Many Hospitality Firms will be Feeling Lost but Conversation is the Lifeline
EP Business in Hospitality, is calling for all hospitality businesses to make contact as a community, talk and be there for each other during what are unprecedented times. This comes in line with concerns that although coronavirus is clearly dangerous for businesses, so to is the growing risk to mental health as vulnerable employers and workforces across the world of hospitality, face dark times ahead surrounding job security, financial stability and an increasingly uncertain future.
EP believes the crisis is bad enough, but that its recent conversations with several senior and middle-level players has revealed many have already been asked to take unpaid holidays, 40%-50% pay cuts and some reportedly face being rendered inactive, so as to receive government support. However, one thing has become clear, people need to talk, for no other reason than to hear the voices of others in the same situation and to share perspectives, insight and worries.
Chris Sheppardson, CEO at EP Business in Hospitality, believes the issue is much deeper, “Many are feeling lost, anxious and concerned right now. Talking helps people to feel better, to reinforce the fact they are not alone and to help them develop that sense of community that we are all there for each other during difficult times. It is going to take the hospitality industry time to re-energise their businesses after the crisis is over and to rebuild a more positive cash flow.
Over the coming months EP has pledged to give back and support those hospitality firms that just want to offload chat, because talking is the only way people can make any sense of what is going on around them.
Sheppardson added, “Hospitality professionals are, by their very nature, people centric. They are naturally extrovert and they thrive on social interaction; take that away completely and they will struggle to get through this period. Arguably isolation will be hardest for this sector so it is vital they have a network of people they can call on, for nothing more than a simple chat.”
Leading multiple campaigns aimed at building relationships and doing more for social good, EP’s passion has always been for people so offering support through conversation is a natural progression.
