BENCHMARQUE
dishes and now own their own venues , earning well over six figures . It ’ s important to showcase these stories . It isn ’ t always easy , it ’ s a long road – however , it is possible .”
Bennett made his first foray into hospitality 23 years ago after his own positive employment experience in guest services at the swanky Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Double Bay . Since then , he ’ s worked in some of Sydney ’ s top establishments .
He founded BENCHMARQUE in 2006 after spending four years as Assistant Operations Manager , Functions and Events at The Establishment Hotel in Sydney , which is part of the Justin Hemmes-owned Merivale group .
“ I had a really positive employment experience there and realised that with the casual staffing model , I could work with a business like this , and provide a more unique and tailored service ,” he claims .
“ It all comes back to providing the best service in employment services to our candidates and our partners .”
BENCHMARQUE currently turns over $ 9mn annually and has 15 full-time staff , mainly people & culture administrators , coordinators and management , scheduling approximately 40,000 shifts annually for the 400 + front of house hospitality workers through its workforce management and labour hire solutions .
“ We ’ re fortunate to have a passionate , engaged team ,” he admits , “ and it starts with hiring the right people who have worked in the positions we service . My mantra for anyone employed internally , is that they must come from an operations background in hospitality .
“ They must be able to walk the walk , talk the talk , and have empathy for our front-line staff , candidates and clients to understand intimately what their daily challenges are .”
He says one of the industry ’ s major challenges is a forecasted critical skills shortage of 123,000 people by 2020 .
“ The restaurant industry is going through significant growth ,” he adds . “ Every restaurant in Sydney is desperate for staff at all levels , especially skilled waiting staff , beverage staff , chefs .”
66 November 2017