The hospitality sector has been known for its high personnel turnover and the recent pandemic has not improved the situation. 75% of restaurateurs said that staffing was their number one business challenge. Not only do eateries have to figure out how to serve customers in a safe manner for both workers and diners, but they also have to recruit staff in a tight labor market. It has never been as complicated to hire top staff in the restaurant industry.
The pandemic exacerbated existing issues in the restaurant industry, forcing business owners to be creative when staffing their establishments. They are trying alternative recruitment methods, straying away from conventional job boards, making a candidate-focused application process, coming up with retention strategies, adjusting benefits, providing flexibility and career development options, raising wages, and digitizing their recruitment process.
As a restaurant recruiting company, we’ll share with you the current common challenges of hiring restaurant personnel as well as some tips to help with your hiring efforts.
The Difficulties Associated with Recruiting Personnel for a Restaurant
A rapid rate of employee turnover.
Hospitality has one of the highest staff turnover rates of any sector, with recent figures indicating that this number is only increasing. Prior to the pandemic, the restaurant industry was estimated to have a 73% rate of employee turnover, which is far higher than the 10-15% rate seen in other industries. The main reasons for people leaving hospitality jobs are low wages, limited chances for promotion, unclear job roles and expectations, inflexible working hours, feeling unappreciated, and an unpleasant working environment.
Expectations of job applicants not being met.
Prospective employees may have a completely inaccurate view of their prospective employer before they even begin their job. The contrast between what they thought the job would be and what it actually is, is a primary reason for high employee turnover in the restaurant business. If an individual does not understand what is expected of them before they submit an application or during the hiring process, they may be disappointed from the outset.
Decreasing population of young people in the workforce.
The restaurant industry has long been a go-to for teenage and young adults seeking their first job. With a higher proportion of Generation Z obtaining a Bachelor’s degree, the number of people searching for these entry-level roles is dropping.
Competition for local employment opportunities.
When looking for personnel to work in eateries, hiring locally is critical. But the biggest problem in an economy with low availability of labor is that you have to compete with other nearby businesses for the same people. Because a lot of entry-level positions require little to no qualifications or abilities, you may even have to compete with other employers for the same job applicants.
Recruiting and training expenses.
The cost of recruiting personnel to work in a top-notch eatery is not insignificant and the cost of replacing them again and again can be quite shocking. Recent studies reveal that restaurants typically spend $150,000 annually dealing with high turnover. This is because the process of advertising for the vacancy, selecting, interviewing, and training each new staff member is costly, and when done repeatedly, the bill adds up. In addition, there is the cost of productivity being down due to being understaffed. Even with new members that are trained to work efficiently, it still takes time for them to settle in.
Seasonal recruitment requirements.
Eating establishments usually have different staffing requirements that fluctuate throughout the year. For instance, those located in popular tourist spots may require additional employees during the high season. To illustrate the difficulty, it is estimated that in the United States, more than 500,000 additional restaurant jobs are created during the summer. When there is a tight labor market and an inability to satisfy the requirements of the off-peak season, it becomes highly difficult to meet seasonal hiring needs.
Insufficient knowledge in sourcing and hiring personnel.
The last obstacle to acquiring top-notch restaurant personnel is that restaurant managers typically don’t have a background in recruiting, yet they are the ones responsible for hiring personnel. Not only does a lack of recruiting knowledge create a discrepancy in the caliber of employees, but when the managers are hiring manually, utilizing inefficient and time-consuming techniques, it makes it more difficult to hire quality staff. They are not only responsible for managing their restaurant, but also have to manually assess applicants and plan job interviews with whatever time is left. Therefore, they are not able to make data-driven and impartial hiring decisions.
Steps to Streamline the Hiring Process for Restaurant Managers and Other Employees
1. Find resources to help with recruiting.
As we have seen, there are a lot of difficulties with recruiting restaurant workers. It’s important for you to define your hiring process. Here are nine methods to enhance your recruiting and hire outstanding personnel for your restaurant.
As a restaurant owner, you know it’s impossible to run a successful restaurant without good help. First, you’ll need a manager to help keep things running. A restaurant recruiting company will help you with the hiring process for restaurant managers. They are pros and will help you understand the fundamentals of screening, interviewing, job description writing, managing expectations of potential hires, selecting the right applicant, and other aspects of recruitment. Managers in the restaurant industry can enhance the hiring process as a whole. A bit of knowledge can go a long way when it comes to successful recruitment.
Managers are typically responsible for recruiting workers at their branch or establishment, but they are not experts in staffing. They also have a lot of other duties to handle simultaneously, such as preparing weekly timetables, handling dissatisfied customers, etc. Therefore, it’s recommended that restaurant managers also seek assistance in the hiring process. They can seek the help of restaurant recruiting companies, corporate headquarters, current employees, or other digital resources.
2. Accelerate the hiring process for restaurant managers.
Employers who take a long time to process job applications and make candidates wait for an answer will not have any luck in a tight labor market. In order to hire the best personnel in the restaurant industry, it is important to speed up the hiring process for restaurant managers.
For managers facing difficulty in selecting candidates, pre-employment assessments can be a great way to determine the best ones quickly. These tests and tools are used to evaluate the candidate’s skills and capabilities, assigning them a score based on the roles they are being considered for. However, it is essential to ensure that the managers have the necessary training to use such candidate selection solutions in order to make the most of them.
Additionally, those looking for entry-level roles are interested in two things: job security and a straightforward application process. By providing both of these things in a timely manner, employers will not only be able to acquire limited talent before any other company does, but they will also reduce the time taken to commit. This will likely lead to loyalty from the employees and promote job retention.
3. Figure out the necessary job positions that must be filled.
Before you can create a successful restaurant team, you will first need to decide which roles need to be filled. Usually, a restaurant should have a manager, shift managers, line cooks, servers, kitchen staff, and dishwashers in the back of the house. It all depends on the kind and size of the restaurant, but you might also need bartenders, hosts, and bus persons. These are the typical roles for a restaurant, and it will depend on your type and size to decide if you need them. You will also need to determine how many people should fill each role. For instance, you will likely need more servers than shift managers or dishwashers.
4. Carry out an analysis of job responsibilities.
Instead of just copying the job description from the past X times you recruited for the position, take the time to truly figure out what skill deficiencies your business has. Then, write more precise job descriptions so you can set the expectations for applicants from the beginning and follow fair recruitment practices. The easiest way to do this is to carry out a job task analysis. By doing a job tasks analysis, you are not only following professional legal standards, but you are also getting a more thorough understanding of your hiring needs. This will help you be more strategic with your recruitment efforts.
A job tasks analysis identifies the overall duties of the role and then looks into each one more in-depth. Doing this will enhance your hiring process by accurately portraying the exact nature of the job and consequently attract qualified applicants who match the position. It will also help reduce employee turnover by hiring people who understand the expectations, down to the smallest detail. If you find this overwhelming, just look for “restaurant recruiters near me” and they’ll help you with this.
5. Identify the common skills among your most successful staff members.
Offering the most excellent experience for customers is at the heart of hospitality, which is why it is essential that your personnel are sensitive to customer needs and are motivated to fulfill them. However, a big issue that many fast food and sit-down restaurants experience when recruiting is the quality of their hires. To try and lower staff attrition and boost the quality of hires, introduce methods for selecting candidates that can forecast how they will perform in the job.
6. Experiment with different channels for sourcing potential hires.
Before we jump into the hiring process, it is important to find quality candidates. This can be difficult given the competition with other local businesses for the same talent. You need to think beyond the standard methods and understand that spending money on sources that were not successful prior to the pandemic will not work now. To illustrate, Denny’s took their 53-foot kitchen truck on a hiring mission, Chipotle hosted a virtual career fair on Discord, and Taco Bell had a 4th annual hiring party while maintaining social distancing. If you are looking to keep the search online, consider:
- Poached: A foods and drinks job industry board. They promote your job lists to their audience and partners including Indeed, ZipRecruiter, and Glassdoor.
- Culinary Agents: This is a networking site that caters to professionals in the food, beverage, and hospitality niches.
- Industry: A website that brings together professionals in the retail and hospitality industries, creating one big online community.
Also, why not consider promoting within your restaurant? Promote an experienced server to a shift manager role and enable internal mobility. This can be a great way to fill a role and incentivize people to work in your restaurant for the long-term. Growth opportunities encourage employees to view your company as one that provides long-term career prospects.
7. Give a thorough description of what a job entails.
In most cases, the candidates may think they comprehend every one of your desires for the position. But there is a difference in expectations that can cause your new hires to leave, at times before they even start. By providing jobseekers a realistic job preview, you can guarantee that every applicant is completely mindful of what the role involves before they even begin, ideally averting early attrition and employee turnover.
A realistic job preview provides applicants with a look at what the work really resembles, exhibiting the positives and the negatives. This way, they can get a feeling for what aptitudes and capabilities the job necessitates, and in addition observe what a typical day is like, prior to them consenting. You are informing candidates what your expectations are, while they decide if what you are offering fits what they are looking for.
You could simply give a video preview of a day in the life of a server. Or a quiz on your online application. You could invite applicants in for a trial day at your restaurant, giving them a sample of what the role is like while evaluating them to perceive whether they are really a solid match. In the event that you go this route, don’t treat candidates as free labor. Set up clear conditions in advance to stay away from miscommunication.
8. Offer some training.
If you want committed staff, you have to prove to them that you’re ready to invest in them. A considerable component of that is allocating time and resources for suitable training and orientation for new recruits. Properly trained employees are more likely to fulfill your expectations, so it can be greatly beneficial for both sides. Many restaurants miss out on providing comprehensive training and then remain perplexed when their early attrition rate is so high.
If you do not train new hires and set them up for success, do not be taken aback when they quit unexpectedly and go to a competitor who is willing to give time and resources to train them. If new employees do not feel they can adequately do their job, they will instantly become discouraged and disheartened. Part of the training should also include integration so that the new worker starts to align with your organization and feels like they are a part of it.
9. Begin the recruitment process for seasonal employees early.
It is essential to plan ahead and give yourself sufficient time to find the perfect people to occupy the available positions. This is particularly true when you are needed to hire for the holiday season. Since the hiring rate for restaurants is already low, you may be required to offer different bonuses to draw in enough qualified applicants for your seasonal roles. Some incentives include:
- Make an announcement of the seasonal jobs way before you need to hire.
- Have an employee retention plan to ensure your current team stays with you.
- Increase the wages for both the new and existing employees.
- Provide attractive bonuses to short-term employees. It can be cash bonuses, health insurance, career development, or education benefits.
- Get onboard with digital recruitment processes to ensure the hiring process is fast and efficient.
Next Steps
Being efficient when hiring employees for your restaurant is important, however, do not let the quality of hire be compromised. Taking your time and being patient will be beneficial in the long run. You should analyze job tasks to determine what you need from top team members, determine the key abilities to assess candidates, explore new recruitment sources, and be creative when finding candidates. Establishing a strong base will allow you to hire top-notch personnel for your restaurant.
This article was published by LevelUp Recruiting LLC.
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