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Blog
Warning: Now Hiring
March 31, 2008
We have got to be one of the few industries that warn our customers before they enter that we are short staffed. We make sure that they get the message loud and clear by posting banners on our restaurant exteriors and by using our signboards to proclaim that we need people. Can you imagine walking up to the ticket counter of an airline and seeing a big sign posted, "Looking for experienced pilots and mechanics." Or your doctor's office door, "Immediate openings for nurses and lab technicians." Not exactly a great first impression or confidence builder of what is about to follow.
I don't know what it is about restaurant people that makes us feel like we have to make outsiders aware of an inside situation. I have asked about this over the years and I have always gotten the same logical explanation. "It is the most effective way of reaching prospective applicants." Well, duh! Now if we could only get those pesky customers to quit reading them too. It seems that they take them to heart and use them to gauge where service might be slow due to understaffing.
We had done some focus groups a few years ago on a national concept when the subject came up as we were probing about service issues. One group member said that they had made it a point to try not to go to individual restaurants where they had big "Now Hiring" signs posted. They said that their experience over time validated what the restaurant was telling the applicants: we don't have enough staff to execute effectively and need you desperately. They said that the more prominent the sign, the more short staffed they believed the restaurant to be. Other group members joined in and expressed amazement that restaurants would telegraph their shortcomings so visibly.
"Now Hiring" signs in advance of an opening are something that everyone understands and applauds. "Now Hiring" signs after you have been open for a while are something that you don't want your customers to understand. Maybe it is time to consider a less effective way of reaching prospective applicants.
Posted by Lane Cardwell on March 31, 2008 | Comments (2)
Reader Comments
at 4/1/2008 11:42:20 AM, Tom Storey commented:
Thank you for the article.
I have 38 years in the business. Operators do not pay enough. It is a free market for potential employees and they turn over at 300%.
The industry insists on using a business model that REQUIRES low wages to succeed.
I am very happy to know that Boeing and IBM do not follow the restaurant industry's lead.
We are in the design phase of a new concept. We will pay a living wage or we will not build the first unit.
It makes no sense to keep opening restaurants that do not support the community they are located in.
It can be done and it is about time that operators and the industry as a whole put their minds and resources to how.
at 4/3/2008 6:50:42 PM, former pilot commented:
I am a retired pilot from a major airline and now own a successful restaurant. If you think that airline pilots as well as other professional shortages are not in the public eye then you are living with your eyes closed. Just today on FOXNews I watched an extensive interview with an author who has written a new book about the shortages in many fields including accountanting, engineering etc. FOX, CNN etc get a few more eyes than any restaurant chain. Newspapers like USA Today, The WSJ etc. are regularly writing stories about shortages in all types of industries. I have never felt that because I see a help wanted sign that I am about to get poor service. It is definitely not the case in my business. Staffing is a daily point of discussion. We plan carefully and stay ahead of the curve on staffing so our customers don't suffer. When we need help we advertise first to our regular customers. We do indeed get some regulars to apply or they have a friend or child who is need of employment. I want to hire someone from my community first. As to a concept of paying a living wage or not building, save your money. The bottom line is you will not compete with the big chains if your prices are not competitive. Large chains offer good food and service as a whole. If you think people will support your restaurant by paying higher wages and charging higher prices to compensate for that, you need to look at the airlines for the results of such thinking. After 9-11 many higher quality airlines thought the same thing. They have all learned the hard way that price above all else is the motivating factor. It is easy to offer a simple feel good concept like the one in the previous letter. The restaurnat business has been around since shortly after man began walking the earth. I think that rather than trying to remake the wheel, operators need to work with in the successful system that has developed over hundreds of years to better share profits by offering health care etc. I have a health and dental plan for my full time employees and it doesn't really cost all that much. That is one great way to keep valuable employees feeling secure and satisfied. An industry does not come up with solutions, people do.