By Jessica Brill

The foodservice industry has been plagued with labour challenges for years, and while it was certainly highlighted during the pandemic, these days, many operators are still struggling to find the top talent they need. With today’s shrinking labour pool and high turnover rates, more than 60 per cent of operators do not have enough staff to meet the demand. About 82 per cent of restaurants are actively recruiting and hiring, and nearly half of managers confirm that recruiting, retention, and training are their biggest challenges.

Due to smaller staffing numbers, along with shifting job markets, a growing need for flexible scheduling, and the rising expectations for wage transparency and work-life balance, operators need to be strategic in hiring for success.

Developing a structured practice for hiring can help restaurateurs establish consistency, add efficiency to the hiring process, and find qualified candidates who will help their businesses succeed.

Assessing your needs

Before even attempting to recruit, restaurateurs need to know where they are falling short and what positions will help them get ahead. “This isn’t just about filling a vacancy – it’s about building culture,” says Kimberly Flear, founder of Last Call Coaching, and author of the eBook Recipe for Thriving Teams. Flear stresses that today’s foodservice industry includes at least three generations of employees in one workplace, each bringing different values, learning styles, and motivators. “If we don’t acknowledge that from the start, our hiring process will certainly miss the mark.”

Start by defining your non-negotiables, not just with a list of skillsets, but consider cultural fit, adaptability, and the behaviours that make your workplace thrive. Look at hard data, too, to better understand the staffing needs for your business. Establish where there are gaps in service, whether full-time or part-time meet your budget, traffic times that would best benefit from more staff, and where potential new team members would fit most seamlessly into your company culture. From there, craft your process for recruiting to attract and identify those qualities for a successful and thriving team.

Simplifying the process

“The hiring process should take long enough to ensure you’re making the right decision, but not so long that you lose top talent to a competitor,” Flear advises. So, keep the process as efficient as possible for a positive experience on both sides. It might be tempting to create a lengthy, detailed hiring method to find just the right people, but that could disappoint prospects and discourage great applicants from even applying.

When it comes to advertising, providing as much information as possible can help you capture those top candidates before they lose interest or take another job. You can do this by providing a very clear and concise job description, as well as staying transparent with hours, pay, and working conditions. With an ambiguous description or a lack of transparency, you might be attracting unqualified candidates, people who are looking for something different, or applicants who are not aligned with the compensation, and these factors can detract from your appeal, dishearten prospects, and make the process lengthier.

Flear offers some tips for restaurateurs to facilitate a smoother recruiting experience that’s a win-win:

Ask better questions. Go beyond “tell me about yourself.” Dig into how candidates solve problems, adapt under pressure, and collaborate to ensure that you are hiring someone who can add value to your business.
Involve your team. The people who will work alongside a new hire can often spot cultural fit (or misfit) quicker than a manager. You might also consider adding a referral program for your current employees to motivate them to recommend qualified candidates who suit your culture. This can save you the time and effort of posting the job and sorting through applicants before interviews start.
Plan for onboarding before you hire. If you don’t know exactly what their first 30 days will look like, you’re not ready to bring them in. Plan to train for the person, not the position, by being prepared to tailor training to their experience level, learning style, and strengths rather than following a generic checklist.
Consider all avenues. Think outside the box by leveraging resources that attract the candidates you’re looking for. People spend 30 per cent of their waking hours on social media, so take advantage of all platforms when posting jobs and screening candidates.

Never forget, though, that although speed matters in hospitality, so does intentionality. Follow through on your recruiting and hiring by quickly and effectively onboarding. “A rushed hire without a proper onboarding plan is like seating guests in a half-set dining room — you’re not setting them up for a great experience,” says Flear. Planning, communicating, and executing effective onboarding should also include support systems for the new hire.

The foodservice industry is tough, and setting the tone for a psychologically safe work environment is vital. This is especially true for younger generations who expect more than just training; they want to know they’ll be supported as a whole person, not just an employee, right from the moment they’re hired.

Getting it right

Managing a restaurant is a busy, all-encompassing job in a chaotic environment, and hiring can become another task in a long list of to-dos. Hiring managers can expect a more successful outcome by avoiding these common operator missteps during the hiring process:

Hiring reactively instead of strategically: Waiting until you are short-staffed leads to rushed decisions and higher turnover.
Using a one-size-fits-all training model: Not everyone learns the same way, and ignoring that can lead to disengagement.
Treating onboarding as an afterthought: A weak or non-existent onboarding process can undo a great hire in weeks.
Focusing only on technical skills: Hospitality is a people business, so personality, adaptability, and cultural alignment can matter just as much as experience.

Leveraging technology

In the busy world of foodservice, today’s technology can help speed up and refine the hiring process for candidates and for employers:

AI can save time by crafting the perfect job description, sorting through applications, scheduling interviews, and ranking candidates.
AI-powered chatbots can pre-screen candidates, helping to guide them through the application process. These tools can also ask questions throughout to help determine whether the prospective employee is even eligible for the role before the application process is complete.
Contacting candidates via text often yields quicker results and adds a personal touch – even when the messages themselves are automated. Employers can connect this way quickly with recruiting candidates to ask and answer questions or to move on to the next stage in the process.
Adding technology can also add appeal for people needing application flexibility or extra time to apply for jobs. Research shows that 38 per cent of candidates apply outside the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., and automation can help increase the number of candidates who apply for the position.

Standing out in the marketplace

Don’t forget that recruiting the right fit means that candidates are vetting your business, too.

Building your brand with social media content, positive customer reviews, and high employee ratings can increase candidate confidence in your restaurant. Work on creating an online presence that resonates with your customers and your staff to attract the right applicants and make your restaurant a place where they want to work.

“Today’s workforce is looking for more than a pay cheque. They want to know they’ll be supported, respected, and given a path to grow,” says Flear. That means showing – not just saying – that you value work-life balance, mental health, and a culture where people don’t burn out. Clear communication, flexible training approaches, and a visible commitment to employee well-being are huge differentiators in a competitive hiring market.

Building your team

Hiring top talent is not easy, and with 79 per cent of restaurants short at least one position, there is plenty of competition in the marketplace. With a strategic, efficient approach to hiring, operators who remain informed, proactive, flexible, and tactical will increase their success at attracting and acquiring top talent for their restaurant.