Hiring the right people for the right job can be like throwing darts at a board. Sometimes, you get a bullseye. Want to increase your percentage of accurate hires? Read on my turnover troubled friend…..

Today in the Wall Street Journal there was a great article on how companies are using behavioral surveys to identify and match up in individuals workstyle and behavior with company needs. “It has helped me to learn how to interact better with work teams and to leverage my strengths in the workplace,” said Dana Lund a client-relations manager with Acxiom Corporation, a global interactive marketing firm. These days about 25% of midsize and large hospitality companies use personality and behavioral surveys for entry and mid-level decisions as either a preemployment or new employee orientation tool.

Ultimately these tests aim to help the company hire a specific type of person for a job that might require particular traits. Or conversely, to rule out traits that are likely to lead to job failure. “Companies understand that the right personality fit is a critical criteria for good performance,” says Scott Erker, a senior vice president at a global human resources consultancy. Getting that right person in the right job, reduces turnover costs (which are typically a lost employee’s one-year salary) required to recruit and train a new professional. “You can reduce turnover up to 50% with the right pre-employment assessment,” Mr. Erker says.

Companies are also using these tools to screen candidates as they apply candidates won’t even get an interview unless they match the behavioral job model for the position. By simply outsourcing this process companies can save money and a valuable employee time pre-screening applicants that would not make the first cut. As young people face the hurdle of behavioral surveys many may be tempted to try and manipulate their answers. While it may be tempting to study up on what kind of answers, you should give to score well, experts caution against doing so. “Don’t try to psych out the test,” says Jo Bennett, an executive recruiter from New York. Be honest and open in your answers. If you lie or try to manipulate your answers to land a job and doesn’t fit you or your personality, you’re more likely to be miserable at work.. If you land a job and then try to fudge a companies new employee orientation tool, you could find yourself misunderstood by your boss.

Some applicants may be a bit anxious when asked to take, a behavioral survey. “I didn’t really know where the behavioral assessment factored into the application process,” says Matt Rion, a 29-year-old marketing and operations manager who now realizes the incredible benefits, such surveys offer. ” I understand now that we just want to make sure that someone has the capability to do the job.”

Many companies choose not to share the results of the pre-interview assessments. However, if your assessment was given after you agree to take the job as part of a new employee orientation, then the results should be shared. This gives the new employee valuable insight into their future coworkers. A few companies have even taken the behavioral survey data and incorporated it onto an employee’s name tag. if the employee is working with a person who is a high extroversion than they would know that they should communicate with friendly comments, present things persuasively and as beneficial to people, give them a recognition and avoid being harsh or insulting. And employee communicating with a person who is high pace would understand that they need to give the person time to think about the process and present the benefits of change, showing that it is fair and reasonable and to give concise and clear priorities and directions.

“We see the assessment as an opportunity for our professionals to better understand themselves,” says Debbie Pyle, a human resources training and development leader. Bottom line, behavioral surveys assist you and your company in making better hiring decisions. There are a variety of behavioral assessments and surveys on the market. Here are some key factors to take into consideration when looking to implement a behavioral survey into your company:

In general,, stay away from companies that use the term assessment or test. A behavioral survey is not a test, it merely measures to four cornerstone behavioral traits that all of us possess. There is no pass or fail, there is no right or wrong. It just gives an insight to wear your natural strengths maybe.
Ask the company for documentation on their initial research. Many of the tools on the market, used college students as their base research. Look for a company that has based their research on a cross-section of working adults-not students.
Asked the company, the number of people included in the initial research. If it is less than 1000, you may want to look at other companies. There is currently on the market, a company that is currently marketing it behavioral assessment as a “highly accurate” report. Yet, when you look into the number of people they used to conduct their initial research study…it was 40. That’s not a typing error, only 40 people. How accurate could that really be?
Research the ease of use. This is huge. Many of the behavioral tools on the market take anywhere from 5-10 minutes to 90 minutes. There is one well known assessment tool on the market that is 298 questions! That can be intimidating to an applicant.
My company recommends and uses the ProScan® survey for work with our clients. The survey has taken by over 3 million people and has an accuracy rate of 96%. It is available in 14 languages and only takes 5-10 minutes to complete. It uses key adjectives that are related to the four cornerstone behavioral traits to deliver a report that can be a powerful tool in hiring, training and developing high performance teams.

Jim Cramer, the outspoken and outrageous financial author, advisor and host of the popular CNBC show “Mad Money” reminds his viewers that, “there is always a bull market out there, somewhere”. Well, I’m going to tell you there’s a great opportunity in the hospitality industry right now! All business go through a cycle, you can’t just ride the good times all the time. Like surfing, even the big waves eventually die out. We can easily focus on the bad things occurring during this recession. However, I want to look at the upside. Upside to a recession? Are you crazy? Yes I am. Crazy like a fox.

The Upside to the Restaurant Recession:

Yes, some restaurants are below projections on sales and many have been closed down. Yet, many are thriving! With over$550 billion in projected revenue for the industry, trust me, someone is making money this year. Think of the recession as economic natural selection. The operations that poured millions into advertising when they should have been putting that money into hiring the right people and training them are getting shaken out of the tree. This industry is saturated with restaurants that get by with mediocre service and food. When money is tight a customer won’t pay for mediocre. Here is a case in point. I went by Clio restaurant the other night. It’s an incredible fine dining restaurant in Boston from Chef Ken Oringer and on the upper tier of price points. Well, the dining room was full. The food and service there is excellent. Three doors down was a place I had eaten at about six months ago and the food and service was mediocre. They had only two tables. The recession will get rid of the weak.
Top talent will be looking for better companies. In almost every restaurant there are a couple superstars. With uncertain time these people will be looking for companies that understand business cycles and are still investing in training and development. The companies that are going to come out of this recession stronger are the ones actively recruiting hard to hire the right people and placing them in the right jobs. Many companies are investing in programs that create behavioral job models and match candidates to those positions. A wise investment for long term growth.
One of the big mistakes companies make when times get tough is cut the training budget and throw it into marketing. So, they attract new customers and then lose them because the staff is not trained to provide excellent service and food. Stupid move. The companies that are booking training workshops to develop their people and using the slower times to work with the staff will be the winners. They will have their company in an excellent position when the economy turns back around (like it always does).
Oh, one thing that economic fear and panic brings out….the vultures. Consultants and others will tell failing restaurants that they can save them. They pray on your fears. Be careful. Hire a consultant that has experience owning a restaurant, not just operating one. The mindset between being on the payroll and being responsible for the payroll, makes a world of difference. I know, I’ve been on both sides.

To sum it up:

If your establishment is mediocre, I have good news and bad news. Okay, maybe just bad news. Your saving grace is this: get rid of the staff that is pulling your business down and hire better people!
Train your people! Inspect what you expect. If you call the restaurant and the hostess cannot answer easy questions about your food and how to get there, drive to the restaurant and fire that person.
Don’t hire on just a resume. Use a behavioral survey tool (there are many available on the market) to back up your intuition. A good behavioral survey will tell you how a person reacts to stress, how they lead (or if they can), and most important….how they communicate. I’ve seen it time and time again. I get a call from an owner who hired a person who seemed so calm during the interview and then turned into a yelling, foul mouthed jerk that caused more turnover in six months than he has had in two years. Owners: of course a person is going to be presenting their best when interviewing, they want the job.
If you and your team are working everyday to improve something, even a little thing….you are practicing what the Japanese call Kaizen. And that will put you in a great position when the recession is over.

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Square Peg, Round Hole
20

08

2008

As competition rises for top talent, many companies are simply filling positions without following a solid hiring practice and procedure. Here are a few tips to make sure your company is getting the very best:

Do not panic hire! Filling a position, just to fill an empty position is one of the bonehead moves that are so common today.
You have to get the right people hired and get them in the right position that plays to their strengths.
If possible, try using a pre-hire behavioral screening program. The system first creates a job model, which defines the position in terms of the behavioral dynamics most likely to succeed in the job. The behavioral survey is easily made a part of the application process. These systems help managers match people to positions, increasing hiring success and decreasing turnover
Recently I had a project where I was hired to come in and work with the company’s corporate executive chef. He had not been performing up to the expectations of upper management. One of the tools I use when doing such work is a behavioral survey called ProScan. After going over the report, first with the corporate chef and then with his supervisor it became quite apparent that he was placed in the wrong position. The ProScan survey revealed that while he could perform the duties of a corporate chef, it went against his natural strengths. After discussions with all the parties involved we decided it best to move him into an executive chef position at their highest-volume unit. In the end, it was a win-win situation all around. The employee repositioned flourished. He reported reduced stress and increased job satisfaction. We created a job model for a corporate executive chef and used the ProScan survey with the new applicants. We located and interviewed a candidate with the traits most likely to succeed. So far, it’s been quite a success. The owners are happy with the new chefs results, the new corporate executive chef thrives on the challenge of the job as it parallels his natural strengths.

I have always had a saying, that hiring in the hospitality business is a lot like mining for gold. You have to dig through a lot of dirt to find the gold nuggets. However, when you find one treated for what it is… gold.

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What Are You Paying For?
20

08

2008

As a consultant, I get paid to produce results. Nothing is more frustrating for me then to waste valuable resources. Trust me, when you are on a week long survival exercise in Iceland and you only have food for 4 days, you appreciate the resources you have……big time.

I did a consulting project recently and the so called “director of operations” was not schooled in resource allocation. For a few hours I went along with his time wasting requests and then I reminded myself what a consultant’s job is: to protect the owner’s investment. Sometimes we also need to protect people from themselves. In this case the owner had no background in the food service industry. Let’s just say he had a more medical background. Now, I’m a big believer in “support the team you play for or play for another team”. Owners also need to subscribe to the belief that “if you don’t trust the people you hired to do their job, hire people you do”. So I had the what I call the “consultant’s reality” talk.

I explained how his operations director was tearing apart his operation and gave supporting data on the turnover and unrealized financial opportunities overlooked by his upper management team. The directors “old school” management style was not getting positive results. Sometimes the problem when companies bring in an outside consultant is some managers feel I’m there to show them up. The truth is I am an impartial observer there to get there operation back on track. The issue is one that is prevalent within the hospitality industry, they don’t think they need to change their behavior or management style. Unfortunately most managers are still using techniques that were designed for the 1990’s worker.

During the 1990s, several trends influence the way American managers did business. At the beginning of the decade, rounds of layoffs led to sweeping reductions in employee numbers. Positions were eliminated and managers were told to increase productivity instead of hiring someone for the vacant spot. Somewhere along the way, either because of excessive efforts to retain workers or because of the excessive elimination of organizational structures, managers lost their ability to lead. In an effort to remain profitable corporations asked managed to make do with what resources they had. This has led to the high burnout, turnover and low satisfaction ratings the hospitality industry is currently experiencing.

In the end, the owner of the restaurant cannot see past the friendship and incompetence of his director of operations. I finished the objectives that we had established for the consulting contract and was asked if I wished to extend. It would have been easy just to stay and take the money. Unfortunately, I am a big believer in getting paid to produce results. When you take a job or a commitment, remember you’re getting paid for results. To deliver less is not fair to the owner or yourself.

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Are You Working To Live or Living For Work?
11

08

2008

We all know that hospitality professionals are working more, longer, and harder than ever before. It’s often presumed that while the demands in productivity that today’s workplace have ushered in may be good for business, they are wreaking havoc on the social and emotional lives of those in the industry. The truth, however, is not quite that simple.

In fact, each one of us has our own unique stress threshold. For everyone who starts to feel worn down and emotionally depleted after a few weeks of double shifts, there’s another who only truly starts to feel engaged and invigorated when the pressure’s really on. According research done by Professional DynaMetrics Systems if the demands of your natural energy level doesn’t line up with your work schedule, it’s very likely that you’ll reach burnout much sooner in your career.

What Does Life Balance Mean To You?

Just as each person has their own idea of what defines the perfect job, most people also have a unique conception of the type of schedule that their dream job would entail. Whether your idea of the perfect job is a leisurely part-time position with virtually no “on-call” expectations, or a demanding dawn-to-dusk role with lots of opportunities for overtime and double shifts, it’s important that you define your unique work/life balance needs and perhaps have a behavioral assessment done before you begin your next job search.

By including work/life balance priorities and your natural energy level on your list of job-search criteria, you’ll be better-positioned to find a role that you can thrive in. Here are some tips to help you land the job that will be a perfect fit with your unique work/life balance needs.

Assess yourself.
Take a ProScan survey*. It unlocks the key to your natural strengths, energy levels, leadership style and how you tend to make decisions. It also helps you identify what motivates your actions and defines your primary needs. Truly understanding yourself is the first step to finding work/life balance.
Do a reality check.
After you’ve gotten some insight into your natural strengths, make sure that they are compatible with the type of work you’re looking for. For example, if you’re the easily-stressed type who prefers a laid-back work schedule, it’s going to be very hard to find a position that meets your criteria. If you identify a potential mismatch, it may be best to go back to the drawing board and brainstorm a few alternative career directions that offer schedules more in keeping with your preferences.
Bring up work/life balance in performance reviews.
Talk to your supervisors about the priority environments that are causing stress. Remember that you place some if this on yourself (that’s called eustress). Does the company have any productivity or performance training programs already in place? Who can you speak to in getting a “life coach” to help you achieve balance?
Your work/life balance needs are as unique as your fingerprint. By pinpointing your personal motivators and needs, you can use them as a road map to help find the fulfillment you need at work and at home. It’s a smart play for companies that want to retain top talent.

*ProScan survey is a non-threatening, quick, easy and reliable tool that is one of the most advanced instruments available. It takes statistical research of working adults that accurately gives feedback to a person’s basic and preferred work styles. The ProScan survey also examines combinations of specific traits that affect how a person works most effectively and reacts to stress. The survey focuses on strengths and motivators to help employers create an enviroment that reduces employee stress while increasing energy and morale. You can get more information on other culinary driven programs at our website:

http//:www.dbperformancemgmt.com

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The Culinary Matrix Has You
11

08

2008

I‘ve been a chef now for over 27 years now…my God has it really been that long? I remember standing in the kitchen being so damn scared of the chef. The worse thing was he was also my father. He was tough on me because he did not want the other cooks to think I had an easy ride. I look back over those years now with great respect and a great deal of thanks. It gave me such a solid foundation that I can easily adapt to a variety of culinary scenarios thrown at me.

I’ve worked for Wolfgang Puck, had my own restaurant (the overrated dream of so many young chefs) and now I own a restaurant consulting company that also helps revive older chef’s passion for the culinary arts (that’s called executive coaching). A flame that gets snuffed out by the corporate world of productivity and it’s pursuit for the bottom line. Yes, I too have sold my culinary soul in search of the dollar. I’ve come full circle now……and here is what I have found: you can have it all.

You can be a creative chef who is filled with the passion and wonder of a child. You can also have a life beyond the kitchen. What? No more 96 hour work weeks? Maybe even have a real relationship with a person and not a saute pan? Yes, I have seen the promise land and I can help get you your own map to Shangrala. It’s not that hard….however, it’s not easy either. Like the skills you’ve developed in the kitchen over the years. You have also, been brainwashed into thinking you have to work really hard and God forsaken hours, sacrificing everything dear to you in order to reach culinary perfection.

It’s kind of like being in the movie “The Matrix” and finding out that the world we think we are in is not the real world. Like Neo in the movie…..I too threw up when reality set in. My culinary compadre, you need to wake up too before you realize that the real world has passed you by.

Forming alliances gives restaurateurs partners to help navigate and survive a challenging economy

By TOM KELLEY
By DENIS SPARAGIS

(Aug. 25, 2008) Alliances. It is the one simple word that successful operators have realized truly matters in both good and challenging times. As your business navigates the leaner times ahead, consider the following recommendations.
Build community partnerships. Reach out and sustain win-win affiliations with professional and recreational groups that cater to your primary customer segments. Examples of this include sponsoring baseball leagues for the casual segment or partnerships with business associations or chambers of commerce for higher-end dining.
Give to one charity. Talk to your guests and staff to designate one local or national organization with a local affiliate to support for at least one year. While no one likes to say “no” to the multiple solicitations received almost daily by operators, few would argue with a good cause you are supporting. Be sure that the organization you support supports your local community by getting on a local affiliate board.
Lead. Lend your business expertise to a local nonprofit or chamber of commerce. Become not just a business leader, but a civic leader as well. Lead on local, regional, state and national levels. Don’t just join organizations, help shape them.
Showcase. Participate in food shows and festivals. Concentrate on your one or two signature dishes—ones you do better than anyone. Use your website to keep guests familiar with your signature dishes and activities.
Promote. List your alliances on the back of your menu. Tell a little about your charity support and why the team thought it was worthy. Let the charity promote you as well. Better they tell your story than you do. Use your website and a blog to promote your food.
Be seen. Get out of your kitchen or dining room and dine at other restaurants. Create friendships with other operators and chefs. Chefs should walk the dining room and interact with your guests. Support and physically shop at local businesses. Show up for community events.
Motivate the troops. Incentivize your team to promote your signature creations. Get them out into the community as well. Reward them and keep them.
Having proposed those recommendations, allow us to remind you of two “don’ts.”
Don’t coupon. It diminishes your brand and the value of your establishment. If you feel the need to promote, create tasteful cards to insert in check jackets or distribute them around town suggesting that folks come back and enjoy your signature dishes during different mealtime segments. Promote a new dish or appetizer combos. Never talk about price or percentage discounts.
Don’t advertise—much. It’s one of the biggest drains on your bottom line. Create news releases and, if possible, hire a marketing or public relations expert to help you generate some tactical and strategic news and buzz about your establishment. If needed, do a trade with a local magazine or newspaper for a onetime ad. Use your website and a blog as well.
One last thing: Don’t be afraid to ask for help. We know there’s a lot of pride and perhaps just a bit of an ego in all of us, but you can’t be an expert at everything. Reach out to other operators, other chefs, Web resources or specialty consultants for a quick review of operations or with specific questions. None of us can do it alone.
Again, it’s about alliances.
Tom Kelley and Denis Sparagis are principals in Concept Group USA—Strategic Brand Consulting. The firm specializes in brand building and refining, building operational solutions for operators, and helping operators and suppliers build meaningful and enduring alliances

Planet Hollywood buys Italian chain for $28.5 million

NATIONAL RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION SMARTBRIEF | 08/11/2008

Planet Hollywood co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Robert Earl says he is not concerned with the recent financial troubles of the Buca di Beppo restaurant chain. Planet Hollywood agreed to buy the Italian chain Tuesday