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Marketing individuals to restaurant employers
Editorial by Christian Saint Cyr
National Director / Canadian Job Development Network
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The restaurant sector currently has 78,000 job vacancies and yet potential employees are continually rejected due to inexperience, insufficient language ability, unreliable transportation and due to a lack of certifications and training.
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The last four years have been a time of tremendous transformation for the restaurant sector from the costly closures and workplace modifications during the pandemic to the rapidly rising minimum wage, CEBA loan repayments and inflation. Many restauranteurs are reporting that customers are far less likely to come in to dine after work and a reserve dining-out for special occasions.
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As an industry that has traditionally operated on slim margins, these last few years of inflationary pressures and labour challenges have significantly increased the cost of operating a restaurant – leading to 62 per cent of restaurants operating at a loss or barely breaking even compared to 12 per cent pre-pandemic.
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Adding to this challenge is a labour market where skilled workers such as restaurant managers, chefs, cooks, servers and sommeliers are in short supply. Skilled workers can pick and choose their employment opportunities.
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The restaurant sector in Canada is massive. It employs 1.1 million people and is the number one employer of young people, employing 18.8 per cent of young people ages 15 to 24.
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In this changing labour market, there could be no better example of a sector that needs to transform itself to stay competitive. Historically restaurants have come and gone and typically the restaurants that survive are the ones that provide a quality product, good service, a convenient location and where the restauranteur carefully controls costs.
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This formula for restaurant survival makes little reference to employees, other than the reference to providing good service.
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Restaurant employers are so overwhelmed by the day-to-day burden of being understaffed, they are often working the business themselves and have little time for hiring, much less onboarding, training and mentoring staff.
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It’s not uncommon for advertisements to expect years of experience, training and an existing set of skills prior to employment. They are looking for the ‘perfect’ employee and don’t believe they have the time or focus to train entry-level employees.
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Employers will need to seriously reconsider this approach in the months to come. Not only do we have caps coming to the total number of temporary-foreign workers (TFWs) and international students, but as of April 30, 2024, the number of hours international students can work is returning to the 20-hour per week cap.
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According to Restaurants Canada, international students make up 4.4% of workers. Meanwhile, Statistics Canada reports TFW's share of the hospitality workforce more than doubled from 4.4 per cent in 2010 to more than eleven per cent today.
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This summer’s labour market for restaurants and other tourism rich sectors is going to be decidedly harder. Here in April, there is a valuable opportunity to take some actions that will make this path smoother while simultaneously building a better workforce.
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Some of the actions employers might take in the weeks to come might include:
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Appointing Role Leads: To assist with training and on-boarding, it’s valuable to establish one employee who is the lead. These leads may include a cook, server, host, barista, etc. The employer can select someone who exemplifies the skills and traits which allow someone to excel in this role. I would certainly encourage an employer to provide financial or workplace perks to make these roles more attractive.
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Select Recruitment Days: Rather than posting ads, reviewing resumes and scheduling interviews, arrange for one day of the week where people can come in with their resume and apply for a position. This can be a social event where beverages or appetizers are served and impromptu interviews can be scheduled.
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Make On-the-Spot Job Offers: Candidates are often frustrated by the length of time employers take to make employment decisions. Someone with an impressive resume, strong skills and a good interview can be offered a job on the spot subject to a successful references check.
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Develop an Effective Training Plan: If we were to organize a business into each of the separate roles they employ (eg: server, cook, host, etc.), a hospitality employer is rarely going to have more than 3 to 10 separate roles they regularly train employees to work in. A restaurant employer can take one week to write a simplified training plan and build it together with a series of YouTube videos, allowing the employer to imprint their most important lessons to each employee with a minimum of effort. In a couple of months, each employee role will have a separate training program and the role leads can help oversee and refine the training process.
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I realize, if your primary role is marketing graduate level students with a specialty in mathematics, the notion of placing people in restaurant roles might not seem relatable. The idea here is to think about how an employer who feels overwhelmed can find the time to recruit and integrate new employees who may not have the necessary experience.
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By suggesting this approach to hiring, not only will an employer be able to more quickly identify and onboard new employees, but they will also increase the perceived value they place on their workforce among potential job candidates.
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These strategies are intended to free employers up to consider candidates who may be new to the workforce and may require training and early support. By building a workforce where the employer can free up the time necessary to effectively manage and supervise their staff, employers can stem the tide of turnover and build a more loyal and reliable workforce.
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We’ll be discussing how we can better support local restaurant employers at our #MotivatingMondays meeting of the Canadian Job Development Network, Monday April 22nd at 8:30am Pacific; 9:30am Mountain; 10:30am Central; 11:30am Eastern; 12:30pm Atlantic and at 1pm in Newfoundland. Visit: www.MotivatingMondays.ca on Monday to join the session LIVE.
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