Finding the right people can be difficult if not flat-out impossible. We have gone so far past the old cliché of “it’s hard to find good people” that it isn’t funny anymore. Many operators are so hard up for help they will hire anyone with a pulse so they can keep the doors open and cash flowing in. But hiring the wrong people can be more damaging to your business than operating short staffed. A few bad experiences with a rude employee can cost you a loyal customer who may never return.
Throughout your selection process, it is important to remember that the restaurant business is the people business. It’s people serving people. Anyone that you consider hiring should have a great attitude and be a people person. You can train skills and processes, but you can’t teach attitude, honesty, and character.
Every interaction with an applicant is important to take note of. Pay attention to them as they pull into your parking lot, how they treat your host or counter person, and how they act when they call in to check on the application. The actual interview is just a small portion of the larger recruiting process.
We have provided several great tools for helping through the application and interview process.
Employment Application: An employee application is often seen as just a simple tool to get employees work history and personal information. You can pick these up at the local office supply store or chamber of commerce for a few bucks. But savvy business owners understand that an employment application can be a valuable tool in the recruiting process. A carefully crafted application can help you pre-screen applications and save yourself tons of time in wasted interviews and phone calls. We have built a simple yet practical application specific to the pizza business that asks the right questions of applicants to find out quickly if they are a match for your business. The pizza industry relies on people that can perform certain tasks, have certain personalities, and certain skill sets. Help identify those people by having the right questions on your application.
Interview Procedure: Properly interviewing candidates can be a mess. Where do you start? What questions should you ask? How do I streamline the process so that my managers can do it? This 13-page Interviewing Procedure is a step-by-step process that will walk you through reference checks, employment verification, interview questions and also act as a checklist so you can automate the process from start to finish.
Documents are in Microsoft Word format (.docx), so you can fully customize it to fit your needs.
