If you sit down with enough operators over enough coffees, the same conversation comes up every December. Someone will sigh, rub their eyes, and say the line we’ve all heard and probably said ourselves:
“We just can’t find good people anymore.”
And every time I hear it, I want to ask the real question hiding underneath:
Is it truly a recruitment problem? Or is it a retention problem that looks like one because we’re too busy, too stretched, or too tired to call it what it is?
Today’s post is one of those mid-week, honest-mirror pieces. The kind that challenges us a bit. Because if there’s one thing December never hides, it’s the reality of our team culture – good or bad!
Is Your Recruitment Problem Actually a Retention Problem?
Let’s be straight with each other: recruitment is difficult across the industry. Wages are up, expectations are shifting, and the talent pool isn’t what it used to be.
But here’s the catch.
When you look closely at teams that stay consistently strong, it’s not because they’re recruiting better. It’s because they’re not losing as many people in the first place.
And that changes everything!
I’ve worked with enough operators to know that most “recruitment crisis” start much earlier than the job ad. They start in the cracks of day-to-day operations:
• inconsistent communication
• unclear expectations
• lack of development or progression
• pressure without support
• teams feeling taken for granted
• small issues left to fester until they become big ones
These aren’t dramatic failures. They’re the quiet, creeping problems that slowly push good people away.
A study from Fourth Hospitality found that almost 45% of hospitality leavers said they didn’t quit the job in fact “they quit the environment”.
That one stings a little, because we know how true it can be.
December Brings It All Into the Light
If there’s one thing December does well, it’s expose the truth about your team culture.
When the place is heaving, when the shifts are long, when tempers run a bit shorter and standards need to stay high, you see exactly how strong, or fragile, your team environment really is.
Good cultures tighten during pressure.
Weak ones will fracture.
And people don’t walk out because of one bad shift.
They leave because that bad shift feels normal.
Leadership expert Patrick Lencioni once said,
“When people don’t feel seen, they stop giving the part of themselves that matters.”
In hospitality, you can feel that happening in real time.
What Operators Often Miss
Operators sometimes think retention is about grand gestures. Things like bonuses, incentives, team parties, shiny promises.
But most of the time, retention is built in the small, unglamorous details:
• being thanked properly after a rough night
• a manager stepping into the trenches instead of watching from afar
• coaching instead of correcting
• clarity instead of criticism
• noticing when someone is struggling
• being seen to TRY fixing the system problems that frustrate the team the most
It’s not rocket science, it’s called leadership that shows up repeatedly, not occasionally.
Public research shows that consistent, fair, day-to-day management practices improve retention by almost 50%. Not perks. Not pay. Consistency.
A Practical Mid-Week Move
Before this weekend hits full force, have a quick conversation with your team.
Not a meeting. Not a big speech.
Just this:
“What’s the one thing that would make your next two weeks easier?”
You’ll be amazed how often the answer is something small, simple, fixable BUT and massively impactful.
When you act on it quickly, it tells your team one crucial thing:
You’re paying attention.
And that alone improves retention more than any recruitment campaign you could ever run.
A Call to Action for Operators Who Want to Lead Better
If staffing feels like a constant battle, if roles are hard to fill, harder to keep filled, and even harder to stabilise, it’s time to look at the foundations rather than the symptoms.
That’s where The Fresh Group can step in.
Through operational support, leadership development, compliance guidance, and cultural alignment, we help operators build teams that stay, perform, and grow. The information you’ve already seen on the website and in the brochure shows exactly how we approach it.
If this post hits close to home and you’re ready to build something stronger:
Book a Discovery Call through The Fresh Group website – you’ll be surprised how many affordable ways we can help you.
Your next great hire might already be working for you, but the real task is keeping them.
Final Thought
Recruitment problems are loud.
Retention problems are quiet.
But the quiet problems are the ones costing you the most.
This week, take a moment to listen to what your team aren’t saying and you’ll quickly find the places where the real work begins.
