Hiring The Best Workers For Your Restaurant
Hiring the Best Workers for Your Restaurant
The continued growth and success of your restaurant depends on making the right hiring decisions. After all, it's not only the culinary delights that your customers will come to love about your restaurant; it's also the outstanding ambiance and exemplary customer service that will keep them coming back for more.
Therefore, you should be extremely selective in hiring your staff. After all, your customers are depending on you to choose employees with impeccable culinary, communication, and/or customer service skills. In this brief article, we'll teach you how to hire the best and most diligent workers for your restaurant. So, grab a notebook and learn how to make smart hiring decisions.
1. Know what qualities you're seeking. First of all, you must know what type of qualities you're seeking in an employee. You see, the restaurant business is different than any other industry. Your employees are not only selling a product, your delicious food, they're also selling a "feeling" that your restaurant is "the place to go for great food and great customer service". Therefore, if you're seeking new wait staff, you'll likely seek employees that are self motivated, personable, friendly, and extremely knowledgeable about cuisine. If you're seeking a culinary expert, you'll likely seek an employee that is versatile, creative and experienced at preparing delicious and tantalizing recipes. If you're seeking a maitre d', you'll likely find one that is personable, knowledgeable, motivated, independent and committed. 2. Be willing to search for the right employee. Second, you must be willing to search for the perfect employee that meets your specific needs. This can be done by:
· Asking current employees for referrals.
· Placing classified ads in local newspapers and online job databases.
· Hiring directly from culinary schools or employment agencies.
· Posting ads on bulletin boards. 3. Employ sound investigative skills. Third, you must employ sound investigative skills when making initial contact with prospects. This will help you weed out the "good prospects" from the "bad prospects" and this can be done during the initial consultation. However, at this stage, you're only conducting preliminary interviews and reviewing resumes to get a sense of whether this person is worth interviewing. 4. Ask the right questions and evaluate the answers. Now that you have short listed some great candidates, it is now time to prepare for upcoming interviews. With this in mind, you should prepare your questions in advance. By having great questions, you'll demonstrate that you have savvy organization and managerial skills and will leave an impression that you are a true professional. Just remember to ask specific questions that help you determine the applicant's skill competency. For instance, for the position of the chef, you will need to evaluate the candidate's culinary and kitchen management skills. For the maitre d', you'll need to know how skilful she/he is in dealing with customer complaints. For a waiter, you'll need a person with outstanding customer service skills and the right kind of temperament. 5. Be an employment detective. Fifth, you must be willing to be an employment detective. This can be done during the interview process where you'll evaluate any remaining candidates with a fine tooth magnifying glass. By setting up informative interviews and digging for additional information, you'll soon be able to spot the perfect employee. To assist you, don't be afraid to administer a detailed questionnaire which can help determine if the candidate can fit into your restaurant's culture. Also, inquire about the prospect's work ethic and past work history. Look for any inconsistencies and definitely check references. 6. Rate the prospects. Once you're done interviewing, prepare a detailed chart of all prospects and rate them on the scale of 1 to 10. Be open and honest with your ratings and be as critical as you possibly can about each prospect. If there are others on the interview panel, trust their collective judgment. Use this knowledge to hire the best possible worker/s for your restaurant. 7. Don't be hasty. Give your decision some time and don't rush it. Although 1-2 weeks is customary, if you're not sure of a particular candidate, delay your decision for a few days, and arrange another interview. In conclusion, hiring the right workers for your restaurant isn't easy but can be done. You simply have to be willing to find the right employee, critically evaluate them, and make an informed decision. After all, your customers and the success of your restaurant are depending on you to take the hiring task seriously.
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