Spotlight interview | Cultural Diversity – Clif Francis FIH

As we continue our theme of talking to members for last week’s World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development, today we talk to Clif Francis FIH, Operations Manager at Lexington Catering, on how cultural diversity has affected his hospitality career.

Can you share a situation where your cultural background helped you connect with guests or colleagues in a meaningful way?

I have a manufacturing client and we run their catering and manage the café and staff restaurant with over 800 people on-site. They wanted something different, and we noticed that they had a wonderful car park. So, I suggested we could run a street food festival. The client was very keen on having Caribbean food, particularly Jamaican food. As that is my background it gave me the opportunity to build an authentic experience. I worked together with the development chef to focus on Jamaican and Filipino street food. And we had music and performances. The customers and staff had a great time. They could get involved and deliver something that was not from their country/culture, but take part in a fun and engaging way.

How do you use cultural diversity in your team or workplace to improve guest experiences or business results?

We have a casual dining competition every year where different teams across the country submit an entry to create a casual dining experience around both – food and service. One of my team members; Andrew, a chef from Ghana, to submit an entry. We created a taskforce of Andrew, a development chef from France and me. Through coaching and support we created a wonderful menu.

The wider team got involved to create the experience and decide nuances of how the food was going to be served, what they were going to be dressed in, etc. Part of the judging was to ensure an overall experience was created. The team made it through to the final. I had two additional teams in the competition and they were both exceptional. They collectively rallied around Andrew. The uniforms were stitched by another team member’s aunt, we had a DJ who created a special playlist and the cooking was on an outside, traditional wood fire.

In total we had 12-13 different nationalities who worked with Andrew to make this a reality. The idea behind it was to empower team members from various backgrounds to bring something authentic, something they love, are proud of and represents their culture. So far, we have delivered this concept to 20-30 businesses, and more than 5000 customers. We present this is a case study when tendering for business and this concept has led to better revenues and led us to more contracts up to 10 million. Overall, the team had fun, the guests who experienced it enjoyed it and now it has become the number one food concept in the business. I think when you focus on getting the experience right and leverage the diversity of your team, sales will follow.

Have you faced challenges in hospitality due to cultural differences, and how did you handle them?

Yes, I have faced challenges. Firstly, where there are cultural differences due to miscommunication or misunderstanding. For example, what would be acceptable in a particular background is unacceptable in another. This has caused friction a couple of times. The flip side is that colleagues from a cultural background see it as a barrier in themselves, and they feel they cannot work or grow to a certain level because of the English language. I have always practised having an open door, making sure that we can come together in a very open manner, talk about it, address the root cause, resolve it, and then move forward. It is important to make sure that everyone feels and has the confidence that they are part of something.

Secondly, I have superstars from a variety of backgrounds, but their mind blockage is at an entry level due to their English language. The way to resolve it is to give them exposure, mentor them, and coach them along the way. Give a particular activity to do in the business and that gives them the opportunity to gain confidence and grow, along with training courses. These approaches have delivered some incredible successes. One received national recognition as a service champion of the year and others are now employed in very senior roles. I try to give my team members exposure to increase their confidence and move away from barriers that they put in front of themselves. Whenever we have a team meeting or any celebration, I always look for something from a different culture which I can showcase. These initiatives make open conversations possible.

What advice would you give to others in hospitality to embrace and use cultural diversity in their careers?

Go back to basics. When we are hiring, I want candidates to be welcomed, interact with and meet with a variety of people, to help them understand our culture quickly. Making the team, and guests feel part of the culture, then enables them to grow. I invite a team member from a different background to experience what it is like to conduct a meeting. If a client wants an event with certain cultural dominance, I look at my team and give them the opportunity to work on it from the inception, through to delivery and coach them along the way. The more diverse the team the more unique you are to your prospective clients.