New Staff

Why is it every time I ask for a pair of hands, they come with a brain attached? Henry Ford

Hiring new staff can be dangerous. They won’t know what’s expected of them yet or how to do it, and a lot of the time they can often miss the mark when they try. I welcome new staff, it’s not to say that I don’t, but I make it clear to my managing staff from the beginning that you can’t just throw them into no man’s land and expect them to survive. I’ve been a new member of staff countless times and hate the feeling of not knowing what I’m doing, because who does? We all just want to feel useful or valued. However, when new staff members make a mistake, that’s our mistake and I don’t blame them, I blame the managers. Their mistake tells me that our training system for the new staff isn’t good enough or that our managers aren’t good enough at training.

Our newest members need time to prove themselves and to earn company trust, not only through their skills but also their mentality and personality, so it’s important to spend a good amount of time and energy to ensure the new members start off on the right foot.

Through different tests and stages, a lot of them are shadowing management from day one, so how do we ensure we have the right staff from the beginning, and invest wisely in them?

The restaurant industry turnover rate is around 20-30% a year, which means every company is spending time and money on recruitment and training. There is, however, something more costly; when new recruits water down the company culture that you’ve spent a long-time building, the company culture that secures success. It is built from top to bottom to the point where we as managers don’t need to explain how things are run, because it’s simply who we are. It creates problems when outsiders are recruited, and commitment levels aren’t the same. So how do we assimilate the new staff into our company and its culture as quickly as possible, from recruiting to interview to trial shift?

Recruitment – What to look for in a candidate

Your recruits should demonstrate passion and willingness to learn, which isn’t always easy to find and can be time-consuming. Having a set standard from the get-go will help with the filtering of unsuitable candidates, that means pre-screening, interview, and trial shifts are all key to securing the right candidates.

Application Form

The questions you ask on an application form narrow down the candidates you’re looking for. Use a wide range of questions that tackle different areas of the potential employee’s skills, personality, and all-round individuality. If you’re an established restaurant, did they do any research? Are they students, unemployed, or looking for a career change? How about customer service or teamwork experience? What about their thoughts on progression within the company? Full-time or part-time work? What’s their free time like and will it affect their work commitments? Can they bring new or useful skills to the company? Their answers may not be 100% truthful or accurate but they will be a step in the right direction towards filtering out unsuitable candidates. Remember you can ask similar, or even the same questions and phrase them differently during the interview, to see if they give the same answers or hesitate.

Pre-Screening

Pre-screen application forms when they first come in, and CV’s if you’ve asked for them to be included, and don’t disregard their presentation or format. Do they have experience or achievements in the restaurant industry? Are there any inconsistencies or career gaps? Why? How long have they stayed in past jobs? Try searching for them on social media. These questions should give you a better idea of who they are as an individual and help you to reduce the number of potential candidates. Before interviewing, re-read CVs and applications and note any questions you have. Being prepared means you won’t have to re-read during the interview and can fully focus on them and their answers.

Interview

Interviewing allows you to get a face-to-face, first impression of the candidate so don’t rush it. Listen carefully to their answers and observe their reactions, how they present themselves, how they’ve dressed, their mannerisms, attitude, personality, and behaviours. Allowing for nerves, is the candidate on time? Did they greet you, smile, and give eye contact? Are they well-groomed or presentable? Are they friendly and polite?

It’s easy to work hard in an enjoyable environment. When carrying out the interview think about whether you could train the candidate in front of you if they work hard, respect you and enjoy their role. Ideal candidates are positive individuals. Someone who is passionate about the industry, wants to learn and is ambitious about what they want in the future. Employees are much easier and quicker to train when they are already equipped with the attitude too.

If an interview was positive and you feel the candidate has potential, then go ahead and arrange their trial. Let them know that the purpose of the trial shift is to see how they work and whether they would fit in with the team. Make sure you notify them of the dress code and tell them that they won’t be paid but offered a meal after a successful trial.

Note: The questions you ask will differ depending on the position you are interviewing for, from manager or supervisor to part-time waiter or waitress.

Ask for references.

Sometimes we’re busy with daily operations, but it’s vital you don’t skip this step. At the moment, you only have two-way communication, so you need a third party to verify your thoughts. From personal experience, I would give their ex-employer a phone call to find out what you don’t know.

Trial Shift

This may not be possible if you haven’t opened yet but if it is, always carry out a trial shift for potential recruits. This should give you a glimpse into the candidate’s abilities and suitability for the job, their attitude, speed, skill, attention to detail and personality, in the space of a few hours. Potential candidates will also be able to see your standards and expectations if they were to work for you.

Here are some important things to look out for in the candidate

Interest and enjoyment

Initiative

Positive attitude

Good connection with the staff

Body language, gestures & smiling

Asking valid questions

Forthcoming

Appearance

After their trial shift, you should be able to decide whether candidates will be suitable for your company.

My advice is to have a checklist for candidates on trial. Keep an eye on them from the minute they arrive, making mental notes of their impression, attitude, personality, speed and skills. You want to see how they react in your environment.

Your checklist may look like this:

ON ARRIVAL

Did the candidate arrive on time? Yes / No

Did they look presentable? (Tidy hair, look fresh and awake, etc.) Yes / No

DURING THE TRIAL

Did they smile and greet customers? Yes / No

Were they friendly to team members? Yes / No

Did they take any initiative? Yes / No

Did they have a good and positive work attitude? Yes / No

Did they get along with the team? Yes / No

Could they listen clearly and follow instructions? Yes / No

Could they communicate well and speak fluently? Yes / No

Were they friendly with the customers? Yes / No

Did they look tired? (Yawning, lean against the wall, etc…) Yes / No

Were they distracting other staff? (chatting, not concentrating, etc..) Yes / No

You want all your trainee staff to feel welcomed and excited to be part of your team. Make sure you have a detailed welcome induction and training plan in place, so all necessary documents and training procedures are completed accurately and correctly. Create a checklist for easy tracking.

Hopefully you pick up thing or two in this paragraph.

Wing Chang