PRLA Restaurant & Lodging Matters Summer 2021

Summer 2021 • PENNSYLVANIA RESTAURANT & LODGING matters • 11 HOW Do You Cope with the Labor Shortage? Now that we’ve explained the who, what, and why of the labor shortage, we’ve got some tips on how your business can continue thriving in this job economy. 1. GET CREATIVE WITH RECRUITMENT Recruitment and retention are two of the restaurant industry’s biggest challenges, even on a good day. In light of the labor shortage, they’ve now become even more critical. Maybe there was a time when people were lining up to work at your restaurant. If they’re no longer coming to you, don’t be shy to go to them. Promote job ads online, work with restaurant staffing agencies in your area, and advertise through local schools and community centers. Agencies can be especially helpful when it comes to kitchen staffing.  Job descriptions tend to be really dry and boring, so make yours stand out. Play to your strengths. Is your restaurant a really fun place to work? Make your job ad playful and fun to reflect that. Do you offer something most other restaurants don’t? Make sure to include that in your ad. Also, consider offering an employee referral bonus. If a staff member refers a friend, and that friend gets hired and stays for more than three months, then the referring employee gets a cash bonus on their paycheck or another type of incentive. 2. PARTNER UP Beyond just ads, see if you can partner with local organizations, high schools, college job fairs, after-school programs, and other grassroots initiatives that have budding talent. Offer free training or skill-building workshops to people entering the labor force in exchange for a term of employment. They get full-time employment. You get full-time employees. 3. TRIM THE FAT OFF ADMIN TASKS Restaurant staff are already working long hours for low wages, so make sure you aren’t piling non-essential responsibilities onto the plates of your skilled workers. Invest in technology that can automate some of the more time-consuming administrative tasks your staff are currently responsible for. Things like inventory and reservations can be automated without a huge investment, but will save your skilled staff a ton of time. Freeing your skilled staff of these more menial tasks will let them focus on the work they’re really passionate about and trained for— plus, they’ll be happier for it, which leads to more productivity and higher retention. 4. BE FLEXIBLE WITH SCHEDULES Your staff aren’t robots. They’re people, and they respond well to being scheduled as such. When building your employee schedule, factor in staff preferences (number of shifts per week, time of day, etc.) and their outside lives before putting them into the spreadsheet. If someone says they work best in the evenings, scheduling them for five early morning shifts a week (even though they’re technically available) won’t be great for staff morale or productivity. Make it easier to hang on to skilled workers by taking their shift preferences into account as much as possible. Also, have a protocol for accepting and processing employee time off requests, as well as for emergency and non-emergency scheduling conflicts. Knowing you’re sensitive to their work-life balance will go a long way toward employees putting down roots at your restaurant.