As a restaurant owner, you will be in charge of hiring and training the people that will make up your company. The success of your business will greatly depend on these people so you need to ensure that you are hiring for the correct positions that will carry out specialised functions in your restaurant, the right skills and experience level that will go with each position, and of course, the right kind of training that you will provide them during their employment with you.
We want to start off with letting you know, the key staff that you need to hire for your restaurant business. It is crucial that you have a master list of all the positions that you will be needing along with the specific skills, background, and even characteristics that you would like for these staff to have. Creating this master list entails a careful study of the tasks and functions that need to be carried out within your restaurant from the front house to the kitchen down to the back office. Your study will also include a look at the type of restaurant that you will be launching along with how big are you envisioning it to be.
Manager
The manager may already be you or a different person. Nevertheless, a manager must have sufficient experience in managing a team and an adequate amount of experience in the food industry. Someone who has held a similar position is highly preferred. The manager will be in charge of the overall operations of the restaurant, cashiering, human resources, accounting, marketing, finance, training, pricing, supply management, purchasing, and even customer service.
The manager should also be someone who is mature enough to deal with internal and external conflicts. Internal conflicts usually arise from employees' concerns, business finance, and other operational concerns. External conflicts, on the other hand, consists of customers' complaints, competition, and suppliers who are unable to continue their service.
Chef or Cook
The chef pr cook is the main person who cooks, prepares, bakes, and plates, the items that are being offered on the menu. You may employ one or more cooks for your restaurant and their roles may vary according to their area of expertise like the type of cuisine, dessert or main course, meat or vegan, and many more.
Food and Beverage Supervisor
This staff already has the capability to lead, manage, and train a team of food and beverage assistants. His or her experience level is Grade 5. A food and beverage supervisor may also undertake the tasks mentioned above but is going to be more involved in stock control and inventory, coordinating tasks between servers, cleaners, dishwashers, and others at the assistant level. A supervisor is also expected to have the capability to interact with customers by positively handling queries, complaints, requests, and commendations.
Food and Beverage Assistant
Depending on their grade or experience level (Grades 1 to 3), their basic duties may include:
- Cleaning and setting up of tables
- Tidying of other areas within the dining area, kitchen, and other areas
- Supplying, dispensing, or mixing of liquor and other beverages
- General waiting duties or delivery of food and beverages
- Receiving payment from the customers
- Taking reservations, greeting, and seating guests
Kitchen Attendant
The kitchen is a very busy area in a restaurant and as much as a cook is well capable of manning the entire room, to be able to serve more customers efficiently, a cook needs help and support for the following tasks:
- Assembly and preparation of ingredients
- Cleaning, washing, and preparing of cooking tools, utensils, and other kitchen equipment
- Assisting the cook
- General pantry duties
Front-Desk Attendant or Receptionist
Bigger restaurants need a staff who directly attends to incoming customers while at the same time, focused on the needs and wants of those who are already seated. Think about a party host who goes around the dining area to see if all the guests have already been attended to. Front-desk attendants or receptionists generally sees to it that all guests are greeted nicely once they enter the restaurant, is designated a table and a seat, and is given the menu. Front-desk attendants or receptionists are the front-liners of your restaurants and you know that first impressions last and so you need to look for those who have a very cheerful personality, tidy and well-groomed, has good phone and oral communication skills, can multi-task, very organised, has good customer service skills, patient, and can still deliver well even under extreme pressure and time constraint.
Barista
If you are planning to put up a coffee shop or if your restaurant will offer special or premium coffee or coffee-based beverages, then you will need to hire a barista. Other than preparing your favourite drink, a barista is also sometimes expected to interact with their customers at the bar while they wait for their order to be prepared. Baristas should then have good customer service skills, should have a pleasant personality, well-groomed, and has the ability to multi-task.
Bartender
A bartender is another specialised function in a restaurant most especially if you will be offering alcoholic beverages to your customers. The bartender mixes and serves alcohol-based drinks in a bar so he should be well educated on the different types of alcoholic drinks and juices that are available behind the counter. He is also responsible for maintaining the cleanliness of the bar where he does his job and where people hang out while waiting for their orders to be prepared or while mingling with others. A bartender may need to accept payment for drinks sometimes so he should also be careful with money. He is also expected to interact with customers so a great deal of people skills is needed for this job.
Cashier
A cashier holds one of the most delicate jobs in a restaurant because a cashier handles money. Anyone who handles money should have a very high attention to detail, analytical, trustworthy, and very careful. That is why a lot of new restaurants have their managers or owners as their cashiers. It is quite hard to trust someone with money unless you have a good cashiering system in place.
Drive-Thru Operator / Take-Away Food Phone Operator
Will your restaurant have a drive-thru capability? How about takeaway or food pick-up? If so, you will need extra manpower who will accept orders, accept payments, and someone who can do a little bit of marketing and upselling, all in a limited time frame. This person needs to be someone who has a cheerful personality, good communication skills, good phone handling skills and someone who can work well under time pressure.
Again, a perfect staff master list for your restaurant will depend on how much study and analysis will you put into it. This may mean going back to your business plan and finding out which functions are the most crucial ones. Or you will also need to go back to your financial plan to find out how much can you shell out for the salaries of these employees considering their experience level. Don’t rush into hiring someone without properly identifying the skills that you will actually need for their post. Do not hesitate on getting expert advice too if you think constructing your staff organisational structure is getting a bit confusing and difficult. As a starter, we want you to look into our very own Staff Management Manual but if you think you need to talk to a pro, email us right away at info@businessmanualsmadeeasy.com. We hope that you enjoyed today’s blog. Have a great day!
Leave a comment