With the increased costs of delivery fees and third-party services, the cost of investing in digital transformation, and increased competition for talent, restaurants are facing yet another existential challenge.
To survive and thrive in the 2022 hospitality industry, it’s vital to turn your attention to fixing your hiring process — reducing hiring costs, improving time to hire, and making smarter hiring decisions that minimize future turnover.
In this article, we’ll explore some strategies and tips that restaurants can implement when improving their hiring process — and optimizing their employee experience.
The changing face of hospitality
Out of all the industries affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitality arguably suffered the worst. The Bureau of Labor Statistics found that 6.4% of the leisure and hospitality workforce quit over August 2021 — the highest percentage of any industry. Many staff left due to burnout and the realization their employers didn’t value them as much as they thought.
The job market is — thankfully — now recovering strongly but that does mean there’s more competition for the best staff than ever before. While the effects of the pandemic might be decreasing, the race is now on to attract and then retain employees.
Transform your hiring processes
If you want to hire the best candidates, you need to develop a fast yet efficient recruitment funnel while still focusing on a humanized hiring process. Many candidates now expect to receive a job offer within days of an interview. If you’re still relying on a slow, paper-based hiring process then many candidates will have already received an offer from another restaurant by the time you finally get round to contacting them.
One of the best ways to achieve a faster hiring process is to transition away from in-person interviews and instead move towards video introductions instead. These make it far easier to identify the best candidates alongside allowing you to review candidate videos and end highlights to hiring managers. Using AI-powered interview tools is a smart way to bring your hiring processes into the new era of work and help you identify the strongest candidates as quickly as possible.
The candidate experience is vital — and a large portion of this hinges on your internal communications. Make sure that hiring managers and recruiters are working together effectively or you may find your hiring process takes longer than it should.
In addition to making the most of technological advances, make sure your interviewers are well prepared and understand their key responsibilities. Their role is to plan out the interview in a thoughtful way and ask the right questions so candidates can show their skills and values to the best of their ability.
Hiring the right employee is a hugely important investment — in fact this process is estimated to cost an average of $4,129 per employee. In an industry with relatively small profit margins, every cent counts.
It’s also important to consider talent mobility — and the opportunities for employees to transition into a new position within your restaurant. As employees gain experience, their current role may not be challenging enough any more. Rather than lose them to a promotion with another company, consider if you can offer them an internal opportunity to advance their career.
Optimize your digital presence
Once you’ve made your new hires — it’s important to streamline your processes so they can work as efficiently as possible. Two aspects to consider are using third-party delivery platforms to the best of your ability, and developing your own app to improve the customer experience.
Cutting costs with third-party apps
DoorDash is responsible for 45 percent of food deliveries, but their fees can be prohibitive. Third-party delivery platforms do offer restaurants some huge advantages including a pre-existing ordering and delivery infrastructure. They may also lead new clientele to discover your restaurant and become loyal, repeat customers in the process.
On the downside, their fees can account for a significant percentage of your profit margin in addition to capturing valuable customer data that you can’t access. The good news is that some all-in-one digital toolkits are now available that let you integrate with DoorDash’s delivery service without paying their hefty commissions.
There’s an app for that
These days, there’s an app for everything, right? And what’s more, many customers expect your restaurant to have an app too. The good news is this doesn’t need to be an expensive process. You can even build your own, no-code restaurant app for either external or internal use.
Customer-facing apps can be used to offer a digital menu, which 77% of customers use to check before placing an order. You could also use an app for making reservations or ordering ahead. Internal apps may be used to gain an overview of staff availability when scheduling shift patterns, for tracking inventory, and more. Ultimately, an app should make your employee’s job easier as well as enhancing the customer experience.
The hospitality industry has undergone huge changes over the last few years. With the labor market booming, it’s becoming more important than ever to streamline your hiring process to attract the best talent. And once they’re on the payroll? Optimize your employee experience to retain those valuable members of your team.
Guest Author
Katy Flatt works as a freelance Operations Consultant with Optimist and other agencies, streamlining workflows and coordinating personnel while doing a little writing on the side. Prior to her freelance career, she worked in the service and hospitality industries, working her way up from host and server to team lead and assistant general manager. She has made her fair share of restaurant hires and learned a lot along the way. When she isn’t digitally organizing, she can be found cuddling with her rescue and foster dogs.
