The chef shortage: How apprentices are helping tackle Marriott Hotels’ retention challenge. By Martin-Christian Kent, executive director, People 1st.
This March at Hotelympia, I will be welcoming a distinguished panel of industry experts to debate a story that has recently dominated hospitality headlines: the chef shortage.
We’re currently interviewing businesses and industry experts about the chef shortage and critically what can be done about it. There is not going to be a silver bullet to solving the problem, but there are many good examples in how businesses and industry partners are working to overcome it. Joining me on the panel at Hotelympia will be the European senior executive chef for Marriott Hotels, Sean Kelly, who over the past five years has helped oversee one of the chain’s most enduring success stories, The Marriott Culinary Apprenticeship Academy.
Set up in 2011 to address retention rates within its UK kitchens, and offering a guaranteed job, the academy project has led to a jump in Marriott’s apprenticeship completion rates from 60% in year one, to a hugely impressive 94% in 2015 - significantly higher than the national average of 70%.
I recently had the opportunity to talk to Sean Kelly about the programme and its impact on Marriott’s business.
How did the Marriott Culinary Apprenticeship Academy come about?
“We’d always had apprentices at individual properties but we’d never had a company-wide apprenticeship scheme for culinary staff.
“Our UK kitchens were probably the hardest hit when it came to attracting chefs and on top of that, we were facing a challenge in retaining chefs. So in 2011, we decided to launch a UK-based apprenticeship initiative in the hope that a new approach might help address the problem.”
Why do you think you weren’t getting the applicants?
“The issue, and one of the key drivers behind setting up the apprenticeship academy, came from having no chef de parties. When I was young, a chef de partie was someone who could manage each section at a good level and a good pace, but nowadays a chef de partie can, on account of a shortage of more proficient chefs, go and get a job as a sous chef in a restaurant and earn a lot more money.
“It was a difficult situation but also an opportunity. We thought
if we’re not getting the right people through the doors, let’s grown our own.”
So you’re guaranteed a job at the end of the process?
“Yes, if you complete the course and training then a job is guaranteed. If you’re an apprentice and you come on board, you’re offered a great set of knives, whites, a practical cookery book, and, most importantly, a paid placement for the 12 months of the process. This earns you either an apprentice wage if you’re outside London, or, if you’re in London, we offer the minimum wage. Not many apprenticeship schemes can make that claim.”
What makes the learning on the Marriott Culinary Apprenticeship Academy different?
“The key thing is that 75% of the apprenticeship is in the kitchen and not the classroom. We do this because learning must be enjoyable and most importantly hands-on to keep people engaged. The training goes from learning the basic kitchen skills – stocks, sauces etc. – right through butchery and fishmongery. There are also field trips to top quality restaurants, so they can really see how it’s done.
“Some of these apprentices haven’t been out of their own home towns, so for them to experience something like that is incredibly important
