The Unexpected Path to Hospitality Leadership
It’s a testament to the diversity of possible careers in the hospitality sector that someone such as Natalie Smith has found her way into it, coming from a background that has (on paper at least) nothing much to do with the sector.
When she became Group Head of People at FBD Hotels & Resorts three years ago, it was her first venture into the hospitality industry after a 16-year career in Human Resources and Recruitment.
As a teenager, sport was her passion and her first experience of academia was doing a fitness course in DCU. She twice represented Ireland as a baton twirler. That sports element is something that has stood to her all her life, she says. Even now, she can recognise the same qualities in those who have been part of a sports team. “Coming off a team and knowing what it means to be on a team like that stands to you in work. Because you have the sense of not letting people down, of knowing about your contribution to the team and how important it is.”
After a number of jobs in retail, Natalie began her HR path at the Technological University of Dublin, where she achieved an honours degree in Human Resource Management.
Learning the People Business Across Sectors
After two years of working as an IT Recruitment Consultant with American recruitment company Harvey Nash, she ‘took a chance’ in taking a job in the Human Resources department with Lloyds Pharmacy in 2008.
“In fairness to my husband, he said to go for it and see where it leads to… A two-month contract turned into 10 years of working my way up through UniCare/LloydsPharmacy.”
It was during her time with the Lloyds Pharmacy network that she did her degree part-time and after 7 years as Human Resources Manager, Natalie became the Head of Human Resources in January 2016; a position she held for three years before moving on.
“In pharmacy, you have a real mix of people; you have the people who go in and work on the shop floor and who are basically working their way up. Then you’ve got the pharmacists who are coming out of college after doing their four-year degree and working in the pharmacy side of things… in my time there, there were big changes where we were trying to change that old mentality of the pharmacists staying behind the counter in the dispensary and not coming out, while the younger pharmacists coming through were wanting to come out and build a relationship with the clients.”
There were also big changes with regard to the offer, with services such as well-being and weight management being added to the range of diverse products.
“It was a very big hands-on experience,” says Natalie of a job that was a combination of people-management and overseeing rapid evolution in a consumer goods business in 90 pharmacies around the country.
Her next two positions were newly created Head of HR roles where Natalie was able to carve out the role for herself and establish company values in both companies. It is a great legacy to leave behind and begin a positive culture change for employees.
Natalie was working in Stafford Lynch (a distribution company in FMCG) and was only there a year and a half when a telephone call came from FBD Hotels & Resorts, inviting her for interview with the company’s growing hotel group. Curiosity had driven her to simply “go and have a chat” but she was immediately intrigued by the working atmosphere – a very big change from the world of FMCG.
Leading with Empathy at FBD : “People Are Always Interesting “
“I don’t think that many people outside of hospitality realise what a lovely industry it is to come into,” says Natalie. “You have people at all levels, just like in the retail sector, but you have people with such passion to give a great guest experience and look after people so well. That translates then to not only looking after your guests, but looking after your colleagues as well.”
Natalie also finds that the support levels are very strong, with a positive attitude that makes everyone feel valued for what they do. This emanates from the top of the company right through the organisation – something that makes the regular challenges of the role that much easier.
“One thing I see in hospitality where recruitment can be quite fast-paced, is if you hire incorrectly and you potentially take on the wrong person, you need to deal with that very quickly.”
The organisation has 7 hotels in total, with just under 2,000 staff, making for a busy environment that requires some level-headed skills and attitude to manage for a Group Head of People.
“People are always interesting!” she says. “And that’s both guests and staff. They’re the things that keep life interesting because you don’t know what’s going to come across your desk on a Monday morning.
“For the most part, though, it’s all positive. The Heads of People that we have working across the board are people that want to create a positive environment for all our staff. They want to create the best and most welcoming environment for guests too and because they’re all of that mindset, it makes for a lovely working environment.”
Creating Positive Environments, One Hotel at a Time
The real engagement comes, Natalie says, with how staff members talk about their place of work to their friends and family at home.
As with all industries, the hospitality sector is a transient one, with people moving in and out of the scene. Retaining people isn’t always possible in all circumstances and one of the programmes they have is a Referral Programme, where staff members who are moving on refer to friends and family to come and work in the hotel group.
“It’s bearing fruit for certain because particularly in the last year or so, the type of talent that we’re attracting in the group is making it that much easier to recruit for senior roles when people move on.”
Shaping the Next Generation of Hospitality Talent
Talking in colleges to get younger people to come and work in the industry is increasingly challenging, however, with fewer people coming through.
“It’s because you have a lot of parents who don’t see hospitality as a viable career path for their kids,” says Natalie. “But if you get people in the door and you get them to experience it, it’s not like other industries at all. It’s so welcoming and it’s a lovely environment and you don’t get that in a lot of other industries.”
In trying to get that simple message across to the younger generation, they are turning more to the more modern media such as TikTok to reach their target audience more effectively.
It’s Not Rocket Science: The Power of Listening in HR
Meanwhile, developing talent within the business is an equally important role of Natalie’s brief.
“We have a lot of initiatives that we’ve developed over the last couple of years. We have our talent programme to identify people through all layers and help them to identify their career path.
“A lot of people working here didn’t want to go to college, for example, and didn’t want to gain a degree, so sticking them into a classroom won’t work for them and you won’t get the most out of them that way. You need to find a different way involving more ‘bite-sized’ learning.”
Their talent programme rolls out over 12 months with a different focus once a month on a different area of the business. By this approach, it helps people in the company to see what they would like to do, while getting ideas of how the company could change for the better, all the while encouraging people to stay and develop with the group.
“It’s a different way of managing people,” says Natalie, “where you’re asking them to come up with the ideas, asking them what they might do differently.
Many organisations can over complicate employee engagement. “It’s not rocket science; you go out with a survey, you ask what they want and then you try to meet those needs, within reason. And if you can’t, you tell them why you can’t. And if can’t be done immediately, you tell them that you’ll try to do it in the future and build it into your strategy for next year.” Having said that you must continue to evolve and work with the ever-changing employee landscape. The ultimate aim to create a positive environment for employees which in turn provides a positive environment for our guests.
