People Who Need People

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peoplewhoneedpeople

There may be new tools, but the tried-and-true methods for recruiting staff remain

It can happen at the drop of a toque. The trusted sous chef quits on the spot in a heated exchange or the disgruntled dishwasher turns in his sponge for a cash register, free doughnuts and more money at the local coffee shop. It’s true, finding a good foodservice worker can be akin to finding a needle in a haystack, but the task doesn’t have to be as daunting.

Sourcing the right candidate for a tough job is an arduous task, but today’s foodservice operators are lucky to have access to both the consistently popular, tried-and-true tricks and emerging technology-based tools to make the recruitment process a little less labourious. There’s one caveat: understanding the type of position and the location, size and reputation of the operation in question could have a big impact on the hiring process.

Internet job sites still garner a lot of attention, but it’s important to find out what sites work best in your region. “In some markets, [the industry site] Hcareers may work better than, say, Craigslist,” explains Caroline Schein, Boston Pizza’s vice-president of People Development. “Kijiji is not that big in the West but it is in the East, and Craigslist is bigger out [in Vancouver]…The best thing to do is to ask your staff; they know where their friends go.”

Daniel Walker banks on understanding his demographic at his home base in Saskatoon. The chef and owner of the popular Weczeria Food & Wine restaurant has a hard time finding people to fill the more tedious part-time jobs and relies on Kijiji, a much cheaper and more effective tool than a $100 newspaper ad. “Kijiji is free,” points out the entrepreneur. “The last time we [used it], within six hours we got maybe three or four résumés. Over the lifetime of that ad, we probably got 20 or 30;” much better odds than the three or four replies the pricey newspaper ads afforded him. In fact, he found his last two dishwashers that way, he says, adding, “That’s the hardest position for us to fill.”

Of course, there are drawbacks. Walker admits he gets a lot of résumés from outside the industry while using Kijiji. Niall Mellors, president of Mellors, a Toronto-based hospitality recruitment firm, whose clients include foodservice outlets like Wayne Gretzky’s  and Oliver & Bonacini, points out that, likewise, some Internet social networking sites could attract candidates from outside the country.

Several companies, like Cactus Club Café in Vancouver, have recently begun spreading the word through such social networking sites. Nowadays, there are lots to choose from, like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. And, although Weczeria’s Walker doesn’t see it as an overly effective means to source industry specific staff (yet), like Mellors, he still values old-school (tried-and-true) networking methods.

Regardless, the professional recruiter did learn about some of the benefits to using social media to headhunt during an interview with HR professionals. “What they like about the Craigslist and Facebook path to get to people, is it seems to be effective for connecting with a younger demographic,” explains the company president. “I wouldn’t say that those methods are the way to find yourself a CFO, but if you’re looking for front-desk, guest-services or entry-level people, then that means has been effective.”

Schein agrees. Although Boston Pizza has not organized a social networking hiring plan across its stores nationally, some of the company’s franchisees are using the tactic on their own. It’s hard to say how effective the tool can be, but the vice-president is quick to note the value of the employees who are driving these new recruitment plans on a store-to-store level, and educating the management as to what tools their friends are using to source jobs.

It’s filling the back-of-the-house positions that can get a little sticky. Some restaurant proprietors rely on the real-life social networking base of a recruiter, rather than Twitter, to fill tough posts like general manager and sous chef, many of whom are already employed when the job hunt begins. “More often than not, I’m finding people who are happily employed, that realize there’s an opportunity out there that could enrich their professional lives on some level,” confesses Mellors. “The people who are scouring the want ads…are typically people that aren’t presently employed and may not have the ideal skills my client is paying me to find.” And, although poaching staff is generally considered bad form, admittedly, it’s been known to happen, especially through a third-party source.

Poaching from within the cooking community may be taboo in some city hubs more than others, but with a labour shortage ever looming, rustling up talent from abroad remains an important source for tracking workers, albeit for a hefty price tag that includes airfare and lodging. “You have to pay a prevailing wage rate that is much higher than minimum wage and what you would pay a domestic person, so it creates a whole new challenge,” explains Boston Pizza’s Schein. “Not only are you bringing in these temporary foreign workers at a much higher rate, you can’t look at your other employees in the eye and not pay them the same thing, too. So the wage costs go up by, easily, two points.”

And, though it’s a means to an end, one essential to many restaurants’ survival, Schein points out some changes the program is currently undergoing that could cause roadblocks. It seems critics think external help is needed less as unemployment raises at home; something that can be easily contended by employers in remote rural regions. It could explain why the restaurant chain’s executives are working on some new classified recruiting plans that the VP was unable to discuss.

On the other hand, operators in culinary epicenters and/or with well-known chefs at the helm can easily offer apprentice programs to the wealth of culinary students at their doorsteps, another fruitful source for finding good staff. “We have apprentices that come and we take them on for as long as we can,” says Sal Howell, proprietor of the acclaimed River Café in Calgary. “But if somebody is really good we’d say: ‘as soon as we have something, we’d love to bring you on board,’ and they’re willing to stay in touch with us, maybe take another position and wait and see if a position comes up.”

“It’s networking 101, that’s truly what it comes down to,” emphasizes Mellors. Boston Pizza’s Schein, Weczeria’s Walker and River Café’s Howell each echo the recruiter’s sentiment, even though they all recognize the potential of social media in the HR department.

Networking with potential employees, current staff or even competitors remains a winning recipe. In Saskatoon, where talent is limited, Walker shares résumés with three or four other restaurateurs, and Howell and Schein pass the word among their site staff, to spread among friends. It’s why treasuring top talent, so they bring like-minded friends aboard, is imperative. More importantly, it encourages company loyalty and internal promotion. The current GM at River Café started out as a server, while the sous chef and restaurant manager at Weczeria earn benefits and are paid above average wages, bolstering their commitment.

Sometimes the answer is right underneath your nose. “You can keep trying the latest and greatest,” says Schein, “but organically there’s so much inside your four walls.”

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