I cant quite believe this is the December Wild Dreams blog, where did the year go?

With the year coming to an end, I thought I would write a more personal blog this month simply reflecting on this year in Hospitality and also for Wild Dreams as so much has happened but at the same time the year flew by really quickly.

2020 will forever be engraved in peoples minds especially employees within the hospitality and tourism industry and for many this will be a very dark, stressful and sad time.

It was a time of uncertainty for us all. For many it was a time of change in their careers, some of which was not ideal and for others it was a forced new beginning & people moved into industries that they are actually more passionate about or started their own businesses to become there own boss for the first time.

I’ve heard the current situation be referred to as the ”great resignation” and although many were retrenched and laid off, there has definitely been a lot of people resigning from their jobs too. I believe this has been for various reasons such as working conditions, salaries but also because many people have changed over the last year & with work being such a big part of all of our lives, the change has come in form of our careers.

People also have had a taste for the work from home life & for many this has been a game changer in getting a bit more of a work/life balance with more time being spend at home & people being able to manage their own time.

We all wanted 2021 to come quickly and bring with it some form of normality and it did to some extent but not as quickly as hoped and this has shown us that the recovery from Covid is going to be a slow and steady one.

I started the year feeling excited about the future of Wild Dreams with 2020 seeing me find the time to expand the company not only in services but also in staff by hiring Amore, & also having Grant come on board to assist with various aspects of the new & improved version of Wild Dreams.

Also being in lodge management myself, means I could see what was happening in the industry both from a company owner perspective but also from a lodge point of view. This was a blessing in some respects but also not, as I was faced with the daily reality of the effects of Covid in our industry, this being said the year got off to a slow start all round & although we were busy with some external project like guide training, the hospitality industry was still at quite a stand still for the first few months.

Luckily from May of 2021 we saw a dramatic increase in recruitment which is one of our main services so this was a big relief. We had also started recruiting for other industries during 2020, we will continue to do so & it has kept things interesting for us as its definitely more challenging recruiting for an industry other than hospitality for us, we however are very much up for the challenge!

In September recruitment skyrocketed in a big way, luckily I had predicted this and we had employed Anna and she joined the herd just in time for have a brief training and then be thrown in the deep end with all her allocated vacancies, the plan was to start her slowly but that really wasn’t an option as we just got busier and busier and saw many new clients coming to us.

Interestingly there are some clear roles that need filling with most of our clients, everyone seems to be looking for Chefs, Managers and Lead Trails guides so these people are in high demand & seem to be the ones who may of left the industry. This has also meant we need to be even more creative than before in sourcing candidates.

By October we had so many vacancies we didn’t know what to do with ourselves, this saw my other projects (and there are many) needing to take a back seat while I supported the recruitment side of the business. This lead us to look for another recruiter, but this time I had a unique requirement in the fact that I wanted to hire someone who was vegan.

Deryck started last month, he has come on board as a recruiter and will be handling the vegan vacancies which is going to be a focus of ours going forward.

We also still offer our vegan services and will be growing this side in various ways next year which is very exciting.

In the last 12 months we have gone from a one-woman-show with just myself running Wild Dreams to a herd of 5 of us! Its been an interesting time, building a team as it takes a lot of work in the beginning but as everyone finds their feet it falls into place.

The growth we have had is really mind-blowing considering we are still feeling the affects of the pandemic and there is much more planned in our near future so watch this space! Some of what I have planned I cant even talk about, but I have some very exciting secret projects in the works.

Currently as we sit in December 2021 the future of the hospitality industry looks good, we are going to still feel like we are on a rollercoaster to an extend but I don’t believe the ups and downs will be quite so dramatic.

We have around 70 vacancies at present & the salary % situation is calming down. Typically the beginning of the year sees people wanting to move on and make a change & I expect next year will be no different.

Regardless of what 2022 throws at us, I feel confident that Wild Dreams can handle it, we have proven ourselves to be highly adaptable and the initiative’s we are moving forward on are all forward thinking. Its also been really rewarding to have so many people comment on how impressive its been to see Wild Dreams grow & adapt and I hope that our journey has inspired others in some way.

As the year ends I also want to express my thanks to everyone who supports us, whether its as a client using our services or our candidates choosing us to assist them in finding their dream jobs, we really appreciate it.

Even like, comment and follow on our social pages is noticed.

Every share of our website is noticed.

Every testimonial of our course, trainings or services is noticed.

You are all noticed – Thank you!

Blog by Hayley Cooper

I wanted to add a short statement to the end of this blog as I finished writing this the day before the news of South Africa going back onto the red list of many countries. I have no words for this decision & the way that everything has been handled, this will of course have an affect on our industry, however its important that we all stay positive and know that this will pass just like it did before. The Wild Dreams herd are here for you all.