Recruitment Tips for Franchise Restaurants
When managing a franchise restaurant, your employees are critical to your success. Poor customer service, management, and performance are going to affect whether customers choose to come back. It also differentiates your eating establishment from the one down the street.
Recruiting incredible talent should not be an impulsive decision. In fact, most restaurants lose an average of $150,000 a year on employee turnover alone, with turnover of a single front-line employee costing restaurants approximately $5,864. So, how do you choose the right employee from the very beginning and how do you attract them to your restaurant? Here are several restaurant recruitment tips you should consider.
1. Choose Those Familiar With the Industry
Food service is a fast-paced and customer-focused industry and it is not for everyone. Experience in this industry, particularly long-term experience, shows managers that these individuals are familiar with it and they like it. If possible, look at applicants who have worked at other franchise restaurants. These individuals will already be aware of many of the processes, policies, and services your restaurant likely has as well.
2. Give Individuals a Reason to Apply and Stay
You want to offer employees many benefits and incentives for working at your restaurant and for long periods of time. For example, Chick-Fil-A offers their employees who are enrolling in undergraduate or graduate schooling in the upcoming school year a $2,500 scholarship. Other franchise restaurants offer life insurance, a 401(k), and bonuses. If your franchise restaurants do not offer these incentives, find something that you can provide at your own establishment. When employees feel like the company truly cares about their success, they are much more apt to apply and do a good job once hired.
3. Focus on Workplace Culture
The food and beverage industry experiences one of the highest turnover rates compared to any other industry. This is because many individuals are looking at the job as a way to make a living now, rather than make it a long-term career. Because these turnover rates are so high, creating a strong workplace culture is difficult but it should be a priority. You want to create an environment that employees enjoy coming to.
To do this, get to know your employees. Meet with them often to discuss their concerns and receive feedback. Celebrate company anniversaries or milestones as a team, have holiday parties, and other team-supportive events. The more your employees enjoy coming to work each day, the more likely they are to talk to others about working with your company. Plus, when they enjoy their job, they will work harder and ensure their performance is top-notch.
4. Ask for Referrals
If you have employees who go above and beyond, ask them for referrals during your hiring process. You can also offer incentives to these individuals, such as cash bonuses, if their recommendation is the person you choose to hire. This will help ensure your employees only refer the best and that they speak highly to others about your establishment. Plus, word-of-mouth is powerful in the food industry. Not only do strong recommendations bring more customers into the restaurant, but it entices the best employees to work there.
5. Use the Right Recruitment Tools
When it comes to getting the word out, be creative! Create an engaging social media campaign to help drive applications, or add a text message call-to-action to your recruitment campaigns. But don’t just drive them to an application page. Create great content like employee testimonials or videos about your company culture.
By keeping the above tips in mind, you will have a much easier time recruiting the right team members and create a successful, engaging, and customer-focused restaurant.
Interested in learning more about using SMS for recruiting employees for your restaurant? Call 800-696-1393 today or contact us here.
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