jimtrue.com : school : CUL137 : CH16: Recruiting and Selecting Applicants

Posted by Jim True on August 17, 2009 7:47 PM. Last Updated August 17, 2009 7:47 PM

Disclaimer for all material noted here is at the bottom of this web page.

CH16: Recruiting and Selecting Applicants

Important: Executive Chef from Raymond James will be in our class on 9/14; wear professional dress (same week as Interview).

• The Labor Market
• Determining Labor Needs
• Legal Aspects of Recruiting and Selection
• Recruiting
• Selecting the Right Person

Negligent Hiring: not doing background check or looking into people's backgrounds prior to hiring; if that person subsequently harms the business or another employee, they can sue for Negligent Hiring

The Labor Market

• The supply of people looking for jobs
• The jobs available in the given area
• Many openings are predicted in the hospitality field

The Hospitality Field

• Jobs include entry level, low-skill, minimum wage jobs, as well as certain jobs that require certain skills and abilities
• Days and hours are irregular, scheduling patterns vary (split shifts, part time, and unusual hours)

Sources of Workers

• Undergoing continuous changes with US Work force
• The majority of new workers are women, minorities and immigrants
• Many people are looking for temporary work and have no interest in long term commitment
• If the job you are looking to fill is above the lowest level, the first step is to look inside your own operation

Major Sources of Workers (know these for exam)

• People looking for their first job
• Students
• Women
• "Moonlighters"
• Unemployed
• People who just want to get away
• Aliens or immigrants
• Retired people
• Disabled

Characteristics of your Labor Area

• Know the labor market in and out of your own industry: prevailing wages, unemployment rates, its makeup, competing enterprises
• Know the demographics: ethnic groups, income levels, education levels, where the different group lives
• Know about the community

Determining Labor Needs

• Defining job qualifications
• Job Specifications: list the knowledge, skills and abilities, work experience, education and training
• Do no discriminate in any way!!!
• Phrase (and think) in concrete terms what each job requires
• Forecast personal needs
• Anticipating your needs of workers gives you more time to look for the right people
• Use records of past sales, they might indicate past trends.
• Scheduling and downtime are key factors in forecasting your personnel needs
• Scheduling
• Let your employees know that you value their opinion and take them seriously
• Try to meet the needs of both your employees and the company
• Examine your schedule for efficiency of your needs and ways of organizing shifts to be more attractive to employee needs
• Consider revamping
• Downtime: The length of time a position is vacant until a employee that can full perform fills it
• Fore cast appropriately for downtime
• If necessary fill out an employee requisition form
• Training VS Buying Skills
• There is no security in hiring for experience
• You may have to pay more to break years of bad habits
• If you do hire for experience, be sure to check references
• Training is expensive but likely to be less costly in the end
• You really do not have time NOT to train people

Legal Aspects

• Equal Employment Opportunity means people should be treated equally in all employment matters
• EEO laws
• Americans with Disabilities Act
• EEO Laws and the Hiring Process
• Job requirements must be related to the job
• Pre employment tests must be valid, reliable and relevant
• Tests should be given to all applicants, scored under the same bases, and administered under the same conditions
• Avoid questions during interview related to gender, age, marital status, religion, origin, appearance and disabilities
• Negligent Hiring: refers to the failure of an employer to take reasonable safeguards when hiring employees

Recruiting

• Know Definition of RecuitingA form of marketing; looking actively for people to fill jobs
• Be appropriate: put your message out in appropriate places
• Be competitive: sell your job as well as others
• Be constant: on the look out at all times
• Use the Multiple Approach: don't depend on a single resource
• Internal Recruiting: promoting from within
• To let all employees know about an opening use a job posting
• Employee referral programs may be used when you cannot find a current employee to fill the position
• External Recruiting: Seeking applicants from outside the operation
• Again, avoid discrimination
• 2 types of advertising: classified or displayed

Employment Agencies

• Private Employment agencies: normally charge a fee. Most often handle management and high skilled jobs
• Temporary agencies: charge by the hour. Good for peak business periods
• Job Service Centers: Free! Screen and provide applicants for entry level jobs

Direct Recruiting

• Practiced primarily by large organizations seeking management or top level culinary skills
• Recruiters go where the job seekers are: colleges, job fairs, etc.
• Advantage: you may get better employees and you are creating a good image for the future
• Additional Sources: organizations

Evaluating your Recruiting

• Learn what sources give you the best workers
• Learn what the success rates are
• Learn what the costs are
• Learn the tenure of people from each source
• Also evaluate your own recruiting efforts

Selecting the Right People

• The Application: a fact finding sheet (a legal document)
• The Interview: Find a quiet place, look for two kinds of info: Hard date on skills and experience and personal qualities. Some use a structural patterned interview
• Evaluate immediately with a meaningful rating system

Evaluating Applicants

• Can do factors: includes job knowlege, past experience and education
• Will do factors: includes the applicants willingness, desire, and attitude toward performing the job
• Halo effect: or overgeneralization: jumping to conclusions based on 1st impressions
• Truth in Hiring

Testing

• Most hospitality enterprieses do not use testing
• Skills test
• Employee Polygraph Protection Act of 1988:

Reference Check

• The final step to weed out applicants
• 1st verify substance: factual info about the applicant
• Then Style: how they did in previous jobs, how well they got along with others
• If you neglect the reference check...

Making the Choice

• Don't jump to hire someone you have previously known. Look at the big picture
• Don't hire too quickly
• Don't rush to hire the applicant who interviewed the best
• When you make the offer do it in writing, include all conditions

Disclaimer: These are MY notes taken from classroom lectures while I'm in the classroom. While I'm perfectly happy to share my notes with my classmates and I know I take very good notes, you should still make every effort to attend the class and TAKE YOUR OWN NOTES. I will not transcribe everything the instructor says in the classroom, and I will NEVER post pre-exam reviews. My notes will not replace the value of actually attending class and taking your own class notes.I also cannot attest to their accuracy, other than they are what was provided in the lecture; you should not reference my notes as "expert opionion" by any means, and if you notice an error or omission, please do me the favor of e-mailing me with the correction and I will re-post my notes. End of Disclaimer.