7 Ways to Make This Summer Your Best Hiring Season Yet

7 Ways to Make This Summer Your Best Hiring Season Yet

by | Jun 13, 2017 | Management

While some people look forward to summer as a time to relax, go on vacation, and maybe hit the beaches, for many others, it’s the time to look for work. Restaurants and retailers, meanwhile, need to think about hiring some great staff. You may lose some employees over the summer. At the same time, you’re ready to gear up for what will hopefully be a busy season. How do you maximize your hiring efforts? Let’s look at 7 ways to make this summer your best hiring season yet!

1. Emphasize Job Perks

Don’t forget to mention as many benefits as possible, even if they’re not formal benefits. Flexible hours, casual dress codes, and free meals are all perks that make your job listings more appealing. This is also a chance to engage in some brand building, boasting about why it’s great to work in your store, restaurant, hotel, or other establishment.

2. Make Your Job Postings Mobile-Friendly

Keep in mind that most of your job applicants are millennials who tend to access the internet via smartphone and other mobile devices. This means that it’s crucial to make your listings and the application process as mobile-friendly as possible. People scrolling through jobs on their phones are unlikely to spend much time dealing with clunky applications made for desktops. Test your listings on mobile phones and tweak them until they’re simple for mobile users to fill out.

Or, use a job listing service like, Sirvo, that does all of that for you! Signing up and posting a job is easy, SEO and mobile-friendly.

3. Make the Application Process as Painless as Possible

Along with making your application mobile-friendly, keep it short and simple. Many employers use outdated job applications that ask lots of irrelevant questions. For example, do you really need to know the address of someone’s elementary school? Longer applications discourage applicants. You can always ask more questions at job interviews. For the application itself, focus on essentials.

4. Be Clear About Who You Need

Your hiring process will proceed more smoothly if you don’t waste time interviewing people who aren’t qualified. Make sure you specify the qualifications in your postings. For example, if you need someone with at least a year of customer service experience, mention this in your ad. If the job requires people to work weekends and holidays, don’t forget to post this.

5. Look For Strong People Skills

Soft skills, also known as people skills or emotional intelligence, are primary in the hospitality industry. These are difficult to gauge on job applications. During interviews, however, the ability to spot these skills is crucial. When you or your hiring managers interview applicants, don’t simply ask informational questions. Ask them how they’ve handled challenging situations or conflicts with customers at past jobs. The way applicants answer such questions is just as important as their actual answers. Do they respond to such inquiries with confidence and openness or are they nervous or defensive? The better you are at identifying people skills, the more success your hiring process will be.

6. Advertise for Seasonal Help

Many of the people you’re looking to hire over the summer are only looking for temporary, seasonal jobs. While this is obvious, it actually helps to specifically advertise for summer or seasonal jobs and to use these keywords in your listings. Otherwise, potential applicants might assume that you’re only looking for long-term hires. If some hires end up turning into full-time, so much the better. However, you’ll get a better response to your ads and listings if you appeal to students looking for summer jobs.

7. Recruit on Social Media

If you want to get the best possible response from your job postings, it makes sense to go where your audience is. More and more people, especially millennials, are spending large portions of their time on social media sites. You have many options, whether you list jobs on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat or elsewhere. If you want to amp up your recruiting efforts, you can use paid advertising. Aside from inviting people to visit your website, you can promote job fairs. With social media, you can also recruit among your customer base. People who like your Facebook page or subscribe to your Twitter feed are excellent potential recruits.

If you don’t want to do all the heavy lifting, use an online job board that puts social front-and-center. Sirvo makes it easy for you to share your job with your network by providing share buttons on your job listing that you or your staff can easily click and share to various social networks. Or share by simply copy and pasting the job listing URL. Once pasted, the job listing will display the job title, company photo and job introduction, all of which are SEO compatible. Hooray!

Follow these tips and trick and we’re sure you’ll make this Summer hiring season the best yet! 

You might also like…

Employee Turnover: Get Ready, It Happens — 5 Ways To Slow It Down

Employee Turnover: Get Ready, It Happens — 5 Ways To Slow It Down

If you own or manage a restaurant, according to the laws of averages, you should expect to replace almost three-quarters of your workers each year! However, you can cushion yourself against losses in productivity and profitability and reduce turnover by developing solutions based on the reasons restaurant turnover occurs.

read more

Experience Sirvo for yourself

Sign up now to find hospitality jobs and hire top industry talent.
Sign up

Is Teaching Butchery the Secret to Keeping Good Chefs?

Is Teaching Butchery the Secret to Keeping Good Chefs?

by | May 23, 2017 | Management

For any profession, employees need professional development. There needs to be a feeling that an organization, or in this case, the restaurant is invested in them and their growth in the culinary world. The food business is evolving, and there will always be a need for diverse skill sets and new techniques. It is fast becoming clear that while there are establishments opening up at a rapid pace, finding employees that have the right skill sets is becoming a challenge.

In order to set yourself apart from the crowd, whether as a restaurant or as an employee within a restaurant, there needs to be constant cultivation of new skills and techniques. It might not seem important to care about what other kitchens need, but thinking about what your kitchen needs – both short-term and long-term, is incredibly important.

There needs to be constant cultivation of new skills and techniques

Hiring talent that is right for you, as well as a good fit is key. This also means that there must be a sincere effort in cultivating a good work environment, and ensuring that your staff has the right tools for the job rather than opting for the cheapest tools. But the ultimate secret in keeping good chefs is to invest in them.

In the article, Why Teaching Butchery Is the Secret to Keeping Good Chefs, the author touches upon several key points that demonstrate the sheer importance of investing in chefs. The articles states that, “We try to take quite inexperienced chefs at the lowest level in the kitchen and train them in all the aspects that we do…We also like to promote from within because it’s good for the culture and good for morale to see you and your colleagues getting promoted.”

There are two important notes to take from this. Not only is there a significant amount of training provided that pushes employees out of their comfort zones, but there is also constant effort to improve overall morale. Once the push has been made to invest in employees, it is also imperative to show them real life examples and incentives of what their newly acquired skill set can bring them.

The author underscores this point, writing that “it’s also about giving someone the opportunity and showing faith in people. If we’re seen to be giving people opportunities and promoting people when we could go external, it means that they’re less likely to look elsewhere because they enjoy working with you and are able to grow and develop.”

In this article, butchery is what the restaurant is offering these inexperienced chefs. But this is just one example of how restaurants should work with their chefs to understand what their needs are, and what measures are needed for long-term, sustainable growth. This benefits both your business, and the employees and makes them feel like they are not just cogs in a machine but nurtured and cared for.

With professional development opportunities though, many establishments are afraid to take the risk. What if it is too successful and chefs end up leaving? What if there is time and resources invested but all it results in is chefs finding other opportunities?

These are certainly risks, but those are associated risks no matter what. Chefs leave restaurants for numerous reasons, most of which are difficult to predict. However,  if these professional development opportunities are not offered, perhaps chefs will get bored and decide to leave where they are challenged and cared for. Giving them the chance to acquire new skills gives them an incentive to stay and use these skills to help grow the establishment for the better.

Giving them the chance to acquire new skills gives them an incentive to stay and use these skills to help grow the establishment for the better.

Ultimately, it may seem like a risky move at first but investing in your people is the best way to show them that they are valued. Both inexperienced and experienced chefs will always benefit from cultivating new skills and directly applying them – whether it is butchery or something else.

You might also like…

Employee Turnover: Get Ready, It Happens — 5 Ways To Slow It Down

Employee Turnover: Get Ready, It Happens — 5 Ways To Slow It Down

If you own or manage a restaurant, according to the laws of averages, you should expect to replace almost three-quarters of your workers each year! However, you can cushion yourself against losses in productivity and profitability and reduce turnover by developing solutions based on the reasons restaurant turnover occurs.

read more

Experience Sirvo for yourself

Sign up now to find hospitality jobs and hire top industry talent.
Sign up

7 of the Craziest Reasons People Have Been 86’d From Restaurants

7 of the Craziest Reasons People Have Been 86’d From Restaurants

by | May 8, 2017 | IndiNews

If you have worked in the restaurant industry for long, you have likely encountered customers you would like to kick out. While working in a restaurant sometimes requires you to interact with annoying customers, sometimes kicking people out is completely justified. Consider these seven reasons customers have been 86’d from restaurants as shared on a Reddit thread and through a Quora discussion.

1. A customer was stealing tips off tables when the wait staff were not watching. The thief may have continued to get away with this, but he proceeded to brag about his actions while he was at another restaurant. The owner of the original restaurant was dining at the same restaurant where the thief was bragging about his actions. The thief was then no longer allowed to dine at the restaurant where he had been stealing tips.

2. Several customers ordered three pitchers of beer, which they enjoyed over a 3-hour period while playing pool. One of the men puked in a pitcher and then poured it into a nearby plant. The restaurant, known for their live plants, proceeded to have the man leave.

3. The boss’s girlfriend walked into the restaurant to find her boyfriend talking to a waitress. The girlfriend assumes her boyfriend and the waitress are sleeping together. She spray paints the waitress’ vehicle and smashes the windows in the waitress’ car. While the woman was kicked out of the restaurant, interestingly enough, the relationship was not over yet.

4. A woman, who was apparently racist and did not like immigrants got mad when she found the wait staff were immigrants. When she later returned to the restaurant, she was told they would not serve her since they were immigrants and she hated them.

5. Two young men walked into a bar already drunk. They were being loud, and getting up in the faces of some of the other customers. The bar owner gave each guy a glass of water, telling them he would not serve them anymore alcohol and that they needed to leave the other customers alone. Instead of obeying the bar owner’s instructions, the two men started threatening him. They were quickly thrown out. About half an hour later, the two young men threw a rock through the glass on the front door. They ended up spending the night in jail and having to pay for the damage to the window.

6. A man who had been kicked out of a previous restaurant for grabbing a server’s butt came into a restaurant with his wife and kids. Knowing what had happened, he was politely asked to leave. When he got angry, the Sous chef, clearly stated, for his wife and children to hear, what he had done to get kicked out of the previous restaurant, thereby embarrassing the man and ensuring he knew exactly why he was being asked to leave.

7. A man ate a large meal and had been drinking white Russians for two and a half hours. When he was asked about paying for them, he made an excuse about making a phone call, but he instead slipped out. One of the workers thought he recognized the “dine and dasher” from online mugshots. After a ten-minute search, it was discovered that the man was a sex offender and serial “dine and dasher.” He was arrested an hour later, and his picture continues to hang on the wall of the restaurant, warning employees to not serve the man again.

Of course, there are many other reasons that someone might be asked to leave a restaurant. When deciding if you should kick someone out of your restaurant, it is important to consider the safety of your staff as well as other customers. The lack of respect for staff or customers should also be considered.

You might also like…

Avoiding Negative Chef Stereotypes

Avoiding Negative Chef Stereotypes

There are plenty of stereotypes surrounding the role of the chef–and all too many of them are negative. Learn to create a kitchen that’s fun to work in while still maintaining the expectations of the restaurant’s customers and avoiding these chef stereotypes!

read more

Experience Sirvo for yourself

Sign up now to find hospitality jobs and hire top industry talent.
Sign up

Staff Retention: Keeping your Employees Motivated

Staff Retention: Keeping your Employees Motivated

by | May 1, 2017 | Business Toolkit, Management

Over one-quarter of the year is over. The thrill of a New Year has begun to fade and employees that once appeared motivated and engaged are now looking at the clock with regular frequency.

Keeping employees motivated is a year-round endeavor, and coming into the second quarter is a good time to take stock of the year ahead and what you can do to ensure success. After all, your employees are your greatest asset.

Ownership

Employees need to feel that they are a part of the business—that they have some skin in the game. To this end, sharing the numbers and providing incentives based on performance each quarter contributes to a sense of ownership. Your servers need to see themselves as your sales team. To this end, consider a quarterly reward to the one that has the highest ticket sales.

Engaged

With the advent of social media, keeping your customers engaged has become a part and parcel of your marketing strategy. If not, it should be. Keeping your employees engaged is just as important. Gallup recently released the latest State of the American Workplace report. According to this survey, 70 percent of U.S, workers do not feel engaged at work. That’s a large portion of your workforce that may be slipping away.

Engage employees by openly communicating and encouraging communication between the BOH and FOH. Ask their opinion. Encourage them to make suggestions. Millennials are looking for a company culture that promotes health and happiness and understands that leading a balanced life between work and personal life sustains long-term commitment.

Develop a Team Spirit

While promoting interaction among your employees can improve camaraderie, offering team challenging activities outside of the company has shown to improve overall attitude—inspiring employees on the field and in the restaurant. Consider contacting surrounding businesses and setting up a baseball or Frisbee golf league. You’ll be surprised at the motivation this one small thing promotes.

Personal Achievement

Today’s employees want to feel as though they are contributing at a deep level and making the world a slightly better place while they’re at it. They want to feel that they are using their talents to the best of their abilities. Train them to be the best cooks, the best bartenders, the best wait staff and they will reward you by exceeding your guest’s expectations.

Continually Learning

This is one of the great motivational recipes. Help your employees to continually better themselves, extend themselves, and reach beyond what they thought possible. Without this upward climb, they will slink down in their chairs and pretend they are looking up a potential customer’s data when they are really checking out Craigslist job ads.

Company Culture

We may have already addressed this, but it’s so important to the age of Millennials, that we thought it bears repeating.  Company culture is a topic almost every job seeker addresses in this age of the desire to lead a well-balanced life. To this end, consider a gathering place that promotes interaction. This could mean a ping-pong or pool table or gaming center.

Job Security

No one feels very motivated in a job they feel may be pulled out from under them in the coming months. To instill job security, share your history and what inspires you as you look to the future. Let them know that this is not a fly-by-night operation. You’re here for the long haul and appreciate those employees that are willing and able to take the voyage with you.

A Great Leader

“Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.” –Warren Bennis.  A good leader can make up for almost all other motivational techniques that may be missing. A good leader inspires by their actions and leads by example. Your employees want to do their best by you because you do your best by them.

The Ultimate Goal

“There are only three measurements that tell you nearly everything you need to know about your organization’s overall performance: employee engagement, customer satisfaction, and cash flow. It goes without saying that no company, small or large, can win over the long run without energized employees who believe in the mission and understand how to achieve it.” – Jack Welch, former CEO of GE.

Creating a work environment that promotes excellence as well as joy will ensure a long-term commitment from employees that see the bigger picture, understand your vision, and want to contribute to both the company and each other. It may take some ingenuity, but it is well worth the effort. Taking care of your employees ensures that they will take care of your customers.

You might also like…

Employee Turnover: Get Ready, It Happens — 5 Ways To Slow It Down

Employee Turnover: Get Ready, It Happens — 5 Ways To Slow It Down

If you own or manage a restaurant, according to the laws of averages, you should expect to replace almost three-quarters of your workers each year! However, you can cushion yourself against losses in productivity and profitability and reduce turnover by developing solutions based on the reasons restaurant turnover occurs.

read more

Experience Sirvo for yourself

Sign up now to find hospitality jobs and hire top industry talent.
Sign up

What’s the Career Path of a Restaurant Manager?

What’s the Career Path of a Restaurant Manager?

by | Apr 28, 2017 | Career

If you like being the host (or life) of the party or if you enjoy bringing people together for a good time, then you’ll enjoy working as a manager in the service industry. The hours can be long, but the rewards are worth it. You’ll form close friendships with your employees and with your patrons. Some of these connections will last a lifetime.

You know, we would never tell someone they don’t have to go to college to be successful. But with the internet bringing the world closer together and with the world changing rapidly, the fact is A) success is being measured differently and B) there are other ways to achieve success.

In 2017, restaurant and foodservice jobs make up 11% of employment in the state of Colorado. The National Restaurant Association predicts that number to grow by 12.3% by the year 2027. Here are more stats illustrating why pursuing a management career in the service industry is a viable option.

Within the industry, there are just a few steps to becoming your own (or THE) boss, but each step requires a complete grasp of the level before. Most managers work within the industry, either starting out as a bartender or server, but it’s increasingly common that employees from the Back of the House become heads of restaurants, too.

Whether you pursue a career by learning the business as you go or by working in the business while going to school, this is pretty much the path a manager takes.

1. Host/Server, Prep Cook/Dishwasher

If you’re in the front of the house, you’ll start out as a host or server. If you’re in the back of the house, you’ll start out as a prep cook or dishwasher.

Managers must always know how every aspect of their restaurant functions. Starting out at the bottom is a great way to learn how a foodservice establishment operates. Knowing exactly what your employees go through on a shift to shift basis is a great way to earn their respect.

Also, there will be times when you have to jump in and help out. You’ll want to know what you’re doing. If you’re hired into a company as a management trainee, it’s very likely their training program will have you working in every position of the restaurant at some point.

2. Bar or Service Manager

After learning the restaurant positions and functions, you’ll be able to move to higher level positions such as the Bar Manager or Service Manager.

In these positions, you’re given the responsibility of managing small teams of employees, mentoring and training, and handling opening and closing duties to ensure the restaurant functions at its highest level.

3. Assistant General Manager

After Bar/Service Manager, the next step is taking the reins as Assistant General Manager. At this level, it’s common to be paid a salary instead of on an hourly basis. This level of management is also typically offered benefits.

The trade off is, the hours are loooong. You’ll be the first to arrive in the mornings or the last to leave at night. But, you’re also learning the upper-level management skills needed to someday run your own restaurant.

4. General Manager/Owner

This is typically the highest position in the restaurant. You have final say in all business decisions. You’re in charge of making sure the business is a success. You’re responsible for all employees. If you’re working for a corporation, you can still progress higher than GM. If you’re working for a small company, this could be the highest you can get before you move to the next step of owning your own business.

If you decide to go the corporate route, other possible positions to achieve could be:

  • Area Manager
  • Regional Manager
  • Division Executive

Rest assured, the service industry as a career choice is here to stay. Taste trends are changing faster than ever, which means more new restaurants are on the horizon. An added benefit of a career in the service industry is it’s very easy to travel, so keep that in mind as your think about your future. Restaurants and bars are everywhere!

If you’re ready to see what’s waiting for you, browse our latest openings now.

You might also like…

Tips for Newly Hired and Promoted Restaurant Managers

Tips for Newly Hired and Promoted Restaurant Managers

New managers can be so eager to be endorsed and make others happy that they often make common mistakes. From making changes too quickly to holding friends to a different standard… Use these tips to avoid new management woes and achieve success!

read more

Experience Sirvo for yourself

Sign up now to find hospitality jobs and hire top industry talent.
Sign up