They say that good help is hard to find, but restaurants that are always recruiting never have that problem. Why? Because they know where good help comes from. You can’t just put out a ‘Now Hiring’ sign and expect a flock of perfect chefs, waiters, and hostesses to descend from high heaven to bless you with their excellent service. The fact of the matter is that if you want to recruit the perfect employees, you have to be ready when they are or some other venue will realize their value and snatch them up. If you want to have that opportunity, remember the golden rule of restaurant staffing: always be hiring.

Where Good Staff Comes From

A restaurant that has a superb staff with efficient kitchen work, courteous waiters, well-organized hostesses, and even dedicated busboys did not grow from a perfect staffing tree. This well-oiled dining service machine is evidence of a managerial mastermind in the background who knows when to spot a perfect new hire and what to do with them once they’ve filled a position. Even the ideal staff member doesn’t come in knowing everything they need to work well in your venue. They will need to learn the menu, your routines, and how to work well with the rest of the staff. This means that the perfect team is recruited by using a combination of good hiring mechanisms and excellent training: all of which are crafted before you begin to hire.

Always Be Hiring Time and Costs

If you are contacting your staffing agency or putting the ‘Now Hiring’ sign out the same day your best hostess gives her two weeks notice, it’s already too late. While ideally in that two weeks a good replacement will present herself, pass the interviews, and stick around long enough to learn everything your departing hostess knew, the reality is that the chances of this are pretty low. Finding the right person for a position can take months rather than weeks, and these are months you don’t have in the busy restaurant business. If a perfect replacement doesn’t appear within those two weeks, you’ll have to promote from the inside whether or not someone is ready and you’ll still need to strengthen the team which is now one staff member short. This is where “always hiring” is extremely useful.

Being Ready for the Perfect Moment

The valuable, useful, elegant, and good-tempered among your unemployed options are usually hired up very quickly, meaning they will only be available in your area for a very short amount of time. If you want to catch high-quality new hires, then you need to always be hiring sign out and a contract running with your staffing agency all year long. This will bring you the opportunities to hire those perfect potential employees when they are available. When you do finally find one, don’t worry about finding a place for them on the work roster. You can either adjust your schedules to make room for them or simply compensate for a month or two while they get settled in and prove their worth. Once they get the hang of working in your venue and with your kitchen, you should soon see the results of their great potential.

Learn More About Hiring for a Restaurant

While it can be tempting to maintain that old status-quo and only worry about hiring when you grow or lose someone, this is not the way to get the best possible staff. Your team is dynamic, but they could be better. With the right hires and a solid training program you could make a huge difference in the way your team runs, how they provide services, and even the level of energy with which they work. With the right balance of people, skills, and dedication your staff could create a highly polished fine-dining experience. The best way to achieve this is to always be hiring. For more great recruiting tips, contact us today!