Staffing

Operators fight The Great Resignation

Employees are leaving their positions in droves. What can operators do to keep their businesses fully manned?

Employees work the makeline at Oath Pizza. Provided.

January 24, 2022 by Mandy Wolf Detwiler — Editor, Networld Media Group

Chances are you've already heard of The Great Resignation. Restaurant workers are leaving their positions in droves, causing disruption in the industry at all levels, from counter service to full service, bussers to bartenders. Is the end in sight? Experts say no, but savvy restaurateurs are learning new ways to recruit and retain the best workers.

According to 7shifts, a team management software company designed for restaurants, the top three jobs restaurants are hiring for include servers (17%) cooks, line cooks (26%) and bartenders (7%).

The hardest positions to fill are cooks and line cooks, managers and bartenders. Only 23% of cook and line cook postings have applications, 37% of manager postings have applications and 56% of bartender postings have applications.

"Today's market is highly competitive when it comes to attracting and retaining the best talent," Alice Cheng, founder and CEO of Culinary Agents, a restaurant industry recruiting agency, said in an email interview.

"Recruiting the right candidates at the volume and pace needed to keep up with recovery and growth demands brought on by the pandemic is proving to be extremely challenging. Finding candidates with the attitude and ethos that align with employer expectations can be difficult. On the flip side, meeting the evolved expectations and requirements that job seekers have is challenging for employers. Companies who are being transparent up front tend to have more success attracting talent efficiently and effectively."

Raising pay is not enough

Hiring in a post-COVID world brings a new set of challenges to restaurant brands. Safety, work/home life balance, better pay and flexibility have risen to the top of applicants' wants, and they're better able to negotiate for it in a candidate's market.

Brands across the board are paying upward of $12 or more an hour to attract talent, but is an increase in wages enough?

No, said Cheng, because worker priorities and expectations have shifted and expanded.

"Similar to other industries, in addition to increased pay, workers are looking for total compensation, including health benefits, perks, work/life balance, growth opportunities, etc.," Cheng said. "To remain competitive, businesses are reevaluating their overall employer brand and highlighting what sets them apart from other workplaces to attract and retain top talent."

It's a candidate's market, meaning many may consider four or five offers at the same time. That means benefits and compensation must be competitive, Sean Behr, CEO of Fountain, which provides hiring solutions to companies in manufacturing, retail, construction and restaurant industries, said in an email interview.

"You need to invest more in your employees via 'soft' benefits such as training programs, educational opportunities, flexible hours and online wellness programs," Behr said. "Send a clear message that you care about the overall happiness of your employees. A simple 'How was your first day?' text to a new employee sends a great message that you're glad they're onboard and that the relationship you started during the application process is still important. [The phrase] 'When you're here, you're family' applies to job candidates, too."

Tools in the hiring arsenal

Recruiting tools have also changed in recent years. Applicants are no longer walking into businesses seeking a job. Word of mouth, social media and online job sites have made the walk-in candidate obsolete.

"Facebook, Instagram, TikTok — you have to reach applicants where they are spending their time," Behr said, "and, what do these social media formats all have in common? They all offer speed and peer support. Be active on social media. Build your brand by focusing on employees, company culture and benefits and potential job candidates will see the benefits of working for your organization."

Also consider utilizing local training schools.

"Successful partnerships with training schools that require internships to graduate with certificates or associates degrees in hospitality seems to be working for many companies," Carolyn Thompson, CEO at Merito Group, a talent acquisition company, said in an email interview. "There are people out there who love to serve and appreciate the reliability and flexibility restaurant schedules have offered in the past. Restaurant services have evolved since 2019 to include delivery, meal packs, catering for group events on and off-site, so opportunities for professional growth exist for people at restaurants that have expanded beyond their brick-and-mortar location expecting people to come to them to eat. Additionally, offering employees something that they need, like additional training or ESL classes, and other learning opportunities is a great way to recruit and retain those motivated people who love the industry."

Also consider utilizing modern technology to help screen applicants, schedule interview and onboard new employees, Shahpour Nejad, founder and CEO of Pizza Guys, said in an email interview.

"Since it is very competitive hiring talent, it is important to quickly respond to applicants, so you do not lose them to other companies," he said.

And technological advances have made hiring and retention easier than ever, experts say.

"Embracing technology is an excellent recruiting and retention tool," Clayton Wood, CEO of Picnic Works, an automation company, said in an email interview. "It's been shown to reduce turnover, streamline training, and improve employee satisfaction, which helps ease the stresses on current staff and make open roles more attractive. With technology enhancements and improvements in the workplace, you'll see an even better employee culture. When employees are freed from repetitive work and allowed to excel in more creative roles, it drives career pathways and retention that may have not been possible in a traditional setting."

At Oath Pizza, operational efficiency is helping keep labor costs down. The brand runs one to four people per shift, with some corporate stores employing 10 to 12 people total depending on sales volume. Many have been with the company throughout COVID-19.

Oath Pizza also utilizes its employees for referrals.

"People who work for us know what the company stands for (and) know what the work ethic is that's required to work here," Dave Jamieson, the company's VP of operations, said in a phone interview. "They seek out that in their friends and we often hire those guys without questions and it leads to better culture in our restaurants."

Consider these eight tips when hiring:

Maintain open interviews for open positions. That way you're not scrambling when it comes time to fill a position.
Consider the non-traditional hire, including those with criminal records and senior citizens. "Companies today must rethink their outdated hiring practices and workplace stigmas, which exclude the more than 70 million formerly incarcerated Americans," Behr said. "Studies have also shown that individuals with criminal records have a much longer tenure and are less likely to quit their jobs voluntarily than other workers."
Strike fast. You're competing with a number of other industries and businesses for the same pool of applicants. Managers should be prepared to contact a candidate as soon as he or she applies for a position.
Hire from within. "Research shows about 80% of those in management or ownership started in line jobs earlier in life and received mentoring, training, and other support along the way to gain the acumen necessary to run the business," said Thompson.
Once you've got your restaurant fully staffed, don't stop looking for the next employee. "The biggest issue of hiring is that once companies fill their positions, they stop their recruiting efforts," Pizza Guys' Nejad said. "Then when they lose an employee, the company is scrambling to fill the empty position again. We are continuously recruiting. It allows us to be prepared in a market where recruiting, hiring and turnover are one of the major challenges restaurants are facing right now."
Be flexible with the schedule. Remember employees often have second jobs, school and family to work around. "Employees value pay, but it's not the only factor," said Dominick Costantino, industry writer for 7shifts. "Fifty-six percent of employees say that flexible scheduling would greatly affect their happiness at work. People have lives — family, kids, school, other work, leisure — that is impacted when their schedule isn't flexible. It's important to schedule with empathy and keep that in mind."
Consider automation to help keep a tight rein on labor costs. "To be successful going forward, restaurant owners must consider the many benefits of automation, including decreased labor cost, less food waste, better hygiene, and increased food consistency," said Picnic Works' Wood. "Improving all these aspects will correlate to resolving the staffing crisis."
Crosstrain new employees so they can step in if someone's sick or abruptly quits. "When we hire somebody new, it's not for a particular position or for a timeframe," said Oath's Jamieson. "We hire based on personality and great people to join our team. …We're not hiring for just cashiers. We go through a training program that's not necessarily intensive but it's definitely all encompassing, so you'll learn cash and pizza crafting and prep and hospitality and all the elements of our business so our schedule is easy to make and everybody understands what their job is."

About Mandy Wolf Detwiler

Mandy Wolf Detwiler is the managing editor at Networld Media Group and the site editor for PizzaMarketplace.com and QSRweb.com. She has more than 20 years’ experience covering food, people and places.

An award-winning print journalist, Mandy brings more than 20 years’ experience to Networld Media Group. She has spent nearly two decades covering the pizza industry, from independent pizzerias to multi-unit chains and every size business in between. Mandy has been featured on the Food Network and has won numerous awards for her coverage of the restaurant industry. She has an insatiable appetite for learning, and can tell you where to find the best slices in the country after spending 15 years traveling and eating pizza for a living.

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