Take care of employees to take care of business

Maintaining your existing workforce and offering a clear career path for both them and new recruits, provides the foundation for building high-performing teams and protecting the bottom line. Put simply, look after them and they will look after you.

That is the clear finding in the first Sona and Pineapple Hospitality People Insights Report H1 2025. The benchmark report is based on data from more than 35,000 hospitality employees and the message to brands is straightforward – team stability at management level, driven by internal progression is the pathway to better retention and performance.

As all operators will know, the challenges of running a hospitality business persist and increase. With recent decisions by Government, cost pressures continue to mount, as does the uncertainty of what actions are best to take, to navigate the headwinds.

The cost of labour has risen by 3% year-on-year, rising to 35% of total sales across the sector. Much of this has been driven by the New Minimum Wage which, for example, has seen the basic wage for bar staff outside of London go up by 31p to £12.12 per hour. At the same time, staff turnover has improved, it is down to 67% from 75% across the previous 12 months.

We wanted to delve deeper to see if there was a link between turnover and progression and found that internal promotion is the greatest safeguard against people leaving the business for new opportunities. It’s not necessarily news that if your team feel they are being recognised and rewarded for their efforts then they are likely to stay and will save you the time and expense of further recruitment. But what is new, is having this as a statistical fact that can be presented at board level as supportive evidence in decision making.

The number of GMs, Assistant Managers and Head Chefs being promoted into their roles has all gone up across the last year. These higher rates contribute to lower staff turnover. On the flip side, the data indicates a correlation between vacancies for those three positions and higher churn across all departments.

The data also shows that in the sub-sector of competitive socialising, leavers across the last 12 months were the lowest in hospitality. Competitive socialising also has the highest rate of internal promotion and the fewest vacancies and pay and progression are significant ways to keep the team engaged and motivated.

However, operators know that retention isn’t just about pay and promotions, it’s about creating an environment where people feel supported and valued – and this is where Sona’s people-centric platform can make a real difference. Beyond operational efficiency, Sona gives HR and people teams the tools to make this happen. From supporting team wellbeing through structured performance conversations, to providing clear answers on sensitive questions around specific policies, Sona helps managers have the right conversations at the right time. Add in real-time feedback and open communication, and you’ve got a system that builds trust and engagement. The outcome is simple: lower employee turnover, stronger teams and a culture that keeps talent in the business. The knock-on effect, better experiences and happier customers, which drives return trade and a growth in positive customer feedback.

Challenges for hospitality will remain but by providing employees with a clear and rewarding career journey you can have more confidence that they will help drive your profits well into the new year and beyond.