People & Performance Specialist
I help small multi-site hospitality operators cut manager-driven turnover by training their frontline managers to fix the system before blaming the people — using a proven six-step method, delivered in twelve weeks.
The Problem
Hospitality turnover hit 38.7% in 2024 — the highest of any sector in Australia. Operators are spending tens of thousands every year replacing people they could have kept.
The instinct is to blame wages, hours, or the workforce. But 75% of voluntary turnover is driven by managerial factors. People don't leave companies. They leave managers.
The real problem isn't who you're hiring. It's what your frontline managers are doing — or not doing — in the first thirty days of someone's employment. Most of them were never taught how to fix the system before demanding better behaviour from their team.
That's the gap. And it's fixable.
What I Offer
Every engagement is grounded in real operator experience — not theory. I've managed four sites, 200 people, and every type of people problem you're dealing with right now.
A structured two-week diagnostic that identifies the real drivers of turnover in your business — not the symptoms. Onsite visits, team interviews, shift observations, and a written report naming your top 3–5 system-level problems.
My flagship engagement. Weekly 1:1 coaching with your frontline managers, custom tools built for your business, system fixes, and a measurable reduction in manager-attributable turnover. Backed by a re-engagement guarantee.
Practical, on-call HR support for SMEs. Performance management, difficult conversations, award compliance, workplace investigations, and policy development — without the corporate price tag.
The Method
Go directly to the people on the ground. Request structured, specific feedback. Not "how's it going?" — real problems, named out loud.
Don't trust feedback alone. Put yourself in the shift. Watch the real conditions before making a judgement.
Separate people problems from system problems. Most "lazy staff" is actually a broken roster, broken equipment, or a missing checklist.
Build a relevant, timebound, and visible action plan. Visibility is non-negotiable — silence kills cooperation every time.
Rebuild the roster, fix the equipment, build the checklist. Remove friction before demanding behaviour change from your team.
Respect follows delivery. Do what you said you'd do, visibly, on their behalf. That's how trust compounds — and how people stay.
Why Me
Most hospitality retention consultants come from one of two places: they're HR generalists who've never actually run a shift, or they're ex-venue-owners selling a generic operations playbook.
I'm neither. I spent 16+ years inside McDonald's Australia — most recently managing four Sunshine Coast locations with 200 employees — doing exactly the kind of turnaround work I now deliver for clients.
I'm currently completing a Bachelor of Business (HR Major) through Swinburne University and I'm the founder of Tarni Wood Consulting.
The gap nobody is filling: operator credibility, HR framing, and a proven retention methodology — in the same conversation.
Tarni Wood — Founder, Tarni Wood Consulting
Get in Touch
Book a free 30-minute consultation. No pitch, no pressure — just an honest conversation about what's driving turnover in your business and whether I can help.