It's harvest time here in wine country. The smell of crushed grapes fills the air, the weather is perfect, and harvest celebrations are in full swing. However, harvest for industry insiders isn't quite as romantic. In fact, it can be hellish.
THE PRESSURE IS REAL
Vineyard teams work exhausting hours at one winery, only to do it all again the next week at another. Cellar teams work around the clock.One client, a consulting winemaker, juggles multiple clients across two counties, working sixteen hours a day, six days a week, for three months. And we're not talking about working at a desk. Her work means heavy lifting, dark and dangerous cellar conditions, lab analysis, and keeping track of intense details that can make or break a vintage. Given the downturn in the wine market, stake sare higher than ever, with winery owners needing miracles from every harvest.
In distribution, harvest also marks the beginning of the dreaded O-N-D (October-November-December), which industry estimates put at as much as 40 percent of annual sales. As a former distributor rep, I can attest to the pain of extended hours, weeknight wine dinners with visiting winery reps, restaurant wine trainings, and long days pouring for consumers in wine shops on weekends. In my retail days, I was lucky to get time off between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Restaurants are fielding company parties, seasonal wine dinners, and are even open on the holidays.
SURPRISE & DELIGHT IS AN ABUNDANCE MINDSET
Our industries thrive on the concept of surprise and delight. Will Guidara's book, Unreasonable Hospitality, talks up this concept of giving beyond expectations, but it's already ingrained in our DNA as hospitality professionals. That said, our industry does a huge disservice to its workers in that it fails to turn this same warmth and generosity to its leaders and teams, who arguably need it more than anyone.
In fact, many toxic company cultures stem from owners and leaders who fail to show this warmth and generosity to themselves, as well, creating a scarcity mindset from the top down. You may think being self-sacrificing is the mark of good leadership, but chances are you're contributing to a larger problem that not only affects your team, the company culture, and retention, but one that extends to the customer experience itself. If you feel stressed and empty as a leader, imagine what the team feels. And then imagine all the ways it shows up for your customers…
As the food, beverage, and travel industries strive to find homeostasis in the post-COVID marketplace, businesses can best find their footing by cultivating mindful leaders and self-aware teams. If we only extend hospitality in a one-way direction, we can't possibly be expected to sustain that energy vacuum. You can't pour from an empty bottle, and no one can drink from an empty cup. But when companies and leaders start taking care of their teams—and themselves—an abundance mindset can't help but follow.
THE COST OF IGNORING BURNOUT
The cost of ignoring employee burnout is real. According to Bureau of Labor Statistics data, turnover in accommodation and food services has averaged about 76 percent a year since 2001, compared with 43 percent across all non-farm employment. Gallup estimates that replacing an employee costs between half and twice their annual salary; for someone earning $60,000 a year, that's $30,000–$120,000. This means low-margin businesses such as wineries, restaurants, and travel companies can't afford to neglect their teams. Retention isn't a "nice to have"—it's a make-or-break situation.
While there may not be many ways of escaping the workload during these demanding moments in the food and beverage industry, there are ways of leading that can meaningfully change your leadership style, your team's resilience to stress, and the customer experience. Checking in with your team, naming the hard stuff, and infusing your leadership with more kindness can go along way. Buy your team lunch, even if they have to eat it behind closed doors in between customer interactions. Create a steady check-in before service or opening and ask everyone one thing they need to make the day go easier fort hem—and then work to make it happen. Pay attention to anyone who is struggling, going silent, or getting cynical. This isn't a courtesy; it's a necessity.
So, as you experience the stress of the season, I invite you to also witness it in others. And when you see it, take your team members aside, name it, and offer them something to help turn their day around: a ten-minute break in the walk-in during the rush, a half hour to pick up their kids from school, or fifteen minutes to run to the bank. We can't take away what's hard about this time of year, but we can surprise and delight our own with the same hospitality we show others every day.
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