Joe & The Juice is working on plans to launch an 18-month career pathway for UK staff that includes overseas travel options in a bid to address hospitality’s recruitment and retention crisis.
The strategy, which the company claims has proven successful in the Nordic market, is expected to launch in the UK next year.
Speaking on a people and culture panel at MCA’s Food to Go Conference last week, CEO Thomas Nørøxe, said the business, which operates juice bars in 16 countries, had struggled with recruitment issues in the UK post-Brexit.
However, he was confident the challenges could be resolved and revealed an 18-month career programme launched in Denmark, had seen up to 50 “juicers” sign up, while success has also been observed in Norway.
“We combine it [the career plan] with business academies, training and travelling,” Nørøxe told delegates. “We’re sending them [employees] to other European countries on their three-month period. If they like it, we can send them to the UK or the US.
“This is something we’re going to introduce in the UK market next year as well and I believe what we have achieved in Norway - to have Norwegians working for us - we will achieve in the UK in the very near future, having UK people working in our UK market.”
Nørøxe was joined by Morven West, head of people and culture, at Knoops and Attensi’s global head of hospitality and leisure, Greg Hull on the panel, which explored the industry’s recruitment and retention issues, as well as topics such as sustainability, technology and how to pitch your brand.
West described the current recruitment shortages in the UK as a “big problem at the moment”.
“We’re all ultimately competing for the same much, much smaller pool of talent,” she said. “We are getting significantly [fewer] applications than we’ve ever seen. I think everybody’s sharing that experience.”
However, West added the recruitment challenges were not limiting the company’s growth.
The boutique operator, which serves hot and iced chocolates as well as milkshakes, recently opened its seventh site in Oxford and has ambitions to open a further ten shops over the next 12 months.
