LOS ANGELES —Restaurant recruiters are finding more workers off Internet job boards, but retention is better among employees who are promoted from within, said attendees at the sixth annual conference of the Association of Hospitality Recruiting Executives.
About 100 recruiters and human resources professionals attended the daylong meeting this month at the Skirball Cultural Center here. The nonprofit AHRE was formed six years ago as a way for restaurant and foodservice recruiters to share strategies and methods for recruiting top talent. —Restaurant recruiters are finding more workers off Internet job boards, but retention is better among employees who are promoted from within, said attendees at the sixth annual conference of the Association of Hospitality Recruiting Executives.
An informal survey taken by 43 recruiters at the conference revealed that 80 percent considered Internet searches, company websites and online job boards the best outside sources for job candidates. Less-used resources were external recruiting agencies, colleges, newspaper advertising and open houses. —Restaurant recruiters are finding more workers off Internet job boards, but retention is better among employees who are promoted from within, said attendees at the sixth annual conference of the Association of Hospitality Recruiting Executives.
Yet the best source for employees who will stay on the job longer is internal promotions, said Amanda Hite, director of training and development for Thomas & King, the Lexington, Ky.-based franchise operator of 88 Applebee’s restaurants and seven Carino’s Italian Grill units. —Restaurant recruiters are finding more workers off Internet job boards, but retention is better among employees who are promoted from within, said attendees at the sixth annual conference of the Association of Hospitality Recruiting Executives.
This summer, Thomas & King began airing videos on
The online sites and humorous videos promote Thomas & King’s LeaderQuest program, which focuses on employee development. Since launching LeaderQuest and Web-based campaigns, the franchisee has been able to increase the percentage of employees who are promoted from within from 10 percent to 40 percent, Hite said. —Restaurant recruiters are finding more workers off Internet job boards, but retention is better among employees who are promoted from within, said attendees at the sixth annual conference of the Association of Hospitality Recruiting Executives.
“Three years ago we were hiring about 160 people a year and promoting about 10 percent, but we were not happy with our turnover results and staffing results,” she said. “We’re now at a 40-percent internal-promotion rate right now.” —Restaurant recruiters are finding more workers off Internet job boards, but retention is better among employees who are promoted from within, said attendees at the sixth annual conference of the Association of Hospitality Recruiting Executives.
Employers who can hang on to workers are the ones who will have the competitive advantage as the labor market continues to get squeezed, said Teresa Siriani, president of People Report, a Dallas-based firm that tracks human resources practices in the restaurant industry. —Restaurant recruiters are finding more workers off Internet job boards, but retention is better among employees who are promoted from within, said attendees at the sixth annual conference of the Association of Hospitality Recruiting Executives.
Siriani told the recruiters that foodservice employers face stiff competition from such industries as health care and education for the same workers: 16- to 24-year-olds and people with two or fewer years of college. —Restaurant recruiters are finding more workers off Internet job boards, but retention is better among employees who are promoted from within, said attendees at the sixth annual conference of the Association of Hospitality Recruiting Executives.
The industry is expected to need 2 million more workers in the next 10 years, yet it continues to churn employees in and out its doors, she said. About 250,000 restaurant employees turn over every week, often moving from one restaurant chain to another or out of the industry completely, Siriani said. —Restaurant recruiters are finding more workers off Internet job boards, but retention is better among employees who are promoted from within, said attendees at the sixth annual conference of the Association of Hospitality Recruiting Executives.
Average annual turnover is about 106 percent for hourly workers and about 26 percent for restaurant managers, she said. —Restaurant recruiters are finding more workers off Internet job boards, but retention is better among employees who are promoted from within, said attendees at the sixth annual conference of the Association of Hospitality Recruiting Executives.
The No. 1 reason people leave is scheduling difficulties, Siriani said. —Restaurant recruiters are finding more workers off Internet job boards, but retention is better among employees who are promoted from within, said attendees at the sixth annual conference of the Association of Hospitality Recruiting Executives.
To attract employees, particularly minority candidates, employers need to show how their restaurant brand is relevant to them and to the community, advised Gerry Fernandez, president of the Multicultural Foodservice & Hospitality Alliance, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving diversity in the industry. They also should talk to the minority and female employees in their companies and ask their advice on how to reach diverse candidates, he said. —Restaurant recruiters are finding more workers off Internet job boards, but retention is better among employees who are promoted from within, said attendees at the sixth annual conference of the Association of Hospitality Recruiting Executives.
“Go back to the people in your organization who represent a cultural group and ask them what they think of your recruiting plan,” Fernandez said. “How can you improve it? I guarantee you will get some insights about whether you are effective or not and get some good ideas.” —Restaurant recruiters are finding more workers off Internet job boards, but retention is better among employees who are promoted from within, said attendees at the sixth annual conference of the Association of Hospitality Recruiting Executives.
Behavioral testing, background checks and other screening methods are still critical steps in recruiting employees, particularly managers, said members of a presidents’ panel that spoke to the recruiters in an afternoon session. —Restaurant recruiters are finding more workers off Internet job boards, but retention is better among employees who are promoted from within, said attendees at the sixth annual conference of the Association of Hospitality Recruiting Executives.
The panelists included Kat Cole, vice president of training and development for Atlanta-based Hooters of America; Fred LeFranc, president of strategic-consulting company Results Thru Strategy and former chief executive of Flat Rock Grille in Charlotte, N.C.; George Katakalidis, founder and chief executive of Daphne’s Greek Cafe, based in San Diego; and Tom Norton, chief human resources officer for Huntington Beach, Calif.-based BJ’s Restaurants Inc. Don FitzGerald, vice president of operations for Wolfgang Puck Worldwide, moderated the discussion. —Restaurant recruiters are finding more workers off Internet job boards, but retention is better among employees who are promoted from within, said attendees at the sixth annual conference of the Association of Hospitality Recruiting Executives.
