A Restaurant Industry View from the Inside

As this business climate improves and hiring is on the upswing we are beginning to see the same old “problems” coming back to haunt us.

For example in the month of January I saw four potential deals blow up because the candidate took another job before my clients could complete their process. In each case the client was not dragging their feet as can often impact these situations. While loosing four potential deals is not good news the silver lining is that it has be four or five years since I lost that many deals to the I took another job scenario. This means hiring is becoming  competitive again and we need to do whatever we can to keep the process moving forward or end it definitively. Clients will begin loosing the ability to  “Keep this candidate in mind and see what else is out there”.

It is becoming more and important to a sucessful hiring conclusion for candidates and clients to ask themselves; What do I gain by waiting in making a contact, meeting, follow-up call, decision ? Many people are again being overloaded with projects and items on their daily to do list that things are falling through the cracks unintentionally.

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Another year is rapidly coming to a close. I find the mood of most people I speak with on a daily basis to be guardedly positive about the economic future.

I am quite comfortable in saying the past four years have been the most difficult I can remember. So many of my friends, clients, and candidates have struggled with the downsizing, budget reductions, loss of income, and even loss of homes. Businesses filing chapter eleven and personal bankruptcies are a more common occurrence than anyone would like. So many many people have paid a heavy price for the party years in the 90′s when everybody had money and the banks were giving it away to people to buy homes they could never afford, and were sure would increase in value at twenty percent a year. If any sober person had looked at the realities, they would have run for the hills, but there was too much money to be made by pretending the music would never stop.

I see the survivors have adjusted to the new “NORMAL” and been licking their wounds, but more are preparing to pick up the pieces and begin to move forward. Over the past six months there has been a small but growing ripple of employers beginning to start the hiring process again and put modest growth plans into effect. Because of these rumblings I believe we are moving toward  positive growth  rather than negative.

The major concern for business in general and Hospitality specifically is our political situation. The ever escalating regulation of business by the government is what is keeping the growth plans so modest. With 2012 being an election year we will be inundated with media coverage of political dog and pony shows and posturing for votes. So many of our “Representatives” see their own job security through fixing things that are not broken with silly legislation that creates more issues than it solves.

If we could ever elect leadership who truly want to do what is right without thinking about personal gain you would see our economy growing with foundation and purpose.

It seems to me that people in business and in fact people in general have lost the ability to consider the other person’s viewpoint or perceptions in any given situation. Just look how business is conducted in this country today; there is no more focus on win/win relationships it seems to be all for me and forget you. I see it everyday in the actions and attitudes of companies doing something as  innocuous as scheduling interviews. Very little consideration is given to the candidate’s convenience or interests and that message is sent in several ways and is a first impression given of a Company Culture. It seems that many companies want to project an authoritarian image so as to clearly set the stage of who’s boss. As if the guy not working, and with no income needs a reminder that he is not in a position of strength.

But look at the bigger picture; I don’t think we even bother to expect our politicians to put our interests above their personal best interest any longer. We accept and almost expect them to be corrupt, selfish, devious, and self aggrandising. When they give us a Health Care system that they themselves do not use we don’t ask why or pressure them to explain themselves. When they run up the debt of the country we don’t ask FOR What? We allow ourselves to be emotionally led around by the crisis of the moment and no longer look to the future and the bigger picture and excuse acts of fraud as; well they were just taking advantage of an opportrunity to improve their own situation like anyone would do. Look at the mortgage crisis that is still the root cause of our economic woes today. Yes people and companies only took advantage of a situation and made money, a LOT OF MONEY lending mortage money to people who had no ability to repay it and then charge off the losses and expect the governement (the citizens) to repay their losses because it was the government(citizens) that decreed everyone has the right to own a home. There is too fine a line between morally wrong and illegal in our society today. Because something is not illegal does not mean it is right even if it is in “MY BEST INTEREST”

This kind of thinking has trickled down from the politicians to the financial businesses and then to all different industries to individuals at all levels, the children are next and then we will have generations of issues. Many industries are difficult and cold blooded, but the Hospitality Industry cannot be one of them and expect to thrive. The minimum requirement for people in our industry is to be friendly.

The complete pre-occupation of people only thinking of themselves and their own individual situations is fueling them to make money any way possible and thus making people who by nature may be very decent  to do things that impact others negatively and excusing it as “I was just trying to make a living” or “I am just trying to take care of my family”. Possibly if  more of us realized that we do not automatically win when someone else looses less people would develop situational ethics to justify their own erosion of personal integrity.

Here are some quick points that are still true even if you ignore them:

You only have one opportunity to make a good first impression…both of you

Your candles do not burn brighter when you blow out your friend’s candles.

Actions speak lounder than words

This one is for you Jeff!

Is it just me or does anyone else see a connection between the the interview process moving briskly and a successful conclusion with a job offer?

It just seems that when things get in the way of scheduling interviews it decreases the chances of a job offer coming. Weather, delays, schedule changes and a few other things do realisticly get in the way. In our business the work schedule is the biggest culprit and prospective employers will understand a candidates first committment to be for his current employer. However if this delays the process more than a week they have to start asking how committed to seeking a change the candidate is. When in interferes in the return of a telephone cal or email or an online assessment it is not more than 2 days until the thought of nobody is that busy enters theirm mind and they loose interest. However I believe it to be true that this is a two way street when a candidate waits more than a week for feedback on an interview orthe follow up of the next step outlined in the first interview does not develop as described they begin to question the company’s organizational structures and /or skills, and the interest level in pursuing the candidate further.

So it is critical to remember prompt and professional follow up and ettiquette is expected and rightfully so by both pasrties involved in the interview process. Without it  a successful employment alliance cannot begin.

I’m sure you will agree this has been one of the most difficult years for Hospitality employment. The economic difficulties suffered by all businesses had a very strong impact on full service restaurants; that combined with the over-saturation of that segment made Casual Dining the hardest hit. We used to think Casual Dining was bulletproof and impervious to economic slowdowns. Not the case.

The unemployment numbers that came out December 3 are quite underwhelming. We were told to expect 135,000 jobs created and the released number is only 39,000 which raises the percentage of unemployed Americans to 9.8% I wonder what the revised figures will be?

At any rate if unemployment is 9.8 or 9.6 it is still something for we in Hospitality to pay attention to as we go into the job market. It is a buyers market!!! The Candidate has not had strength to negotiate from for the past three years and it does not look like that will change any time soon. So be careful of first impressions, and the precieved messages you are sending with appearance, vocabulary, body language, sense of urgency and professionalism.  These are almost more important than the actual answers to questions asked.

I will say with very guarded optimism that things feel like the loosening up a bit . I have had calls from several old clients that I have not heard from in some time. They are beginning to open new locations and expand staff. It seems to be in the Upscale and Fine Dining segments which you might think is odd until you think about  the “Dumbing down” of casual dining of the last five to ten years and who is dining out with disposable income……..

As we come to the end of the recession (?) this is a time when many people who  took any kind of job they could just to continue income are tempted to omit those jobs from their resume moving forward.

There has always been a tendency in our industry to blend dates to cover a bad experience or decision of a job that did not go well. When making choices of doing this or not please consider the fact that most interviewers go into an interview looking for a reason NOT TO HIRE. It is hard enough to win over the screening interview do become your own worst enemy by lying.

I know a series of short term jobs is a quick way to not even get a face to face interview, but in this age of databases and background checks an “Innocent lie” on a resume can kill 100% of the opportunities. Putting all the jobs for the past 5-10 years with understandable explanations of the reason to go to work there and the reason for leaving give you a better chance in the long run.

When I get a new resume I look it up in the database. It always surprises me how times that particular person is already entered, if their background differs from what was originally entered I choose not to represent them because I won’t risk an interview process with someone you is not open and honest with me.

You are better off rolling the dice with the truth, many of the interviewers may not know when a company went out of business or was absorbed by another causing people to loose their jobs. Something interview need to understand is that candidates don’t always quit their jobs sometimes to companies quit their employees.

If you always explain the decision to begin and end a position it won’t always be enough to help you but it can never hurt you if it is the truth. The world or recruiters is smaller than that of managers and they all talk….

May 21 is Waiter/Waitress day. Nice to give some respect to unsung heroes. Maybe next year we will include cooks and bartenders.

Keep up the hard work!

I believe that everyone growing up should be required to spend some time as a Waiter/Waitress or Cook so they appreciate others later in life, I also believe  children should be taught to respect the people who serve others to make a living.

Well there has been a telltale change in the force (a shifting of advantage in the hiring dance between hiring authority and candidate). Companies are preparing the hire more managers at all levels in a general sense of the hiring process this gives some advantage to the candidates in that there is an increased need. DO NOT MAKE THE MISTAKE OF THINKING YOU CAN NAME YOUR PRICE. Salary levels are not going back up to the levels we saw in the late 90′s early 2000′s, and they may not for a very long time as those levels were inflated due to unemployment figures of 3 to 5 percent.

Unemployment numbers came out today in a very positive way: 290,000 jobs were created in April, 166,000 of them in the Service Sector which is great news yet the unemployment rate went up to 9.9% from 9.7%. How is that possible? The answer seems to be that the size of the labor force being measured has grown——–that sounds a little dubious to me but I am anything but an economic expert.

Bear in mind we lost 8.2 million jobs during the recession and it will take years to replace those. So while the market opens up do not overplay your hand on the salary issue. It is unfortunate that so many people have had to take a salary cut and that the trend is continuing but it is a result of the market pressures we continue to face.

Well if you’ve been listening or reading the news lately you are hearing the same that I am which is that business is slowly but surely getting better. Several restaurant groups are reporting sales increases over last year. Of course we all know last year was for many the worst in many years but an improvement is an improvement.

I have in the last month spoken to several organizations that are moving forward with new unit openings  aggressively. I am sure that many companies that reduced the number of unit level management to maintain costs are beginning to beef back up so as to maintain quality of operation and remain competitive with the many new groups that are sprouting up across the country started by executives laid off by the larger corporations as part of their survival plans during the economic crisis.

Of course as I sit here and type this the stock market is showing the biggest loss in months so I guess volitility will always be with us but the worst may truly be over.

Of course jobs won’t just be laying on the ground for anyone to pick up you sill still have to be very professional in your presentation and show energy and enthusiasm for each company you meet with but it will begin to get easier to get the meetings.

Dust of your interview clothes and shine your shoes!

On occasion after a candidate has been hired and has started a new position, as the invoice for our services comes due clients begin to scrutinize a new employee a bit more closely than usual. A candidate can say or do something silly not necessarily of poor character or integrity just a thoughtless moment. This can prompt the client to worry about the assimilation of the candidate into their culture and withhold payment until they are completely comfortable with that assimilation causing a breach of payment terms agreed to.

The fees for our services are based on our time needed to source candidates and complete the due diligence involved in the hiring process. This is our connections, sources, resources and expertise built up over years of effort. The warranty is the protection of the dollars spent on our services. Our investment is made before the interview process even begins, the advertising, time spent finding suitable people to send, culling out unsuitable candidates (yes you pay for the people you don’t see, which may initially sound divergent but can be a major savings if you think about it.)   Our money is all spent “Up front”.

I realize that the  tangible for a client is a new hire, and it is easy to think that is what payment is for. However, that is only part of the costs we are trying to recover. To operate our business we need to be licensed and chartered by the State of New Jersey which requires a commitment to ongoing education. We of course have to pay taxes like everyone else, maintain databases with stronger than average security defenses to protect personal  information, relentless updates to our databases, pay rent, insurances, advertising, advertising, and advertising, communication costs, office equipment, travel, membership dues in trade organizations and a host of other expenses.

In short we are a Service Organization and bill for our services which result in a new employee hire. Our replacement warranty is the assurance that we are willing to do the entire process over if it does not work well the first time.

Please remember we do not charge anything until a candidate is hired and is working, the client determines the interview and selection process used and makes the final hiring decision and as such takes on the responsibility for employee retention from the first day of employment. We can assist with training of staff in employee retention should the client deem it necessary.

To withhold payment beyond agreed terms in order to be “Sure” is a painful delay in our cash flow. It may also be representative of a leadership philosophy that can be detrimental to employee relations in a general sense.