Hospitality Skills Passport can ‘revolutionise’ recruitment

It is designed to give employers confidence that new starters are competent across a wide variety of necessary skills, UKH announced at its Workforce and Skills event yesterday (Wednesday 28 February).

It can be used at every level of the sector, from new starters to experienced staff, and will further professionalise training and development in hospitality.

The concept has been tested, in partnership with the Department for Work and Pensions, through five pilot schemes across England and Wales.

The four-week programmes are aimed at providing jobs in hospitality for unemployed people and offers work experience, compliance and customer service training, and a guaranteed opportunity to interview at the end of the course, where they also receive their Hospitality Skills Passport.

UKH chief executive Kate Nicholls said: “Hospitality’s variety is undoubtedly one of its strengths but when it comes to entering the sector to work, it can be one of its greatest challenges."

Simplifying recruitment

She added: “There are multiple routes into hospitality and with more than 200 different qualifications on offer, getting started can be confusing and deter potential entrants. That’s why a universal entry standard has never been more important.

“The new Hospitality Skills Passport initiative that we’ve developed, which is backed by the sector and being piloted by Government, does just that and can revolutionise the way we recruit, induct and develop our people.”

The success rate has been significant, with the pilot schemes seeing an 85% completion rate and 80% of those completing the course now employed in hospitality.

For the schemes and passport to be rolled out further, UKH is asking for funding from the Adult Education Budget to be allocated to employment programmes such as this.

Passport details

Nicholls continued: “The evolution of this passport, by offering one place where people can store and track their qualifications, we can improve the lives of employers and employees at the same time. It will streamline onboarding, identify training needs and help develop skills quicker than ever before.

“I’m delighted we’ve been able to share more details about how the passport would work and the staggering success we’ve seen it had helping people back into work, as part of the pilot schemes to test the concept.

“We now need to move into the next phase to roll this out on a wider scale. That inevitably requires funding and we’re encouraging the Government to offer greater flexibility by allowing Adult Education Budget funds to be used for this type of employment programme, given the clear benefits it can offer the sector and the economy.”