In the wake of COVID-19, it’s become clear that the hospitality industry will never be the same. Especially when it comes to staffing and employee well-being. To address this Healthy Pour is launching a virtual conference, The Healthy Pour Symposium. The Healthy Pour Symposium will provide both an introduction to the world of workplace well-being as well as an opportunity to dive deeper into pressing matters. The Symposium will be hosted April 18-20, 2022. Reserve your place here.
Healthy Pour is a consultancy that helps businesses and industries grow and thrive through prioritizing the well-being of their employed personnel through utilizing evidence-based practices to help reshape the workplace. “The research shows time and time again that the well-being of personnel profoundly impacts the health of a business,” says Healthy Pour Founder, Laura Louise Green, LPC. “Lower intent to quit, lower stress and burnout, higher productivity, higher organizational identification…it’s all there.”
Bar & Restaurant recently featured Green’s four-part series on sobriety for people in the industry.
The Healthy Pour Symposium will focus on prioritizing the well-being of personnel, which is the future of the industry. Discussion topics will include issues around change management, guest relations, communication, career development, leadership, boundaries, equity, and identity.
This approach is counter to how the hospitality industry has operated, which has historically functioned off low wages, abusive working conditions, exploitation of vulnerable and marginalized populations, and a lack of stability for employees: an operating model that the workforce no longer tolerates. Still, many owners and operators continue to subscribe and enact this model even though current trends show that it’s ineffective, with 75% of restaurant owners reporting turnover and retention as a major problem. This kind of turnover is costly, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting quit rates in the hospitality industry are double the national average, and with the average cost of turnover estimated at $6,000 per employee, turnover emerges as a massive threat to the long-term viability of bars and restaurants.
These problems are insidious. They’ve plagued the industry forever, but COVID-19 brought them to the forefront of our attention. “It’s like after an earthquake when the faulty foundation is exposed,” says Green, “it’s been there all along, but everything we know is built on treacherous ground—collapsible at any moment.”
Green has decades of experience in hospitality and drinks but is also a licensed professional counselor currently continuing her studies in organizational psychology. While her initial focus was on the mental health of individuals in the industry, she now has turned her attention to the workplace. “When we talk about mental health as an industry, we tend to fixate on the individual without acknowledging how the working environment and culture contributes to the problems we see,” says Green. “This mindset wrongfully absolves the employer of responsibility of care and accountability when they cause harm.”
Drawing from Green’s experience reconciling research and practical application, the Symposium will feature speakers from the hospitality industry as well as experts from outside the industry in an effort to illustrate the connection to theory, research, and practice. “This industry tends to be quite insular and often positions hospitality professionals as experts in areas they are not, like mental health, which can be dangerous,” says Green, “We want to marry the valid experiences of the industry with the critical rigor of trained and credentialed professionals. These groups, hospitality professionals and academics, both notoriously work in silos, and we want to end that.”
Ultimately, Green is adamant that this is just the beginning of the work ahead for the industry, not a quick solution. “We can’t unsee how problematic and exploitive the hospitality industry is, and it would be foolish and disastrous to think we can just reopen on that same foundation. We need to go deep and really look at our systems, culture, operating paradigms, attitudes about personnel, and oppressive stigmas circling this work because we cannot go on like this. The future of this industry depends on it, but more importantly, lives are on the line.”
The Healthy Pour symposium is using an equitable pricing model for registration. Tickets range from free to $150. “It’s our strong belief that education—particularly around well-being and workplace advocacy—should be accessible to anyone who wants it, and finances shouldn’t be a barrier,” says Green.
The pricing model asks registrants to choose their price based on their current financial situation, with those who have expense accounts and more stability being asked to pay more than those who are under and unemployed. Health Pour also provides a $25 All Access price specifically for individuals who belong to marginalized, underserved, and historically ignored populations—regardless of financial standing. “Our priority is providing actionable education and information while fostering a sense of community. While we need to charge some kind of registration fee in order to pay our speakers and the Healthy Pour team for their contributions and labor, that should not be at the expense of accessibility. What’s the point of doing this work if we’re just going to keep it from people? Let those who have more resources support those that don’t.”
Healthy Pour is also accepting contributions for scholarships and sponsorship partners that are leading the charge in organizational innovation in regards to equitable well-being and career development.
Registration for the Healthy Pour Symposium is now open. For more information, please feel free to reach out to Laura Louise Green, LPC at [email protected]