Here it is! 🎁

Watch this video and read below for some of the best hiring advice on the market, curated from interviews with experts.

Out of the frying pan, there goes the fryer!

More from experts

As restaurants recover from the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic, they’ve immediately faced the challenge of hiring in a labor shortage. It’s tough luck, but restaurateurs are tough and we know that’s why you’re here – you’re looking for solutions.

To help out, we at Ovation have compiled the best tips from interviews with thought leaders and restaurateurs and turned them into actionable items to help you hire now, and in the future when COVID-19 is a faint memory (or a faint shudder.) You can watch the compilation video above, or read our bullet point summaries below. You can also visit the original interview with each of our featured guests if you want to go more in depth.

Finally, one of the ways to mitigate a labor shortage is by employing technologies that can allow the employees you do have to spend more time with customers – enter Ovation.

Voted the #1 guest feedback platform in a nationwide RestaurantOwner.com survey, Ovation uses a 2-question SMS-based survey as a “digital table touch” that has redefined guest feedback. Through frictionless integrations with online ordering platforms and other tools, Ovation allows restaurants to easily resolve guest concerns in real-time, get more 5-star reviews, discover insights to improve, and drive revenue.

Ovation’s feedback loop allows you to make more out of each employee as they are empowered to better meet guests’ needs. Join brands such as Domino’s, Burger King, Sticky’s Finger Joint, El Pollo Loco, and sign on Ovation as your Chief Experience Officer!

On to the 15 expert tips:

A split image in a circular frame showing two bearded men wearing glasses and hats; the left side, set against a brick background, and the right side, with gray tones—perfect for inspiring creative Hiring Ideas.

David “Rev” Ciancio, Head of Revenue Marketing at Branded Strategic Hospitality and

Eric Bam, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Perfect Crust Liners:

  1. Promote what it’s like to work at your restaurant, specifically from employee perspectives and not management’s.
  2. Go live on social media with your employees talking about what it’s like to work there. Emphasize what working at your restaurant will do for people’s lives and skillsets.
  3. Spiking wages seems like the easy fix, but throwing money at the issue will only create problems down the road. $20 an hour for dish washing is a dangerous precedent.
  4. Instead, use that money to keep your current employees happy. Retention is cheaper than acquisition.
  5. Work with suppliers to reduce your need for labor. For example, ordering pre-cut produce removes the need for an employee to chop away.
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Bruce Irving, Owner of Smart Pizza Marketing

6. Emphasize what you can do for job candidates in job postings rather than what you’ll get out of them. That’s what they care about.

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Ken McGarrie, Author, Founder of Korgen Hospitality:

7. Look for new processes to make up for some of the deficits in labor.

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Zack Oates, CEO of Ovation:

8. Look for technologies that can augment, enhance, and even replace employees when needed. Even if you can’t hire more, you can make more out of the employees that you do have.

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Fred Glick, President at Amergent Hospitality Group:

9. Create a company culture where employees love, serve, and support each other. That will attract employees more than anything else.

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Ryan Gromfin, Owner of The Restaurant Boss:

10. Ghost kitchens are a great way to operate with lower staff.

11. Look at finding staff as the sum of 100 easy things: pay fairly, treat everyone well, give flexibility, etc., and you won’t have an issue finding staff.

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Derek Williamson, President at HigherMe:

12. Job boards will be very saturated. Instead look for talent in your customer base and local communities.

13.Make the hiring process easy for applicants by using text-to-apply and even skipping interviews if necessary.

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Joe DeSimone, Former Business Development and Recruiting Manager at Source One Hospitality:

14. Talk to other restaurant owners. They may have met good candidates that they didn’t have a fit for.

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Jordan Mellul,  Former VP of Operations at Qwick:

15. Temp services are a great way to find talent but can also serve as a trial run for candidates. You can see how they work in your kitchen before hiring them.

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