Hospitality and mental health
- Bogdan Rotaru
- May 10, 2021
- 3 min read
Hospitality people are so focused on giving everything of themselves that they run the risk of forgetting about their happiness in their pursuit of the perfect guest experience.
Focussing on other people's happiness does not mean that one's happiness is not essential. The fact that someone can dedicate their work to gift happiness to someone else should add to one's happiness, not take away from it.
Luckily, there are easy ways to keep our happiness and mental health to the best levels, and there is excellent support out there for people that work in hospitality and might need it.
Just like you focus on your guests' happiness, make it a priority to focus on yours at the same time. Because you chose hospitality as your career, you already know and use daily active listening, so why not use it to listen to yourself as well? That way, you will be able to quickly identify any potential threats to your mental health and take action when needed.
If, for example, you feel that you are in the wrong department or that you are not motivated or challenged enough by your current role, the diversity of positions that the industry offers makes it easier to change jobs and find the one that is right for you. Reach out to your manager or HR department and talk about your options.
If you feel that the hours you work are not enabling you to have an excellent work-life balance, look into how you change those hours. In an industry that operates 24 hours, there is always a way to help you strike the right balance.
Remember, you work in an industry with people who make it their life mission to provide happiness. There is always someone ready to help or guide you amongst your colleagues. Be open and find the right person, whether you need a mentor to help you navigate your way or just someone to talk to about what is bothering you. It doesn't matter if it is work-related or personal.
When dealing with any unhappy guests, remember that you shouldn't take anything personally. Do your best to turn things around for that guest but don't absorb negativity. If that energy transfer happens, make sure you take a moment to relax, breathe and recharge.
If you make a mistake, learn from it and move on. Don't beat yourself up, as you can't change what already happened anyway. If you can turn things around, then great. Otherwise, focus on what lessons you can draw from that mistake to ensure that you won't repeat it next time. Understand that making mistakes is part of growing, and no one is perfect.
Practice mindfulness, be in nature, breathe deeply, take time to focus on a hobby of yours, or better yet, think of ways to incorporate it in your job. You are in an industry that places a premium on creativity, so get creative about adapting your day to day tasks to deliver still excellent results and at the same time make it fun for you.
There are many programmes and tools that companies in the industry have started to roll out more and more. See what your company offers and if they don't offer anything yet, challenge them to do so.
There also some great organisations or charities that focus on mental health support for people in hospitality:
Whatever challenge you face - from physical illness or mental health issues to financial difficulty, family problems to addiction - Hospitality Action is here to get you back on your feet again.
https://www.hospitalityaction.org.uk/
The now pause initiative offers a free, practical, self-care toolkit to help keep your mental health in shape.
Launched in May 2019, The Burnt Chef Project was set up with the sole intention of eradicating mental health stigma within hospitality.
Helps those who are in need of support by providing wellbeing advice and signposting organisations that can help.
Find out more about how you can maintain and improve your mental health on the Mental Health Foundation website.
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