Restaurant and Food Service Blog

The “impending war for talent” has been a crisis in the making for the past decade as managers in virtually every field and industry prepared for the supposed mass exodus of the baby boomers. Not even a year ago, there were articles and blogs that littered the Internet advising organizations on how to win the war for limited talent when all those boomers left the marketplace.

Who would have guessed that it wouldn’t be the boomers voluntary leave for retirement that had us all “a buzz” in the year on the brink of that expected mass exodus? Instead, here we sit…in an unforeseeable situation in which the economy has cut a large number of our employees for us instead of allowing the natural aging process to take a smaller number of qualified workers out of circulation.

Now, instead of organizations fighting for a very select few of highly skilled and qualified workers once all the boomers have made their exit, there are hundreds of thousands of highly skilled and qualified workers out there to choose from. The question I am asked all the time is, “How do I know I am making the right choice with my hiring decision?”

While recruiting is a process that takes time and very careful consideration of each and every case, there are some things I advise you keep in mind, including the following:

• Keep an eye on what you have: First and foremost, keep a peeled eye on the talent you are trying to retain. Consider that organizations that have lost their talent due to cuts are going to be developing attractive ways to lure your employees away. Focus first on tactics to keep those individuals before you begin filling new seats.
• Start looking now: Even if your organization is still experiencing hiring freezes, the time to look is now. If you really have your eye on a particular candidate, you can inform them that the company is not hiring at this moment, but you are interested in his/her credentials and will contact him/her as soon as the hiring freeze is lifted. This isn’t the promise of a position, but it will hopefully keep that candidate interested in your organization.
• Keep your focus trained: When the hiring freeze is lifted, you seriously must hire only for talent management and not simply to fill emptied positions. You will achieve a lot more with two highly qualified and passionate individuals than four who require hand-holding and micromanagement.
• Use a professional: It may be shameless self-promotion, but the truth is, using a professional recruiter to help you fill positions will increase the likelihood that each hire is a successful hire. And, in many cases, recruiters will offer a ‘satisfaction guarantee’ if a candidate does not work out…a safety net not available when hiring on your own.