Restaurant Hiring Practices

by Chuck Freeman, MBA, President C3Consultants

“The economy is suffering, our customers are spending less, and our costs keep going up.” -Anonymous Restaurant Owner

If this statement is a little too close to home for you and your business, it may be time to examine your hiring practices. Why should you examine your hiring practices, aren’t there other more pressing issues to deal with?

According to the National Restaurant Association, there are more than 13.1 million Americans employed in the restaurant industry. With this volume of employees, the movement from one employer to the next comes with not-so-hidden costs. These costs include recruiting, hiring, training, and loss of productivity. If you incur these costs and end up with a bad fit, you will incur these costs again. So how do you increase the odds of a good fit?

Interview for Behaviors. While this concept is not new, you may be surprised on how little it is employed. Even if you have standardized questions for interviewers to ask, are they properly trained to recognize behavior indicators? In many facilities, managers and supervisors are the decision makers for interviewing and hiring, yet most have not received specific training to become strong interviewers. Their management skills and judgment may be relied on heavily, but a refresher course in interview skills will have far reaching benefits.

After selecting the behaviors you would like to see in your facility, develop questions to evaluate the candidates potential in that area. A behavior such as Flexibility, may be assessed with the statement/ question: “Describe a time in your past when you had a solid plan and needed to change the plan because of someone else.” If not answered in the original response, a follow-up question might be: “How did that make you feel?” Obviously the responses will vary but you are giving the candidate an opportunity to show an example of the behavior, ability to communicate, and other potential behaviors (positive and negative) as well.

If you don’t have the inclination to hire an outside service, you can identify your top performer by reviewing data on turnover and productivity. While other factors, such as training and advancement opportunities, may affect these results, hiring the right person is also a strong component. With your top performer, discover his or her method and develop best business practices to share with the organization.