“Hospitality is almost impossible to teach. It’s all about hiring the right people.” – Danny Meyer
Let’s cut the chase and admit that the dining experience is not just about customer service, but also it is about hospitality. To deliver the best hospitality, you need the best people working for your restaurant.
When we asked restaurant owners about their biggest pain points, 30% of them said staffing is what keeps them up at night. More than accounting. More than inventory. More than marketing.
Restaurant staffing can still be tricky as you’re juggling so many other pieces to starting your business. If staffing your restaurant were like putting a puzzle together, the pieces would be small, the image would be intricate, and one mismatched piece could compromise the entire picture.
Workforce development is a two-pronged approach: it’s hiring the right staff and developing the culture to keep them. In this section, we’ll walk you through:
The positions you hire for depend on your concept and size. The way you staff a self-serve lunch cafe in Liverpool’s business district is different than the way you staff a fine dining restaurant in London.
Whether big or small, you’ll need to first evaluate your restaurant staffing needs for your front and back of house. You’ll also need to know where and how to staff experienced and entry-level people for various roles.
Front-of-house staff are typically “people people” who are friendly, personable and have great customer service skills. They should know the menu inside-out so they can competently talk about and recommend food and drink, handle customer complaints, and create an unforgettable customer experience. Here’s what you’re looking for with each role.
Your back-of-house staff speciality the face of your restaurant – but they are the heart of it.
Your back-of-house team needs to work collaboratively, communicate with each other and front-of-house staff, and be able to withstand a fast-paced and demanding environment.
While “back of house” also includes non-kitchen positions like office staff (such as accountants/bookkeepers), maintenance staff, and you, the restaurant owner, here we’ll focus on the kitchen-related roles you’ll need to staff your back-of-house operations.
Below are listed the main roles however depending on your restaurant’s concept you may also need to have other speciality roles such as but not limited to sommelier, butcher, pastry chef, etc.
Staffing a new restaurant means starting from nothing. You’ll need to be diligent about curating the best team possible, as they will determine whether your vision becomes reality.
You need people who are committed to your vision, goals, and values. Great restaurant staff have some common characteristics that make them a good fit within the culture of the industry. Skills can be taught, but innate values can’t; here’s what you should look for when hiring staff for your restaurant.
The positions you hire for depend on your concept and size. The way you staff a self-serve lunch cafe in Liverpool’s business district is different than the way you staff a fine dining restaurant in London.
Whether big or small, you’ll need to first evaluate your restaurant staffing needs for your front and back of house. You’ll also need to know where and how to staff experienced and entry-level people for various roles.
The best way to hire restaurant staff is still by referral.
It takes significantly less time to hire a referred candidate – 29 days – than any other, and they also exhibit higher job satisfaction and remain at companies for a longer period of time.
So tap into your network when you’re starting to look for staff. Odds are, if you ask someone you really click with to refer you to someone they like, you’ll more easily find someone who fits within your culture.
For senior positions like chefs and managers, you may be looking for a particular skill set. A headhunter doesn’t shoot fish in a bucket: they seek out the ideal candidates for you. Working with a headhunter will expedite the hiring process, and weeds out less qualified applicants.
Best tool for getting connected to catering and hospitality staff is a trusted recruitment agency local to you, which understands the needs and specific recruitment goals you have set out to achieve. If your organization is based within the West Midlands and Leicestershire and you struggle to fill open hospitality roles, feel free to contact us. We have access to a wide network of hospitality professionals who have extensive skillset and years of experience.
If you’ve set up your social media accounts, post about which positions you’re hiring for and the kinds of people who would be a good fit for your restaurant. Social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter have sharing functions that allow people to pass on information at warp speed, so you may find yourself with a few referrals on social media.
While LinkedIn may be more known for finding staff for the corporate world, you may want to do a few shoutouts on the platform to see if anyone bites.
