customers and our staff team.

“I think offering people work experience, in a community like Orkney, is a really beneficial thing to do. As Centre Supervisor you get exposure to potential employees, you get to know potential staff members and their strengths but also where they might be needing a bit more guidance to get it right for your business and how you could structure that.

“Workplaces in general but especially hospitality are crying out for staff right now – and getting involved in a programme like this and offering work experience is a great way to open up more opportunities for everyone.

“It's a great feeling too, knowing that you have played an active role in helping someone who’s maybe in the past had challenges getting work, or who has been out of the workforce for a while. And I know my team feels the same way.”

Jeepstar says he’s now feeling confident about securing work: “I did feel slightly nervous about going on the course.

“But now, I feel like I’m ready to do more courses, and work in hospitality.

“We had lots of practice serving customers during the course, and also while I did my work experience at the St Magnus Café.

“I feel more relaxed about serving customers, and I really liked working at the cafe because I knew lots of the staff and I knew Sam would keep me right! 

“I feel I’m ready to give people a warm welcome wherever I work.”