Chris Russell (14)
Human Resources
Employee Retention Ideas
Now, more than ever, employers should be doing everything they can to retain their best people. The quit rate is rising rapidly. According to staffing company Robert Half, nearly 1 in 3 employees (32%) said they plan to look for a new role in the next several months. With so many jobs going unfilled, and employers offering signing bonuses in the hundreds to attract even unskilled workers, employee retention has to become a priority for every organization. The reason is simple: It’s far better and less costly to retain workers than to hire new ones. Ignoring all the other consequences, the cost alone to fill a staff position averages about $4,100. And that was before Covid, before millions of people left the workforce entirely. What the cost is now hasn’t been calculated, but with wages rising and bonuses becoming expected, it’s certainly higher. If the recruiting costs were the only consideration, employee retention would still be a priority. Using just the average, pre-Covid cost of hiring, a company with 1,000 workers and annual turnover of 20% would be spending $820,000 a year just to fill vacancies. But add in the cost of training, the loss in productivity and the impact on workers who have to pick-up the slack and it’s clear the economic consequences are high. By most estimates, the full cost of replacing a productive employee is between 1.5 and 2 times their annual salary. Replacing a uniquely skilled worker or an executive is higher still. Since last year, the government has sweetened the pot even more. Employers can actually make money retaining workers. Since being signed into law in March, the American Rescue Plan Act makes businesses eligible to offset up to $7,000 of payroll tax per employee per quarter. Not every business is eligible. It applies to businesses that partially or fully closed down or had a 20% quarterly decline in revenue. Yet for qualifying organizations, every worker retained this year can be worth as much as $28,000 in tax savings. Ideas to retain Your Employees Convinced about the value of employee retention, but wondering what you can do to hang on to your best workers? Gallup tells us that 51% of employees who quit say that in the previous three months not once did their manager or other company leader ask about their job satisfaction or their career ambitions. Would that have made a difference? There are no guarantees, though 52% of all voluntarily departing employees told Gallup researchers their manager or organization could have done something to prevent them from leaving. Talking to them was one. A leading if not the leading cause of worker dissatisfaction is a lack of recognition. This is such a simple problem to solve, yet survey after survey shows too few workers receive praise. Too many managers take the position, whether they admit it or not, that paychecks should be enough recognition. They’re not. They’re table stakes in employee retention. Workers paid unfairly or below market will start looking for a new job as soon as they discover the inequity. So paying workers what they’re worth and a little more – and a little more than that for the top tier people – will eliminate comp as a reason to jump ship. Money alone, even for money motivated sales people, isn’t enough. Supplement fair pay with honest and regular praise. Recognition goes a long way to reducing turnover and improving employee retention. One of the many surveys linking recognition to retention, SurveyMonkey found 82% of workers are happier when they’re recognized. SurveyMonkey wrote: “63% of people who are ‘always’ or ‘usually’ recognized at work consider themselves ‘very unlikely’ to seek a new job in the next 3-6 months, whereas only 11% those who are ‘never’ or ‘rarely’ recognized feel the same way.” Another survey, this one from the Society for Human Resource Management, four 68% of HR professionals agreeing employee recognition has a positive impact on retention. Recognition can be as simple as a manager saying “thank you” to a worker for finishing a report ahead of time. Or as formal as an employee recognition day. Regular recognition, however, is the key to improving employee retention. Certainly there are other key ideas to employee retention. Larger companies have HR professionals dedicated to monitoring and analyzing turnover and developing entire programs to reduce it. But improving employee retention begins with valuing the workers you have. Pay them fairly, recognize them regularly and publicly and talk with each of them about their job and their future and turnover will go down as employee retention goes up. Contribution by John Zappe
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Recruiting
Passive Candidates - Are They Better?
One of the greatest myths in recruiting is that passive candidates make the best hires. This fiction has been around so long, no one can say where it came from or if there’s even any evidence to support it. Yet, it’s so widely believed that there are thousands of articles with tips on how to approach passive candidates and why they’re so much better. Before we get into what’s wrong with this notion, we need to define what a passive candidate is. A “passive candidate” is someone currently employed who is not job hunting. That simple definition encompasses 70% to 80% of the workforce. If you think about it, calling someone not looking for a job a passive candidate is an oxymoron. They’re not even an applicant, let alone a candidate. But we’ll accept the contradiction and use the idiom. To narrow the definition, most talent acquisition professionals will tell you the passive candidates they look for are open to the right opportunity. Many recruiters also believe that passive candidates are better performers. Active candidates are those who are job hunting. They may or may not be employed, though most are. Because digital resumes and profiles make it so easy to apply for a job, recruiters overwhelmed with unqualified applicants have come to think of all active candidates, even those who do have the right qualifications and requirements, as second class. Their thinking goes something like this: If they were doing well and happy where they are, they wouldn’t be looking for another job. People, including top talent, become active job seekers for any number of reasons having nothing to do with job satisfaction or performance. Two of the most common are a too long commute and family considerations. The latter includes moving to be closer to other family members, better schools or for more affordable housing. The pandemic of the last year, which demonstrated to many employees the benefits of working from home, is now prompting a surge in workers looking for jobs where they can work remotely all or at least part of the time. It also turns out that passive candidates are not all that passive. A LinkedIn survey found that 15% of passive candidates regularly reach out to their personal network quietly asking about job opportunities. Another 45% may not actively be taking steps to find a new job, but they are open to talking to a recruiter. For jobs with such special or unique qualifications that those who have them are few in number — the kind recruiters call “purple squirrels” – searching them out may be the only way to fill the job. It’s also good recruiting practice to identify the best talent in the field for current or future openings. All the better if you can hire the best talent away from a competitor. However, routinely passing over active candidates in favor of passive ones is shortsighted. It overlooks what should be obvious: active applicants who go on to become candidates want to work for you. They’ve done their homework about the organization, have learned about the company culture and are eager to win the job. Their gratitude translates into greater loyalty Passive candidates have to be convinced. They don’t come to the table already interested and may not even have heard of your organization. Largely content where they are, they won’t be as motivated to learn about the company and its culture. That can become a serious problem later, especially since a key reason for a passive candidate to change jobs is money, according to the LinkedIn survey. Active candidates on the other hand are most interested in career advancement. Prof. Peter Cappelli, director of the Center for Human Resources at the Wharton School, says, “Employers spend a vastly disproportionate amount of their budgets on recruiters who chase passive candidates, but on average they fill only 11% of their positions with individually targeted people.” Writing in the Harvard Business Review, he adds, “I know of no evidence that passive candidates become better employees, let alone that the process is cost-effective.” That alone is a powerful reason for recruiters to give active candidates as much consideration as they do passive candidates and set aside the myth that one group is better than another only because they don’t apply. ### Contribution by John Zappe ###
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Human Resources
Employee Experience Ideas
Delivering an awesome employee experience can be a game changer for employers right now. With a lack of applicants pervasive in early every industry, having an enjoyable and easy experience is key to hiring and keeping your workers. This is especially true if you hire younger workers who’ve grown up on apps and the internet. This is an “on demand” generation that expects a simple digital experience when it comes to work. The problem however is that the use of outdated tools and technology still exists. This statement is backed up by a new survey from WorkForce Software. In it they say many companies are still relying on antiquated systems to manage their workforce, demonstrating a need for immediate investment in modern solutions. Only 50% of employees indicate using online portals to track time and attendance. 56% of employees report severely dated methods for time tracking, including mounted wall clocks, paper forms, and punch cards. For employees that are afforded online portals when compared to those not, more feel they are offered scheduling flexibility and are assisted with personal circumstances, noting the adoption of more immediate contactless screening. This isn’t good news for employees. So how can your company improve the employee experience? Give Them Digital Recognition When asked to describe how employers recognize their contributions, most employees said that recognition was mainly through verbal acknowledgement only. Better to call them out with some form of digital recognition. For example if you have an employee of the month, recognize them on your social media channels. Or give out rewards and bonuses electronically. Make It Easier to Schedule Your Employees According to the survey, 82% of employers believe they offer scheduling flexibility, while only 59% of employees agree. Simultaneously, 87% of employers indicated they help hourly workers deal with personal circumstances that affect work schedules, while only 60% of employees agree. As a result, more than half of employees stated they would prefer to work for an employer that offers more flexibility in scheduling, showcasing just how integral understanding and finding flexible solutions are in a post-pandemic world. “Our current business environment demands employee empowerment defined by better training, easier time-tracking, and control over scheduling and leave management,” said Mike Morini, CEO of WorkForce Software. “For employers and employees alike, the disconnect leads to considerable business impact in the form of increased employee turnover and reduced productivity and engagement and will continue to be an impediment to resilience and organizational success now and in the future. Companies must actively engage their employees through improved workplace experiences to more quickly and easily meet evolving workforce challenges.” Make It Easier to Fill In Paperwork Another area of concern is onboarding and filling out paperwork in order to be hired or get benefits. In these cases, more companies should be digitizing this process allowing employees to sign docs electronically, thus avoiding a stack of papers to sign and keep track of. Empower Their Pay with Direct Deposit Many small businesses still don’t have direct deposits for their workers. Direct deposit allows employees to get paid faster and saves them a trip to the bank. There’s even a slew of new vendors like DailyPay which let you pay works the same day they work. That instant gratification is something the HR world needs more of. The Trend is Not Abating Employee experience expectations are on the rise as newer generations enter the workforce. This research mentioned above has primarily explored the gap in employer/employee experiences in the workplace related to scheduling, training, the pay options, and support for changes in w workers’ personal circumstances. However, it’s important to recognize that this is just the tip of the iceberg. By the year 2025, Gen Y &Z will comprise 64% of the workforce. They will want a consumer-like experience at work, just like the apps they use in their personal lives. The employee experience for today’s organizations needs to be driven by a blend of culture, place, and technology. Significant opportunity exists for employers to leverage modern, consumer-like technology for more streamlined workflows that delight your teams.
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Human Resources
The 5 Core Human Resources Functions
Every business with more than just a few dozen employees has a human resources department. It may be only one person who handles all the human resources functions. Or, as in the largest organizations, there may be hundreds of professionals who specialize in just one functional area. So broad is the reach of these human resources functions they touch every single employee across every department on a daily basis. Depending on the organization, its industry and size, there may be five, six, seven or more separate human resources functions. For our purposes, we’ll look at the five core areas: recruiting and staffing, compensation and benefits, training and development, talent management, safety and compliance. In large organizations, these functions may be split. So where “safety” may not be a core human resources function for say, an accounting firm, blue collar organizations and those in healthcare and similar fields are more likely to have safety and compliance as separate human resources functions. However they’re described, all HR departments share the same basic HR functions. Here’s a brief look at each of the core human resources functions. Compensation and Benefits Often described as “total rewards,” this HR function involves analyzing and setting pay ranges for each job in an organization and determining the benefits the business offers. Larger employers will conduct compensation surveys to keep pace with the market and set pay ranges consistent with each job description to ensure the company can attract and retain talented workers. At smaller companies, HR may be tasked with assisting in managing payroll. A benefits coordinator – or more than one – will manage and negotiate benefits for the company. Employers with large workforces have specialists who will negotiate group health insurance rates and coordinate with outside administrators managing the 401(k) and other financial programs. Smaller companies may outsource benefits management, though an HR practitioner will always be involved in this HR function in order to assist employees and stay abreast of market developments. Recruiting and Staffing In today’s highly competitive business environment, where every organization is eager to hire the most talented people, recruiting has become a strategic imperative. It’s not enough simply to fill job openings. This human resources function is involved in sourcing talent, marketing the company to candidates and smoothing their entry into the company and its culture, a process called onboarding. To do that, recruiters work directly with hiring managers to craft and post job descriptions. They review resumes, screen candidates and make interview recommendations to the manager. They may also interview the candidate and coordinate the hiring with the manager who makes the final selection. In the largest organizations, this HR function is divided among different specialists, including sourcers who focus exclusively on identifying the best candidates, often for the most challenging to fill positions. A growing number of companies have recruitment marketers whose job is to promote the employer brand and gather and analyze candidate views and sentiment. Safety and Compliance As we noted earlier, in many companies, these are separate HR functions. Organizations in highly regulated businesses – mining or trucking for example – and certainly those with a global presence are the ones most likely to have HR professionals specializing in each area. Companies not in hazardous or regulated industries typically see this as a single function. Safety professionals may not be a part of HR, but there will be a practitioner in the department – or more than one – working with them to provide required safety training and to monitor the licenses employees must have to do their job. Compliance with industry and government safety standards and rules, preparing reports and maintaining records of incidents and inspections are also key parts of this human resources function. Outside the specific area of safety, all organizations have to comply with a myriad of government laws and requirements. Even the smallest businesses are required to collect and keep a variety of records for the IRS, Homeland Security, OSHA, the EEOC and other agencies both federal and state; in some cases, for their local municipality. Neglecting this human resources function can be costly. There are civil and even criminal penalties for failing to comply with the government rules. Training and Development This HR function may be as basic as training a new worker on the company’s practices and procedures. At larger companies, this function entails developing and managing an on-going training and career development program tailored to each employee. With change rapid and ongoing, companies know their success depends on training employees on new tools and for new jobs so they are ready to step in when needed. That makes succession planning a critical part of this HR function, which is also part of overall talent management. Training today, however, goes beyond the technical skills. Managers, team leaders and those in managerial career paths are being trained on the so-called soft skills of communication, team work, time management and others. Companies have discovered that it’s far more important for a manager to be a good listener and coach than to have the best technical skills. Talent Management What is still sometimes called employee relations, talent management is a human resources function that has broadened well beyond the traditional boundaries of enforcing adherence to company policies and procedures, the “HR police” role. While HR is still the arbiter of employee behavior, the modern version of the function is far more involved with developing and enhancing the relationship between employer and employee. Practitioners focus on employee performance, job satisfaction, engagement, company culture, workforce planning and extending into productivity and employee motivation. With that kind of assignment, talent management necessarily cuts across all other HR functions. The goal is to increase performance, giving the company a competitive advantage by creating an integrated process that leverages the full range of HR functions. Many practitioners consider talent management to be the overarching human resources function, setting the strategy that guides each of the other HR functions. HR Function Crossover We’ve described some of these five broad HR functions as though they were separate and distinct areas. In reality, even in the largest organizations, what happens in one functional area affects the others. A pay scale that is not competitive makes it difficult to recruit the best people, which in turn means hiring less skilled workers who require more training and may simply not meet talent management’s performance goals. That’s why coordination among the multiple human resources functions is so critical. And why so many business leaders have come to recognize the importance of human resources to the success of their organization. ### Contributions by John Zappe ###
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AI in Recruiting
Conversational AI Recruiting vs Candidate Black Hole
Job seekers browsing company career sites these days may be interacting with recruiter chatbots. But that recruiter who’s being so helpful may actually be a conversational AI chatbot in disguise. Surprised? Don’t be. Chatbots have come a long way from just a few years ago when they were little more than text versions of those annoying telephone option trees. Today’s conversational AI recruiting software is so good they sometimes are mistaken for human recruiters. Instead of offering a multiple-choice text list of questions or help, AI chatbots converse naturally, which is why they are often referred to as conversational chatbots. Many understand language so well they can figure out the intent even when the question is ambiguously worded. Today most vendors in the space refer to it simply as ‘conversational AI’. The advances in artificial intelligence and natural language processing (NLP) are prompting more and more employers to incorporate AI chatbots into their recruiting programs. When deployed on a company career site, surveys show these bots enhance candidate satisfaction and improve the quality of candidates who apply. A recent survey of organizations with a recruiting AI chatbot found 71% reporting their candidates were “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with the experience. Not one reported a negative response. In fact, 50% of organizations with an AI chatbot say the most important benefit is the improved candidate experience. What makes these conversational AI recruiting bots so popular is that unlike a human recruiter, they’re ready to answer questions 24 hours a day, every day of the week. Their instant response time is a plus for candidates who might otherwise have to wait hours or days for an answer to the simplest of questions – and that’s if there’s even a way to ask a question at all. That immediacy is a panacea for candidates who sometimes refer to the job search as a black hole unable to reach anyone at the company to get more information about the role. Besides helping job candidates at the pre-application stage, these bots can schedule phone screens and interviews, gather additional information and update candidates on the status of their application, eliminating the dreaded “black hole.” That adds up to a much better candidate experience, plus can also result in a significant savings in recruiter time. When the cosmetics company L’Oreal implemented a conversational chatbot to screen, schedule and automate phone interviews, the time was cut from 45 minutes to less than five. AI bots are also highly versatile in how they interact with candidates, communicating by email, text message, and even by voice phone. Some companies are using AI chatbots to help mobile users complete a job application entirely using voice responses. So useful are AI chatbots becoming that 40% of Gen Z users consider them important for an employer to have on the company career site. Increasingly, talent acquisition leaders are discovering chatbots also offer a wealth of intelligence into candidate interests and concerns. By analyzing the questions candidates ask, AI chatbots can help develop recruitment marketing programs and give recruiting leaders insight into what most matters to the talent they want to attract. Though the majority of recruiting chatbots in use today are still the multiple-choice. decision tree type, AI bots that understand natural language are fast becoming the standard. The reasons are clear: Conversational AI recruiting chatbots improve the candidate experience, save recruiter’s time and provide the kind of analytical insights that lead to more effective talent acquisition.
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Human Resources
The Importance of an Employee Onboarding Checklist
Next to making a great hire, onboarding them is the most important part of recruiting. Unfortunately, it’s also the part with so many pieces that without an employee onboarding checklist, it’s easy to miss a step, forget a detail, or, in the worst case, ignore it altogether until the new hire walks in the door. Onboarding is where a company makes a lasting impression on the new employee. Yet too many employers leave the process to chance, then wonder why the hire they had such high hopes for quit after just a few weeks or even days. The Internet is alive with onboarding horror stories: New hires no one was expecting or who had no desk, chair, computer or phone when they arrived. Workers scheduled for training on the day the trainer was off. New employees who were never told when to start and others who were sent to the wrong location. An employee onboarding checklist can prevent mistakes like these from happening. A comprehensive onboarding checklist that details every one of the steps will go far to ensuring the company puts its best foot forward in making the new employee feel welcome. Before digging into the specifics of what an onboarding checklist should include, it’s important to know the difference between onboarding and orientation. The latter is part of onboarding, but it’s the part than can mostly be handled before the new hire’s first day. Orientation is the paperwork part of onboarding, including completing I-9s, W-4 s and benefits, arranging employee identification and contact information, and delivering the company handbook spelling out policies and procedures. Increasingly, companies are handling this digitally, though some mail out hardcopies to be signed and returned. Beyond the paperwork, onboarding should be thought of as a strategic process that introduces them to the company culture and helps them become comfortable with their new colleagues so they’ll become an engaged, productive member of the team. Companies that think this way will assign a company email and login so the new hire can begin to become part of their new team even before their official start. More and more, these companies also see the value of extending onboarding beyond the traditional few days or weeks to several months and up to a year. Whatever your program, an employee onboarding checklist is crucial to success. Besides ensuring all the bases are covered and no detail is overlooked, it spells out who in the organization is responsible for each item and when the task is due. The nature of your business will dictate how many versions of the onboarding checklist you need. A company with a variety of jobs and a mix of hourly and salaried employees may have several different checklists, each differing only when it comes to the specifics of the job. Regardless of industry, all employee onboarding checklists should cover every detail from the forms required by law and by the company to the specifics of the job and the arrangements for the worker’s first day and week. A good onboarding checklist doesn’t just say “forms.” It lists each one required of the employee. It’s not enough to simply say “first day.” A checklist should list every specific element of what will occur that day, from the front door greeting to the office tour to introductions, lunch, and, of course, all the necessary set-up for where the employee will actually be assigned. Creating an employee onboarding checklist may seem like a lot of work, and it is. Listing each and every detail may even seem obsessive. It should and probably is. However, you only need to do it once. And if it keeps that great new hire from being one of the 25% to 30% of workers who quit in the first few months, then the effort will be well worth it.
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Recruiting Trends
Soaring Employee Turnover Rate is a Covid Legacy
The voluntary employee turnover rate is soaring, reaching levels rarely seen in the last 20 years. For March, the average for the private sector was 2.7%, which translates into an annual voluntary employee turnover rate approaching one-third. Imagine the impact to a company of losing every third worker, yet that is what many businesses are facing. For restaurants, hotels and motels the employee turnover rate is even worse, a stunning 5.3%. Now add in the number of workers retiring, fired and laid off and the average national private sector employee turnover rate – total worker churn – stood at 4.1%. It’s “The Great Covid Job Churn,” says William Vanderbloemen, CEO of an executive search firm, and it’s “coming for you.” Writing in Forbes in January, Vanderbloemen, predicted 2021 “will result in unprecedented turnover in job markets across the country.” Four months later, data from the U.S. Department of Labor shows how right he was. The government’s monthly surveys of job openings, hires and turnover shows openings were at a record high 8.1 million in March. Yet only 6 million hires were made, a number equal to the total separations – quits, layoffs, retirements and firings – during the month. No wonder employers are having such difficulty in filling jobs. Instead of being able to aggressively increase employment, employers are barely able to keep the workers they already have. Small business is being hit especially hard by the eagerness of workers to change jobs. The National Federation of Independent Business reported 44% of small business owners had openings they couldn’t fill. The Wall Street Journal said it was the highest level in 50 years. Employee Turnover Stats Business employing 10-49 workers, a group that includes most fast-food restaurants, had an employee turnover rate of 3%. Those with 50 to 249 employees had a voluntary turnover rate of 2.9%. The reasons for the increasing employee turnover rate are both practical and predictable, as wells as emotionally existential. While the pandemic raged and businesses were closed, workers who might otherwise have sought new opportunities or the next step in their career held off. The uncertainty of what might happen next was unnerving. Now that the light at the end of the tunnel is bright, workers are more confident about changing jobs. Another group of workers who discovered they enjoyed working remotely more than commuting to an office is seeking out employers who will permit them to work from home part or all of the time. A new survey of remote workers found 58% will look for another job if they can’t continue working remotely. Many others who might not have questioned their career choice had time during the Covid lockdown to reevaluate where they were and what they wanted out of their work life. Some of the turnover is due to these workers going back to school to learn new skills. Others are leaving for careers that may be more fulfilling than what they had been doing. While some turnover is inevitable, there are things an employer can do to minimize the loss of talent. The first place to look is compensation and benefits. If the pay is not competitive or the package is merely average, improving compensation will help take money out of the picture. Career advancement and training is a key reason people have historically changed jobs. Even in the smallest shops, owners and employers can provide opportunities for workers to develop their skills and learn new ones. Workers at larger employers can be given additional responsibilities and a detailed plan for career advancement. Scheduling and flexibility was becoming a hot button issue long before Covid. Now, retention may well depend on it. Workers have demonstrated they can be as productive at home as in the office; many were even more productive without the interruptions common in a communal workspace. Because of Covid, workers enjoyed the opportunity to take care of family chores and still get their work done. Providing flexibility will keep workers from searching for another job that does. With the employee turnover rate as high as it has ever been, employers need to consider doing everything they can to retain the best workers. Recognizing that the pandemic has changed the nature of work and that they must change how they manage employees is the first step. ### Contributions by John Zappe ###
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Recruiting
Restaurant Recruiting Strategies Getting Creative
Restaurant recruiting is an ironic description for what’s happening in the food industry today. Despite dangling everything from signing bonuses and premium pay to free college tuition to lure workers, restaurant hiring is barely a trickle. So difficult is it to hire workers, especially the more skilled kitchen help, that most restaurants are short-staffed, leading many to curtail hours or close one or sometimes two days a week. “It’s no secret that the labor market is tight,” said Kelly McCulloch, Taco Bell’s Chief People Officer, announcing a mass restaurant hiring event last month. Parking lots were converted into job fairs at some 2,000 Taco Bell’s nationwide. Applicants didn’t even have to get out of their car to be interviewed. Taco Bell is far from alone in going to almost any lengths to fill vacancies – its goal was 5,000 hires. Other chains, both big and small, are trying a variety of restaurant hiring tactics: Chipotle, which is looking to bring on 20,000 new workers this year, announced it would raise pay to an average of $15 an hour by the end of June. It will also pay workers $200 for referring a new crew member and $750 for apprentices and general managers. It also broadened its free college tuition program. Darden Restaurants, which owns Olive Garden, Longhorn Steakhouse and other chains, raised its minimum wage to $10 and is dividing $17 million among its 90,000 hourly employees as a bonus, yet CEO Gene Lee told analysts, “I think our greatest challenge right now is staffing…It’s staffing, trying to attract people to come to work.” At the 169 location Donatos pizza chain, the company is giving away a free large pizza to everyone who just interviews for one of the 2,500 jobs the company wants to fill. Last month, the upscale boutique restaurant group KNEAD Hospitality + Design tweeted a $1,000 signing bonus for joining its team. Despite the incentives, restaurant recruiting tactics are not paying off yet, say owners and managers. Just getting workers to apply and show up for an interview can be an exercise in frustration. Laurence Edelman, owner of Left Bank bistro in New York City, told CBS Moneywatch that out of five interviews, only one candidate showed up. The situation at Manhattan’s highly regarded ilili, is no better. Even after running multiple ads for a cook, there wasn’t a single applicant. A Florida McDonald’s franchisee with 60 restaurants is paying $50 to anyone just for showing up for an interview. The reasons for the restaurant hiring shortage are nearly as numerous as there are restaurateurs. However, four are the most common: While restaurants were closed for all but takeout, other businesses were aggressively hiring. They feature steady hours and many like Amazon, Walmart and the home improvement centers, pay $15 or more an hour, well above that of quick service and casual dining restaurants. Combined with the normal state unemployment benefit, the federal $300 supplemental payment is close to or even more than restaurant work pays. Stimulus checks and income tax refunds provide an additional cushion. Servers, hosts, sommeliers and others who come into direct contact with the public, as well as the back of the house staff, may be hesitant to risk their health. Some who depend on schools for child care aren’t able to return to work, while teens and younger adults, the backbone of the fast food sector, have other job options or are simply not yet ready to join the labor force. Making a tough situation worse is that restaurant hiring is occurring simultaneously all across the country. Says Andrew Chamberlain, chief economist at Glassdoor, “All of these factors combined are creating a perfect storm hitting restaurants.” ### Contributions by John Zappe
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Recruiting Trends
Hospitality Industry Trends in Hiring: Signing Bonuses
In today’s challenging job market, hospitality employers are going to great lengths to attract new workers. Some are getting rather creative when it comes to hiring perks. Take the Vivili Hospitality Group in Prescott, Arizona. They have partnered with a local college to offer free tuition in an attempt to incentivize new hires amid a national hiring crisis that has “plagued the restaurant industry since the pandemic.” The owner of Vivill, Skyler Reeves said, “Attracting and retaining the best talent is a top priority for Vivili and creating this program with Yavapai College allows us to do just that, while also contributing to the community by funding the education of people looking to get ahead in their careers. With this being a challenging hiring time for the service sector all over the country, our vision for this program is to find a creative way to alleviate this industry-wide issue.” Students who accept the job are able to choose any major at the college without restrictions. More interesting is that Reeves didn’t put many restrictions on the offer. They just have to be employed by Vivilli until they graduate. New workers must be employed by May 22 to qualify and those enrolling in the second fall term beginning Oct. 11 must start their employment by July 17. Employees must earn a passing grade of C or better to receive the reimbursement. Chipotle also offers a tuition reimbursement program, allowing eligible employees to be reimbursed for tuition up to $5,250 per year in qualifying programs. Signing Bonuses Reign Most hospitality job recruiters are not as creative instead turning to hiring bonuses to lure new hospitality workers. Here are some examples we’ve seen in the headlines. The Max Restaurant Group out of Hartford,CT is offering $1,000 sign on bonuses to new hires (even dishwashers. Must be employed for at least 5 weeks. The Mohegan Sun Casino also in Connecticut is offering $2,000 signing bonuses for culinary staff. Marriott Vacations Worldwide in Orlando is offering new hires a $1,000 sign-on bonus as the company adds staff for seven timeshare properties. Dinosaur Bar-B-Que in Rochester, NT offers a $275 sign-on bonus. BJ’s Wholesale Club does a $500 sign-on bonus and a $500 referral bonus for employees who are “in good standing for 90-days.” Hollywood Casino in Columbus Ohio offers a $1,000 sign on-bonus for select positions. Sign-on bonuses seem to be the main strategy for recruiting at this point in the hospitality industry. This trend is likely to stay at least for the next few months. It remains to be seen if these kinds of bonuses will become the norm going forward. Only more applicants in the talent pool can lessen the need to offer these kinds of monetary perks.
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