Steve Weber, PCH

Building your team is a task that takes time, and following a pandemic, it’s a task that is taking even more time than many restaurant owners would like to admit. From hiring for the back of house to a specialty manager, finding the right employee saves you both time and money. We’ve all seen the stats on just how much a bad hire really costs. 

Often times we see managers and business owners work to promote employees who really may not be the best fit. In the end, the result is an unhappy employee and lots of burnout to accompany. From our experience we’ve rounded up four questions to ask yourself when it comes to hiring or internally promoting. We think that how you answer these questions could help provide you the direction needed to move forward in growing your business. 

Do they have the skillset to be a manager?

Do they communicate and seem engaged?

Do they do the things we need to get the numbers we need?

Do they follow your systems? 

Let’s break them down. 

Does the employee you’re looking to promote or hire have the skillset to be a manger? We can only answer that once we know what does it take for a candidate or employee to look and act ready for a promotion into management?

1. They’re self-managed.
There’s a lot to say about an employee who arrives on time, takes care of business and is always solving problems for themselves in a professional manor. From the get go, it’s usually easy to see what standout individuals are a part of your team.

2. They lead in a way they’d want to be led.
Among the restaurant industry, there can be a lot of personalities which sometimes result in some unpleasant moments in the back of house. An employee ready to manage carries themselves in the way they’d want their own manager to handle conflict and works to keep themselves clear of causing personal conflict. Whether it’s getting along with every employee or you use her or him as an example of patience, performance and productivity – employees working towards promotion lead by example.

3. They set goals and achieve them.
Leaders set goals and develop a roadmap to accomplish them. And when they need help to accomplish their goals? They ask! Look at your timecards… who is putting in the hours during the busy days and during the times it is somewhat inconvenient to work, whether that be holidays or evening. The best future manager you can hire is the one who puts in the time today.

Does your employee or candidate communicate and seem engaged?
What’s the employee’s engagement level? It’s a candidates market and individuals are looking for the greatest and newest opportunities consistently.  Beyond the hire that stands out on paper with the skills to perform well, who are the ones with a genuine interest in the food and beverage industry as a whole? They are the ones likely to be satisfied in your working environment and therefore a steady employee.

More than just engaged in the industry, hire the candidate with shown social engagement skills too.  When employees are socially engaged in their career, guests notice it too. So what’s “socially engaged” mean? We’re talking about the candidates who like to lend a helping hand to their fellow co-workers, find importance in celebrating accomplishments and are not out to just make a buck or two…We’re talking about the ones who speak with the guest dining and are eager to ensure their experience is the best and most welcoming possible. Whether you’re after a close knit family culture, a strong team emphasis or any other cultural work ideas, hire the candidates who have shown you the social skills to meet your goals.  Your guest and other employees will thank you for the engagement levels each new employee possesses.

Do you believe your employee or candidate understands and can help get the number you need?
Are they ready to help GROW?! Better yet, are YOU ready to grow? When an individual is passionate about helping come alongside your goals, it’s a perfect start to having an excellent team member. The one thing we know is that enthusiasm spreads! And with the help of a single employee, your entire team can find renewed passion, excitement and zeal of their roles. 

Our last point is simple, does this individual follow your systems?
While for someone you are just interviewing you may not be able to accurately gage their ability to follow your business norms and systems,  through the application process you can see some key points that may give you some insight. Is their resume fully filled out? Did they respond to your job posting with all required materials requested? As for a current employee you’re considering promoting, it’s easy to evaluate their success in following your business norms and systems which make up your company culture. 

There’s more to the age-old practice of hiring than ever before… what are you doing to make it not only hard for candidates to want to walk away from your company after their hire, but before even accepting the position to ensure you’ve got the right hire?

After thirty years in the business, we absolutely know the hospitality industry — from boardroom to break room. We’ve worked at all levels of the restaurant industry. We speak the language. We know the people. We know where the openings are. We know how to find good people who care.