Spotlight Series: Tourism and Hospitality in Ireland

Over the past Best Workplace cycles of the Great Place to Work Institute and since our partnership with Fáilte Ireland announced in 2022, we have witnessed an increasing level of participation from the Tourism and Hospitality sector. This has resulted in thousands data points from individual survey entries; as well as a range of cultural insights and best practice.

From an overall perspective, there are some very interesting themes that can be drawn from the data. The Great Place to Work process identifies 21 categories that underpin potential focus areas for any organisation (some examples include Management & Leadership, Innovation & Continuous Improvement, Wellbeing, and Corporate Social Responsibility). The results that we see in these areas indicate both strength and opportunities areas for those organisations and at a macro level, trends for industry overall. 

In the Tourism and Hospitality Sector, over recent cycles, the key strength areas have been:

• Customer Focus (consistently the number one strength area across the industry)
• Diversity (people being treated fairly regardless of their sex, race, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, age or position in the organisation)
• Strategy & Direction (there is a clear view of where the organisation is going and how they are going to get there)
• Empowerment & Accountability (expectations are clear and people can get on with the role and remit they are responsible for)

These areas have been underpinned by strong practices, that are consistently applied by both management and employees. An example here is how guest, or customer, feedback is shared with employees and used to inspire people to deliver a fantastic experience for people visiting their hotel, restaurant, café, or attraction. This may be done through letter of thanks from management to employees, by posting on noticeboards for all to read, or linked to a bonus scheme where employees who are specifically named in feedback received are given a monetary bonus as part of their pay packet.

Similarly, over the last five cycles, the key opportunity areas are:

• Career & Development (people understanding what their opportunities to learn are, confident they are progressing professionally and can fulfil their career aspirations)
• Wellbeing (a measure of work-life balance, and an overall indicator of whether people perceive their place of work as psychologically and emotionally healthy place)
• Reward (people being paid fairly for the work that they do and special & unique benefits are in place)

Unlocking these opportunity areas is made all the more pertinent as Tourism and Hospitality is one of Ireland’s biggest industries, with 260,000 people employed in the sector. This includes hotels, bars, B&Bs, restaurants, visitor attractions and experiences, all playing a vital role in sustaining communities and driving regional development throughout the country. It is estimated that 50,000 new jobs will be created by 2025, with 70% of these jobs based outside of Dublin.

Check out episode 12 of The Red Cube Podcast with Trigon Hotels' Kathleen Linehan to find out how they work together to promote a culture of belonging in the workplace!

About Great Place to Work®

Great Place to Work® is the global authority on workplace culture. We help organisations quantify their culture and produce better business results by creating a high-trust work experience for all employees. We recognise Great Place to Work-Certified™ companies and the Best Workplaces™ in more than 60 countries. To join the thousands of companies that have committed to building high-trust company cultures that help them attract, retain and take care of their people, contact us about getting Certified today.