Employing Hospitality Staff

Staff can be your greatest asset or your biggest nightmare. As the owner of a small business, the strength of your staff depends on your ability to manage.As owner/manager you must develop skills in the following areas:

Advertising

A well worded advertisement in the right paper attracts potential staff. It is a good idea to read theadvertisements from other restaurants/cafes to get a good feel for what works. Don’t be afraid to experimentwith different style ads to see what works best for your business. Although advertising for staff can beexpensive, the better your advertisement, the more the professional the staff who will respond. Try not to cut costs here, without going overboard. Remember to set times for prospects to ring say between 9.00 am - 0.00 am and 3.00 pm - 5.00 pm. By selecting times that suit your business or management style you giveyourself the best opportunity to pre-qualify staff.

Job application

Have each applicant complete a job application form asking for information relevant to the job andcontaining references that you can check later. Leave some space for your own interview notes. This allowsyou to screen them later at a time convenient to you.

Interviewing

Having placed your advertisement and pre-qualified applicants over the phone or perhaps by havingreviewed their resumes sent by fax or email, it is now time to interview. You should have worked on whatquestions you want to ask well in advance and also what type of response you are looking for. Try to askquestions that get more than Yes/No responses. Questions that challenge the applicant give you a muchgreater chance of understanding their real ability.Prior to the interview you must also have calculated what wages and conditions are appropriate to the job.Most times there will be an award structure that is applicable, however in some jobs, such as ExecutiveChef, wages are often negotiable.

Employing staff

Having decided on the right applicant to compliment your establishment you now need to ring them to offerthem the job. Reiterate the wages and conditions of their employment and confirm a starting date. On theirfirst day of employment they should be given relevant forms to complete, some for your office records andothers pertaining to the current tax laws.

Training

Never assume that new staff know exactly what to do. It is always a great investment in your business towalk the staff through the systems and procedures, introduce them to other staff members and to give themrelevant training. It is always preferable to be over trained than under trained.My experience is that in most establishments, systems differ depending on the management style andsometimes locational factors.

Grooming

Grooming and personal hygiene are both important issues for food service staff. Have rules and guidelinesin place and make sure your staff respect these. Nothing turns customers away quicker than poor personalhabits, hygiene and grooming.