It’s an equal parts odd and refreshing feeling when everyone wants the same thing. Whether it’s a team or giant organization or across an entire industry, the notion of getting everyone to agree on the same idea has become somewhat far-fetched. Everyone has their own ideas, and such is life. But while amongst over 45,000 buyers at the National Restaurant Association’s show in Chicago, one thought was unanimous: there’s gotta be a better way to hire.
While shacking up with our friends over at HotSchedules, we were given the opportunity to walk hundreds of restaurant owners and GM’s through the Seasoned hiring tool. In the simplest of terms, they liked it (a lot). And when we asked them about their current model, the diversity only existed in how they handled hiring.
Everyone has their own way, and nobody is necessarily pumped about it. Multiple job boards, multiple passwords, multiple unreliable phone calls to “friends” asking if they know anyone free to work a shift this weekend. It’s not about certain restaurants having a competitive edge, it’s about every single one of them wanting anything other than their existing model.
“Owners and operators are willing to try ANYTHING to reach quality candidates. The people and the rules have changed and they recognize the industry as a whole needs to evolve,” said Raechel Barnes, Seasoned’s Director of Sales.
The restaurant community understands that this is about something bigger than personal frustrations. They know that a legitimate improvement won’t come in the form of a hiring cheat code slipped under the door in their back office. They don’t even want to be in their back office at all. They want to elevate the industry as a whole. Sound familiar?
“Seasoned’s sense of community is what resonated heavily with the owners we spoke to. Members and hiring members working together to create better fits on the hiring side, you could see their face light up a bit,” said Dwight Moore, Seasoned’s Director of Customer Success.
Sure, these restaurants are competitive, but only about their craft. None of them want to exist in a world where their location could be shut down just because they couldn’t find enough people to work in the kitchen. They’d rather battle over entrees than the ability to fill a roster. They also understand that this kind of change will take time. But once we’ve all banned together to eliminate this problem, well, let the games begin.