A powerful live panel discussion from the Service event at BrewDog Waterloo exploring the critical balance between treating people as assets versus headcount in hospitality businesses. Industry leaders from Bill's, Little Houses Group, and hospitality veterans share honest insights on retention, leadership development, workforce design, and the future of people management in hospitality.

Host:

Trudi Parr

Guests:

Karen Bosher
Hayley Connor
Lucy Craig

Sponsor: Lightspeed EPOS

KEY TOPICS & TIMESTAMPS

[0:00 - 1:47] Introduction

Welcome from Chris Fletcher and Trudi Parr
Panel introductions
Setting the stage: Human capital vs. headcount metrics

[1:47 - 6:00] The Retention Challenge

Why hospitality struggles with retention despite valuing people
The critical importance of the first 90 days building trust and safety
Reframing retention as a workforce design problem

[6:00 - 10:00] Workforce Design Innovation

Moving beyond the "fully flexed unicorn" hiring model
Designing roles for modern workers: 3-hour shifts, peak periods, flexible schedules
Setting and meeting hour expectations from day one

[10:00 - 15:00] Employee Wellbeing & Scheduling

The surety of income challenge in hospitality
Tech adoption struggles with scheduling tools
The instant messaging problem: Real-time labor cuts eroding trust

[15:00 - 20:00] Leadership Development

Bill's investment: Taking 200 leaders through mindset training over 18 months
The "Wingman at Work" concept - who talks about you beautifully when you're not in the room?
Shifting from task-focused to emotionally safe leadership

[20:00 - 25:00] The Crisis Management Trap

Leaders stuck in crisis mode rather than growth mode
How infrastructure and tech can free leaders to be customer-facing
Working on growth, not just crisis

[25:00 - 35:00] Training That Sticks

Technical skill training vs. behavioral leadership development
The TikTok generation: 3-minute attention spans requiring modular training
Seasonal training updates mirroring menu changes
Finding in-house mentors and craft experts

[35:00 - 42:00] The AI Revolution

Personalized AI training detecting performance gaps
AI as personal performance coach
Three key AI applications: automating processes, self-serve knowledge, retention testing

[42:00 - 48:00] Building Teams That Stay

Trust as the #1 retention tool
Close GM/Head Chef relationships = top performing businesses
Differentiating investment: career-committed vs. experience-led workers
Bill's bold move: cutting recruitment budget to invest in development

[48:00 - 49:35] Looking Forward

The competitive edge in 5 years: your team
The pivot point: Never been more expensive to hire, never been cheaper to access tech
One thing to change: Remove GMs from productivity metrics, give time back to lead

KEY TAKEAWAYS

First 90 Days Are Everything
Workforce Design > Retention Problem
Real-Time Data Can Harm Wellbeing
Invest in Leadership, Not Just Recruitment
The Wingman Test
AI as Personal Coach
Your Team Is Your Competitive Edge

QUOTABLE MOMENTS

"We promote technically great leaders, but they're not actually good leaders." - Hayley Connor

"Your general manager is responding by the minute... and a team member is seeing their pay go down by the day." - Hayley Connor on real-time labor management

"If you think about a time in your career where you achieved things you never thought were possible... you had wingmen around you, you had best friends." - Lucy Craig

"It's never been more expensive to hire people and it's never been so cheap to access tech." - Karen Bosher

RESOURCES & LINKS

Bill's Restaurants
Little Houses Group
Lightspeed EPOS - Book your free demo
Women on Taps movement
MonoTree AI training platform