We are still in the midst of a pandemic - this time, a labor pandemic.
Most businesses,
especially restaurants and hospitality are struggling to fill roles throughout their organizations. What happened?
Covid happened! That pandemic sent people home to quarantine, where they not only were sequestered, and not allowed to see those they love - they also had time to self reflect. Many businesses outside of hospitality morphed into hybrid or fully remote operations. Lots of those companies have continued that business model, realizing they could save money on office space, and with the right employees - continue to grow.
Fast forward to today. We have a population that wants to be able to have time with the people they care about, and be able to make a living. That population wants to be treated with respect, have benefits, and make a decent wage.
How do independent restaurant owners handle the demands of the new reality of workers? We must create an atmosphere of genuine care and respect. We are hospitality after all, that shouldn't be hard, right? So why are we struggling so much?
This industry is all about ducking and weaving - we know how to do it and we do it well. Let's take the time to discover our restaurant's true heart. What kind of atmosphere do you want in your restaurant? A fun place to work, where employees feel listened to and respected? A place where everyone who works there knows they are part of what makes the guests feel welcomed and cared for and every great review is due to the eff
orts of everyone who works there, from dishwasher to Head Chef?
Take some time to consider how you would like to be treated by your employees, and how they might like to be treated by you. Discover what traits someone who takes great care of your guests might have and start to focus in on those traits. This is your starting point for a great interviewing process that will help you find that gem of a future employee.
Sit down with your answers to the above questions, and start to formulate some questions you can ask to get to the heart of a potential hire. How can you get a candidate to open up and be themselves? What questions can you ask that will reveal if that candidate has the traits you want and need to serve your customers best? This is how you build a hiring process that works. One that finds you your ideal employee that stays!
Before you start interviewing, take the above steps and you will be on your way to having an amazing crew.
Happy hunting! Joan, Your Restaurant Maven
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