Hire These People in the Restaurant Industry
When trying to build a restaurant, there are various roles that are important for success from the manager all the way down to hosts and dishwashers. In order for the customer to get their food in good time, the team needs to work together and create a well-oiled machine. In our experience, a business is most efficient when staff realize their role isn’t fixed. Therefore, a manager can double up as a bartender and servers could bus tables whenever they get an opportunity.
With this in mind, we believe the key to success is hiring people who are skilled in multiple areas and flexible enough to go outside of their role to help the business on a busy night. Meanwhile, your staff salaries should never exceed 35% of total revenue otherwise you need to cut back. Today, we have some tips on hiring for each role so you become more efficient and get a greater return on your investment.
Manager – Since managers will alleviate the burden on your shoulders somewhat, some say they have the most important role of all. If you don’t want to play an active role in your restaurant, the Manager will be responsible for all successes and failures.
Ideally, you need somebody with management experience elsewhere with some degree of success. In their role, they’ll need to maintain relationships with suppliers, look after all employees, open/close the restaurant, track all inventory, motivate staff, create a marketing strategy, and ensure money is taken to the bank or cared for whenever appropriate.
If there’s any role you need to invest in, the Manager is the one and we also like to see non-management experience in the industry because this shows they know how everything works and have earned their place at the top. Furthermore, we also prefer those with experience in small eateries as opposed to a franchise of a huge brand. Often, these businesses will order stock in bulk and have them stored in a central facility which means the managers don’t have experience in ordering regularly and talking with suppliers.
Of course, leadership skills will be essential as they’ll be supervising every role from cooking to welcoming guests and this will allow for the best experience for the customer. Typically, most managers will need to be comfortable working up to 60 hours per week and this is why stress is a huge problem in the industry these days. With this in mind, you need to look after your Manager, ensure they have time to themselves through the week, and come back fully refreshed each time.
Currently, a little over $42,000 is the average salary for a Manager within the United States. However, your location will play a large role in how much you pay as well as the availability of high-quality restaurants. If you choose an entry-level Manager for between $30,000 and $35,000, they might have the knowledge but they won’t have the experience to deal with the day-to-day running of the business. If you don’t have the money to offer a high salary, you could offer a percentage of profits and this should actually keep them motivated to perform.
Chefs – When it comes to your Chef, you don’t want somebody who’s going to turn up and simply cook your food. Instead, you want somebody who’ll take ownership of the menu, be willing to suggest potential changes to you or the Manager, and take charge of the kitchen. Depending on location, training, and experience, the amount you pay will vary per role.
With a Sous Chef, you have someone who oversees everything for the Head Chef and they can start on $30,000 before moving up the pay grades. Nowadays, the average salary for a Sous Chef is a little under $45,000 but the best demand a salary closer to $60,000. Alternatively, Pastry Chefs start at the same level but can earn up to $60,000 as an Executive Pastry Chef.
For your Head Chef, you need to be willing to spend big because they’ll be committing their lives to your kitchen and producing the highest-quality food possible. Typically, they earn a salary between $50,000 and $75,000; as you grow and earn a reputation, you may even push into the six-figure range but only the lucky few can afford this level of Chef.
Cooks – At the beginning, you should assess the demand on your kitchen to see how many cooks you need but we recommend at least two full-time. With these two working days, you can have one or two part-time cooks working the evenings and holidays. From the outset, the part-time cooks need to know they’re simply there to deal with rushes and preparation during the quiet times; therefore, hours may not be regular. With full-time cooks, they also ensure preparation is completed before a busy lunch or dinner service.
Rather than randomly hiring here, spend some time thinking about your style of restaurant and the type of cooks you need to succeed. If your focus is on special desserts, a cook with pastry experience might just come in handy. Meanwhile, somebody with no experience would struggle to adapt to an establishment based around fine-dining. Before hiring, place some ads in the local paper to assess the local talent as well as getting in touch with local culinary schools. When customers can come to expect high-quality food with each visit, this level of consistency is how long-term bonds are created.
For salaries, experience plays an important role as well as your menu because a complex menu might demand a higher salary; from $550 to $650 per week. In fact, cooks can normally be paid on an hourly basis as opposed to offering a salary so research the rates in your local area before then offering competitive wages without overspending.
Serving Staff – While the Manager is vital and the Chef cooks the food that people will remember, customer service is also essential and this is where your serving staff come in. Since these are the people your customers actually see, they need to be naturally kind, polite, well-mannered, and able to resolve any issues that may arise. Additionally, they need to be able to keep a clear mind when waiting several tables at once.
To manage wait staff, it can be a difficult process because they’re either really busy or really quiet with no in between. For your lunch and dinner rushes, make sure you have all the staff you need to handle the demand that comes their way. As soon as things start to slow again, other duties can be cared for such as filling the cutlery stations. Towards the end of the evening, you won’t need their help too much as they start to clear tables as people filter home so you can start to let servers go home.
If you’re a new business, we recommend filling your business with experienced servers who know what they’re doing because then you won’t have to do quite so much training. Once they’ve set the standard for your business, then you can look towards college students and those looking for their first job. Not only can you pay minimum wage for these servers, you also get fresh ideas and the effort of somebody enjoying their first ever job. After a while, get your most experienced servers to help you create a training program for all new employees.
Hosting Staff – If you’re a small business, your servers will normally double up as host staff. This being said, larger restaurants will need somebody to show guests to their seats, answer the phone, and even act as a cashier when serving staff are too busy. Generally speaking, this can be a part-time role during the lunch and dinner rushes while servers and the Manager takes over the role when everything slows down.
For this role, people skills are very important because they’re often the first chance people get to judge your business. Without a good first impression, it can taint the rest of the dining experience. Once again, students make very good hosts because they have the enthusiasm and guests are more willing to forgive mistakes; wages will start at minimum wage with a potential to increase.
Dishwashers – What will the meals be going on if there are no dishwashers? Hired especially to keep all plates and cutlery clean after use, most restaurants choose to go for two part-time dishwashers with one each for the lunch and dinner rushes. If your establishment is open for breakfast too, you could consider a full-time member of staff for this role. In terms of skills, you need somebody who is willing to get their hands dirty and get on with the task at hand; they don’t necessarily need to be personable because they won’t be customer-facing.
Buspersons – Keeping tables clean, filling the condiment stations, and setting up tables after guests leave, the buspersons should work in zones just like the wait staff so you don’t have messy tables all over the room. In our experience, we find it best to train all buspersons with the wait staff so they become one cohesive unit.
Normally, this role will be purely part-time during the busiest periods of the day/night and college and high school students seem to be a good choice. In terms of wages, minimum wage is enough as the servers should also give a percentage of their tips to share.
Bartenders – Finally, most small bars within a restaurant can function with one main bartender; they also have a couple of backups to help throughout the busy times in the day. Of course, you should never rely upon one person alone for this job because they could wake up ill, be called up to jury duty, injure themselves in the shower, or anything else preventing them from working.
For restaurants that earn a significant portion of their income from the bar, you’ll need two very good bartenders with one being part-time (plus the helpers). Ultimately, it depends on the size of your bar, the lounge area, and how high demand can reach at any one time. If you start with one bartender and some helpers, you can always scale up after conversations with the bartender themselves.
With the role itself, it will start with preparing for the rushes to come in the day which includes condiments for liquor, restocking the bar, checking the inventory sheet, and more. With a digital inventory management system, they’ll hook up the right bottles and ensure the meters have been installed correctly.
At the end of the night, the bartender in charge will close up and have it prepared for another day tomorrow so there isn’t a mountain of tasks to complete in the morning. Around 30 minutes before you close, last call will allow customers to know the situation and buy any last drinks. Over the years, we’ve learned that motivation to plan ahead is one of the key skills as a bartender. After dealing with the nighttime rush, they still need the presence of mind to restock, pack the garnishes, clean the bar area, and make some progress as opposed to leaving it all until the next day.
Furthermore, there are also some basics for bartenders including pouring drinks, conversing with customers even when managing large drink orders, and the ability to cut people off at the right times. Around $7 to $12 per hour, bartenders will also receive tips and this earns them a total of $16 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Summary – Once you fill these roles using the advice above, you can be confident in your restaurant and this will only improve over time. As you develop training programs and learn more about your business, you can build lists of required skills for each role and continually push your restaurant to more efficient levels!