Recruiting for Restaurants: How To Attract and Retain Top Talent

There’s a smarter and better approach to hiring and retaining workers.

“Restaurants will continue to have challenges finding the right employees to join their teams,” says Alice Cheng, founder and CEO of Culinary Agents, a hiring platform for restaurants. “This is something that has been consistent – pre-pandemic and post.”

But restaurants seem to have settled into a new post-pandemic normal, and instead of simply surviving, they are prioritizing growth and change to retain key staff members, Cheng says.

That’s a shift for the better, because turnover is expensive. One study from Cornell University found that turnover costs a restaurant nearly $6,000 per employee, including costs related to recruiting, training and productivity loss. To avoid the sting of such costs, savvy operators have instituted training programs, increased benefits and offered pathways for career development.

Case in point: Colorado’s Frasca Hospitality Group, which employs 215 people across five restaurants, including 20-year-old Frasca Food & Wine in Boulder and Tavernetta in Denver. Jodi McAllister, director of human resources, says the group’s time-tested policies and practices for engaging and retaining valuable staff members have repeatedly proven their worth. Her insight:

How Do You Hire at Your Restaurant Group?

We generally bring people on at an entry level, no matter their experience. We’ve had people come to Frasca with 10 years of management experience, and they’re back to polishing glassware and running food. We believe starting people in roles like these helps them best adapt to and learn our processes. There are different languages at different restaurants, how you communicate with chefs and other team members. A lot of this is developed during those first months with us, the first 30, 60, 90 days.

How Long Do People Spend in These Entry-Level Roles?

For example, in the front-of-house, a new employee is polishing glassware for the first three weeks and gets moved into running. In that position, they’re starting to learn the food, to learn the table numbers. At Frasca, our highest-end restaurant, this process is very structured. At some of the other restaurants, it can be quicker.

Then What Happens?

We do a lot of ongoing education, talking to the team about new products every day, highlighting steps of service and holding specialty classes about everything from our by-the-glass wine selection to a great caviar that just came in.

We encourage mentorship at our restaurants; after the first 90 days, you’re paired with a senior team member to continue to develop new skill sets and specializations. For example, someone who’s very into wine would be partnered with a junior som (sommelier) who can teach them about inventory practices.

What Are the Mentors Getting Out of It?

As a senior employee, it’s quite rewarding. You have this opportunity to make an impact while looking through the lens of a new hire.

It builds leadership qualities and offers new perspective. It’s easy to get stuck in your ways, and a mentorship program provides this unexpected avenue for growth. It builds a real team camaraderie.

What Else Do You Do to Create Retention?

We’re constantly analyzing our benefits, including insurance, paid time off and wellness initiatives.

Over the past four or five years, companies have had to really look at these seriously, and make sure they’re offering quality benefits for their staff. Full time in our restaurant group is about 30 hours or more, which is about 80% to 90% of our population at a given time. We pay 100% of the health insurance premiums for employees who have been with us for three years. We match employee 401(k) contributions, and employees are fully vested after a year.

Finding ways to increase retention is the key for restaurants. It’s tough with people coming and going. Restaurant jobs aren’t always thought of as a career, but that’s something that our company tries to promote. This can be a career for you. This can be an entry point into your next career. Hospitality isn’t just for restaurants and hotels – people need to bring it into everyday life.”