The University of Essex and Compass Contract Services (UK) Limited KTP 24_25 R4

A hospitality recruitment brand is testing whether its people-management practices actually improve both employee wellbeing and business performance, rather than relying on industry tradition or guesswork. The hospitality sector faces chronic staffing challenges, with high turnover and inconsistent HR practices across thousands of sites. Many companies adopt recruitment or retention strategies without rigorous evidence that they work. This project treats the company’s existing HR approach as a test case, embedding analytical “people science” skills directly into the organisation. The goal is to measure whether the approach delivers measurable benefits for workers and for the bottom line, then distil those findings into a practical toolkit of evidence-based HR best practices tailored to hospitality. If successful, the toolkit could give hospitality employers—from contract caterers to hotel chains—a reliable, data-backed way to hire and retain staff. That would matter for an industry where poor HR practices quietly drive labour shortages, inconsistent service, and low morale. The immediate impact is on business operations and workforce stability, not on the public directly. This is applied research: it tests a specific commercial model to produce actionable guidance, not fundamental science.