Contents
Why 2026 demands a reset for Leisure & Hospitality people strategies
1. Treat employee wellbeing as a business performance issue, not a perk
2. Fix the “listen but don’t act” problem — or lose trust
3. Re-engage managers as the heartbeat of the employee experience
4. Use AI to reduce HR workload — not add complexity
5. Meet employees where they are — not where HR sits
What this means for Leisure & Hospitality HR in 2026
Ready to turn employee voice into confident action?
Why 2026 demands a reset for Leisure & Hospitality people strategies
Leisure and hospitality have always been powered by people. But heading into 2026, HR leaders across the sector are facing a perfect storm: rising customer expectations, relentless change, deskless and distributed workforces, and teams already stretched to capacity. While employee wellbeing and engagement remain top priorities, many organisations are struggling to make meaningful progress. In fact, only a third of organisations saw engagement improve last year, while others report stagnation or decline
For HR leaders in leisure and hospitality, the challenge isn’t knowing what matters — it’s knowing where to focus to make the biggest difference with limited time and resources. Based on insights from WorkBuzz’s People Priorities: Future of Work 2026 report and real audience behaviour data, here are five practical people strategies that will define high-performing hospitality and leisure organisations in the year ahead.
1. Treat employee wellbeing as a business performance issue, not a perk
Employee wellbeing has held the top spot on HR priority lists for another year, with 44% of leaders ranking it in their top three
In leisure and hospitality — where long hours, shift work and emotional labour are common — wellbeing is inseparable from service quality and retention.
Yet the biggest barriers to wellbeing are structural: 60% of employees cite unsustainable workloads, while 34% struggle with constant change. This means wellbeing initiatives that sit outside day-to-day operations rarely move the needle. Instead, HR teams need to use listening data to pinpoint pressure points at team level and enable managers to take action quickly. When wellbeing improves, engagement follows — 92% of employees who felt wellbeing had improved also reported stable or improved engagement
2. Fix the “listen but don’t act” problem — or lose trust
Leisure and hospitality employees are more likely to engage when they believe their voice leads to visible change. Yet only 21% of organisations now listen to employees quarterly or more often, with many reverting to annual surveys due to shrinking HR capacity
The risk? Survey fatigue, declining participation, and erosion of trust. The data shows that low participation isn’t apathy — it’s scepticism that action will follow. High-performing organisations close the loop fast, empowering managers with team-level insights and clear actions rather than holding everything centrally with HR. This shift is especially powerful in frontline-heavy environments where timely, visible action builds credibility faster than long reports ever could.
3. Re-engage managers as the heartbeat of the employee experience
In hospitality and leisure, managers shape the daily reality of work more than any policy or platform. Yet poor manager capability is cited as a key barrier to wellbeing and engagement
Employees want leaders to communicate change better, recognise good work, and role-model expected behaviours — all areas where confidence in leadership often falls short.
The opportunity for HR is clear: stop asking managers to “do more” and start equipping them to do things better. That means translating employee listening data into simple, prioritised actions managers can own, without adding to their workload. When managers are confident and supported, engagement, culture and retention all improve — particularly in high-turnover environments.
4. Use AI to reduce HR workload — not add complexity
AI has officially entered HR’s top priorities, with 15% ranking it among their top three for the first time
But while interest is growing, adoption remains uneven. Most organisations are still experimenting, held back by lack of expertise and shrinking teams.
For leisure and hospitality HR leaders, AI’s value isn’t about futuristic transformation — it’s about practical relief. Tools that automate analysis of employee feedback, surface emerging themes, and generate clear insights that can save hours of manual work and accelerate decision-making. Where AI is already being used in employee listening, it’s most effective in analysing comments and identifying trends — exactly where overstretched teams struggle most
AI frees HR to focus on strategy, relationships and impact — not spreadsheets.
5. Meet employees where they are — not where HR sits
Leisure and hospitality workforces are diverse, deskless, and often disconnected from traditional HR channels. Audience data shows that engagement is highest when communications are timely, visual, and tailored — particularly via email and LinkedIn, where leisure and hospitality audiences show some of the strongest open and engagement rates
This means one-size-fits-all communication strategies no longer work. HR leaders need to segment by role, seniority and context, ensuring messages reach people at the right moment, in the right format. When employees feel seen and understood, trust grows — and so does participation in listening and change initiatives.
What this means for Leisure & Hospitality HR in 2026
The future of people strategy in leisure and hospitality isn’t about doing more — it’s about doing what matters most. Organisations that thrive in 2026 will be those that listen continuously, act visibly, support managers relentlessly, and use technology to simplify rather than complicate.
Above all, they’ll recognise that employee experience is not an HR initiative — it’s a leadership responsibility, enabled by the right insight, tools and partnership.
Ready to turn employee voice into confident action?
If you’re looking to simplify employee listening, reduce HR workload, and help managers drive real change on the frontline, WorkBuzz can help.
👉 Book a demo to see how employee listening can work at pace in leisure and hospitality.