By Robby Kukler
It’s a tight labor market out there, and as our industry continues to grow it’s only going to become more challenging to find qualified hires who want to stick around for the long haul.
Some operators want to place the blame on the millennial and Gen Z generations, claiming that younger team members working in our industry are soft, complain a lot or lack perseverance, making it difficult to operate your restaurant how you would like to. However, I’ve found that people in these younger generations have much to offer the restaurant industry as long as we, as owners and managers, are willing to adapt and update our hiring and training methods to attract – and keep – good talent.
The good news is that a recent study by the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (NRAEF) shows that the desires of these generations actually overlap with what we in the restaurant industry naturally teach – multitasking, teamwork and customer service. The study also found that more than 50% want to advance their career in our industry by eventually working in a higher-end restaurant or going into management.
This is somewhat offset by the fact that 22% of them leave their job because they’re not making enough money and almost 30% “leave for something better.”
To me these statistics hold great potential for our industry. If you address retention of solid team members, the results may be a better-run operation with a strong, engaged staff and quite likely a deeper bench than you’ve ever had.
I don’t want to oversimplify it, but what this group is seeking is simple to understand but a bit harder to consistently deliver on. As stated in the NRAEF survey, “in addition to competitive pay that increases with good performance, today’s employees would like to work with a good manager and mentor at a restaurant with high ethics, that appreciates diversity and has a positive reputation in the community.” They also want to know that if they do a good job, they have a path forward. This doesn’t seem too much to ask for, does it?
To set your restaurant up for success and provide these opportunities, the foundation starts with well laid out and articulated hiring and training programs. Key elements to successful hiring start with the following:
Clear Job Descriptions. Define the roles and responsibilities of each position so there is clarity around the skills and experience you are hiring and that each and every candidate knows exactly what the job expectations are. Thorough Interview Process. Provide interview training for all hiring managers with outlined standards regarding how to identify a candidate’s skill set as well as their personality traits and soft skills to determine if they are a fit for both the job and the team they are joining. Peer-To-Peer Interviewing. This may be somewhat unorthodox, but it’s becoming more and more popular for existing staff and the candidate to meet one another, discuss what it’s like to work in your restaurant, levels of expectation and professionalism, etc. This gives the candidate exposure to the people they will be working with, and it gives your existing team the opportunity to buy in to any new hires – which often results in a higher level of commitment to that new team member’s quality of training.
Reference Checking. Th ere is only so much you can learn about a candidate during the interview process, so spending 30 minutes calling past employers or past fellow team members can be very eye opening. The best indicator of future behavior and performance is past behavior and performance, so do the legwork. When the time and energy is put into these steps and a great candidate is hired, the next most important step is new hire training and ongoing support and development.
Initial New Hire Training. Your SOP should be a succinct, documented day-by-day training program with checklists for each new hire position accompanied by an assigned trainer. The training process, regardless of how many days it is, should be scheduled in advance and reviewed with the new team member during orientation and followed up daily by their department manager.
I recommend testing along the way to ensure your new team member is learning everything expected of them. At the conclusion of the training period, their understanding should again be verified with written testing as well as conversation and possibly even mock execution of their role, such as a line cook preparing dishes from their station or a server providing mock service for a manager or senior staff member.
It goes without saying that during training, the new team member is paid a living wage equivalent to or close to what they will make when they’re in the full-time job. This shows your commitment to them and makes it clear that their training – regardless of how long it takes – is a priority.
Ongoing Training and Development. To ensure you have an engaged, committed staff , it is essential to have ongoing training for ALL team members. Th is includes reviewing day-to-day standards, ensuring that all team members are up to date on best practices and guest experience standards. Regularly present topics and role playing to improve skills and learn new techniques, as well as teach team members the finer points of your restaurant’s menu.
All this training content should be planned and assigned to managers in advance, possibly for the entire year or at least each quarter. It should be scheduled to be reviewed in daily shift meetings as well as in longer or more advanced seminars spread out across the year.
Succession Planning. If your business is built with a growth mindset and you are hiring highly motivated, driven individuals who strive to advance in your company or our industry as a whole, you must provide a road map to them. One of the keys to satisfaction for both the Millennial and Gen Z generations is having control over their lives and their future. So for those individuals, it is essential that your road map spans one to three years and details training and education milestones for them to achieve to ultimately assume new positions with confidence. This also allows you as an operator to have bench strength with people who have been trained to fi ll various positions in your restaurant or company, further supporting smooth transitions during departures, promotions or new restaurant openings.
Which brings me to the last and perhaps most important part of attracting young team members: they want to work for a restaurant team with “high ethics that appreciates diversity and has a positive reputation in the community.” Those who know me know this is non-negotiable, that to truly succeed and have a phenomenal reputation as a best-in-class employer you must be ethical.
A company’s moral compass is the foundation for all decision making, and it starts at the top. Owners, managers and decision makers who work from agreed-upon values to run their company, make all decisions on a long-term basis regarding what is best for the team members and guests, and consistently treat stakeholders fairly and respectfully in an open and honest environment always win.
Robby Kukler is passionate about fostering an exceptional hospitality model that succeeds for owners, guests and team members while embracing the fundamental hospitality principal of people taking care of people. With 40 “hands-on” years in the business and as founding partner of acclaimed Fifth Group Restaurants, Robby’s track record for developing and growing successful – and enduring – restaurant concepts and companies has earned him and his teams countless industry awards and recognition. With newly launched Kukler Restaurant Advisory (KRA), Robby harnesses this experience to show restaurateurs how to set and achieve their own KRA – Key Result Areas – for lasting stakeholder success. To learn more about KRA, contact Robby at rkukler@outlook.com.
