Are you nervous about a job interview that's coming up? I’m going to give you five tips on how to answer interview questions and get that job!
Crush that job interview!
So if we haven’t met, my name is Nathan, I help motivated Hospitality and F&B professionals build their careers and businesses. I want to offer some practical tips to gain further career confidence. So let’s start talking about ways to crush that job interview and how to best answer Interview questions!
First Impressions
So number one, first impressions matter a lot, and I mean A LOT when you’re going for that job interview. It’s said an interviewers mind is about 70% of the way made up in the first six seconds. That’s a lot!
Now here’s the great part about it. If you make a great first impression all answers afterwards are going to reinforce what they’ve already decided about you. They’re going to see them in a positive light. There’s a study showing that if you give a bad first impression it takes seven good Impressions afterwards to make up for it. So if it’s a bad first impression, you have to give seven awesome answers. That’s really hard.
So let’s give a great first impression. How do you do that?
You’re smiling
You make on eye contact
You’re on time (slightly early). Even if it’s on a zoom get on that Zoom several minutes early. Make sure you’re in frame. Make sure your lighting’s good.
First impressions are super key to getting that job.
When it comes that “Tell me about yourself” question
You need to blow them away when you start to answer interview questions.
If I were to ask you now “Tell me about yourself”. And you had to answer it right now, the chances are you may struggle.
I promise you I have asked enough people, you can tell who practice and who thought they could wing it. I promise you you can’t wing it.
"Tell Me About Yourself?"
So “Tell me about yourself” is the question where you get to really craft your pitch ahead of time. Really explain who you are and what you’ve done that matters to this company.
The really short version of this is that you need to highlight past jobs or experiences. Highlight one thing you did in that job that you learned and that will be important for this job.
So for example… “Oh, I worked at Starbucks and while I was there, it really taught me the value of customer service. I learned how to really make every customer happy every day. I then moved on from there and went to (x,y,z company).”
Then tell them something you learned there
And then end with why you’re in the room today…..“And that’s why I’m excited to be here. This really seems like the next step in my career progression” (provide a reason). Then “I’m ready to move on to that next challenge and (xyz) is something I’m really passionate about”.
So first crush the “Tell me about yourself” part, then you need to answer interview questions that are about behaviour. Those “Tell me about a time when…” questions.
The star method walks someone through a time something happened, highlighting how you successfully handled the situation.
You need to give…
The general situation
The task
The action
The result
So here’s where people sometimes mess up.
They tend to talk about a time and situation that was at hand.
Then they give the task they were told to do or the thing that needed to happen.
They then lastly give their action and they think that’s the important part.
For example “I did this thing, I took initiative. I helped with defusing the conflict”.
You need to tell them what happened because of that action. Did the whole team come together after that? Did they promote you because of your excellent leadership skills? Give the result.
That’s some key tips to answer interview questions in the best way. But it’s not all about the interview questions.
You are not done when you leave the meeting on Zoom or you walk out the door of the office
You also need to send a thank you email within 24 hours of finishing that interview.
It’s great if you can do it in the first couple of hours, but I totally understand, lives are busy. You may have done an interview and have to leave quickly to go to a dinner or similar. Naturally in that case just get a good night’s sleep and send it the next morning. When you write that thank you email keep it short, about four sentences. You’re going to want to say…
Thank you
Restate your excitement for this position
Name something specific from the interview that made you excited.
*So, please don’t try and write these ahead of time.
I’ve heard of people coming out to the front desk and handing them the note saying “can you give this to …..” That’s what we call disingenuous.
Always craft it on your own afterwards, within 24 hours.
And fun fact, I have timed this process multiple times it takes you three to four minutes. So I want you to think about it this way, three to four minutes is what stands between you and getting that job. Because the thank you note can be the dealmaker.
If you’ve recognised anything from the things I’ve already said you cannot just wing this. No one can go into an interview and just be like, “You know what I’m just gonna talk and see what happens”. It does not work.
You need to practice and prepare. So practice in front of a mirror, record yourself, write out your answers. Please, please, please do not let the first time you say those words to those answers be in the room or on the zoom. You need to do it ahead of time!
So to help you with that. I do have a very affordable course called “How To Ace The Interview’. For your next interview I’ll literally walk you step-by-step through my process. This system works. So if you want information on it click below.
It’s a quick course. You don’t need to spend hours and hours taking a course to then have to go practice for the interview. It’s short, I walk you through it quickly and get you to practicing the key areas that make all the difference in the interview.
It lays out all of the most common pitfalls and the questions you will be asked and how to best prepare.
In short it will give you a huge boost in any interview as most people who interview just don’t know how to stack the odds in their favour!
WE OFFER FULL HOSPITALITY / F&B RECRUITMENT SERVICES ACROSS THE ASIA REGION
FROM CONSULTATIONS TO VETTING APPROPRIATE CANDIDATES WE CAN HELP.
When it comes to F&B / Hospitality Recruitment we appreciate both the needs of our clients and candidates. We aim to create the perfect fit, drawing from a huge database of staff suitable for senior to junior roles.
WE AIM TO TAKE THE HASSLE OUT OF THE PLACEMENT PROCESS, SO YOU CAN FOCUS ON RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS
With over two decades of experience in the F&B industry, Cutting Edge understands the F&B / hospitality recruitment sector from a unique perspective.
We operate across the Greater China region, Japan, Southeast Asia, the Gulf region and are expanding into Europe.
Our goal is to simplify the hiring process, by seeking out well suited placements through our extensive network.
By applying our industry experience to your staffing requirements, we take pride in putting the right people in the right place, for the long term.
WE TAKE THE TIME TO UNDERSTAND YOU AND OUR CANDIDATES, BECAUSE WE BELIEVE IN BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS THAT LAST
We only select the most professional, reliable and positive staff through our thorough interview process.
Each market has its own intricacies and laws around employment. This is why we prioritise “employable” staff. This means that we work to place candidates who are either nationals or have the ability to already work within the country.
We aim to understand your corporate culture so that we can find personalities that will compliment the way you get things done.
Gain access to our database of over 100,000 candidates across the region to accelerate your hiring process. Our aim is to help you quickly discover the perfect staff member and reduce costly turnover by listening carefully to you and your potential hire.
We’re interested in forging long term, mutually beneficial relationships – rather than the churn and burn model adopted by so many in the recruitment industry of today.
WE BELIEVE IN WHAT WE DO SO THAT WE CAN MAKE THIS GUARANTEE TO YOU FOR OUR F&B / HOSPITALITY RECRUITING SERVICE
Not every hire will work out as planned, we get that.
This is why Cutting Edge offers a guarantee to our partners, to reduce your risk and cost. We do this because we are interested in forming long-term, mutually beneficial relationships.
If we make a placement that you are unsatisfied with. Or one that leaves within three months of signing, we will replace that candidate at no additional charge. With no questions asked!
If you’ve made a deposit and for some reason, we have not found you the perfect match within 30 days. We will give you the option of a 100% refund.
If we have not already met in person. We’ll come to your place of work to discuss your requirements, offer a free consultation and perspective on the market.
Once we have done this, we'll draft and sign an operation agreement. We'll then go to work finding quality employees for you. We'll have highly suited candidate profiles with you within a matter of days.
I recently read the book Algorithms To Live By by Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths. You may currently be looking to hire the right staff in hospitality. There is some interesting advice on hiring that right person in the book. I’d like to share with you here.
Regardless of what position you’re hiring for. Trying to hire the right staff can be a stressful experience. It can be worth considering experimenting with algorithms formulated by computer scientists as detailed in the book.
As you will know algorithms are a finite range of steps that solve problems and take decisions. They’re the backbone of digital products. The device you’re using right now utilises algorithms. It runs them to decide which programs to utilise, when to terminate them, how it is sorting incoming information and how to communicate with other devices.
There are three computer algorithms that we can apply to hiring to efficiently solve the following three problems.
Among a range of qualified candidates. Which should I hire when looking to hire the right staff?
How should I go about onboarding after the hire?
When to move on and engage someone new?
First of all, problem number one. You require the selection algorithm.
There are two big ways to fail in selecting an applicant for a role. Decide too early and miss out on better applicants. Wait too long, and miss the opportunity to hire the best applicant if that applicant applied early.
Let’s imagine you have a potential pool of 20 qualified applicants for a role you’re trying to fill. You don’t want to rush and hire the first candidate you interview. Additionally you also don’t want to waste days (or even weeks) interviewing all 20. Thankfully, there’s a third option. A scientifically proven algorithm dubbed the “37% rule”.
Hire the right person using the 37% rule
The 37% rule says that you should evaluate 37% of your applicants with no intention of hiring them.
Meaning, reject the first 37% unconditionally. After having evaluated the first 37% pick the next candidate you who applies who’s better than all previous options that applied.
So in the hypothetical scenario of deciding between 20 qualified applicants, you interview the first seven applicants without intention of making them an offer. Then continue interviewing the remaining 13.
Stop interviewing the moment you find a person who is better than any of those seven you initially interviewed. The benefit of this process is it gives you a chance to evaluate your preference. It additionally provides a handy benchmark which you can base your ultimate decision upon.
Several years ago a University student utilised the 37% rule to choose his future wife. He reasoned that he could be dating whilst between the ages of 18-40. By relying on the 37% rule, when he reached 26.1 years old he’d propose to the first woman better than all the others he’s dated.
When he encountered that woman after becoming 26 he said “without doubt, she reached the qualifications for the algorithm. I asked her to marry me… and she turned me down”.
Naturally the 37% rule isn’t 100% going to get you the results you desire, as the student realised. But it gives you the highest probability of achieving a great outcome.
The 37% rule is only applicable if you can’t revisit previouscandidates
It’s important to point out, the 37% rule is only applicable if you can’t revisit previous candidates. It’s usually the situation when dating but not usually when hiring. For example, if you feel there’s a minimum of a 50% chance past candidates are still open to an offer. Or did they go for another role while you were deliberating on other applicants? Did they lose interest in the offer over time as often happens when the hiring process is extended?
If they’re still interested the 37% rule becomes the 61% rule. That is, if you’re seeking the best possible applicant, leave making an offer until you’ve interviewed a minimum 12 candidates. Then if you don’t find a better applicant among the remaining eight candidats, return and choose the best applicant you interviewed of all 20.
The On-boarding Algorithm
The next algorithm worth discussing is what we’ll dub the on-boarding algorithm. When you take new hires on, it’s difficult to know how much workload to give them. You need to maximize their skillset. However you don’t want to provide too many tasks so they make errors, don’t reach standards or cause issues you later need to address.
For years computer boffins came up against a similar problem. Computers would connect to a network of computers. A computer would get overwhelmed with requests and not deliver information to the computer requesting that info.
To resolve this issue computer scientists developed a brilliant solution known as transmission control protocol “TCP”.
If a new computer joins a TCP Network, it receives just one packet of info from the sender. It lets the sender know it’s received the packet by sending its acknowledgment packet. With every acknowledgement the sender doubles up the amount of packets it sends.
When the computer gets overwhelmed with too many packets and fails to send an acknowledge packet back to the sender, the algorithm “additive increase multiplicative decrease” known as “aimd“ steps in.
The aimd algorithm decreases the number of packets being sent by 50%. This large cut creates space on the network, allowing the receiving computer to catch up. After this reduction the sender will be allowed to add one extra packet to each future message. The developers state “aimd is like someone saying a bit more, a bit more, a bit more. Okay, way too much, cut right back. Okay a bit more, another little bit more.”
Use a similar technique to ensure the successful on-boarding of a new team member
Say you hire a new member of staff and you give them a small responsibility. When they return that work in time and on schedule, then double up workload. Keep doubling up and when you receive work that’s not up to scratch immediately cut the workload by 50%.
Utilising such exponential growth you can rapidly find a colleague’s capacity. And by subsequently increasing workload one unit at a time, you provide them an opportunity to build back up. Go step by step, when they achieve the level where they failed they’ll have more confidence and will have much more chance of success.
The Switching Algorithm
The next algorithm worth elaborating on is what we’ll call the switching algorithm. If a team member consistently meets expectations, you won’t need to consider replacing the hire. If they’re just reaching expectations some of the time you should probably explore further options such as the Gittins index.
In the 70s a young mathematician, John Gittins was asked to optimize unilever’s pharmaceutical Investments. Gittins had to decipher if Unilever should continue investing in a proven drug or switch to a new drug being trialed.
Based upon multiple versions and months of testing Gittens developed a table of values to help Unilever decide if they should switch to a new drug they thought could be at least 90% as effective and profitable as a current proven drug.
Unilever utilised this table to determine the success and failure record of two medications by determining how regularly those drugs successfully treated an ailment. They then utilised the Gittins table to decipher the correct Gittins index. The medication with the highest Gittins index was regarded the best avenue to pursue.
Gittins indexes are considered a mathematically dependable method to determine if one should switch or proceed as you are. You can utilise the Gittins index to decipher if you should continue investing in a venture or a recent hire.
Once you’ve predicted the success and failure ratio of your present option and an option with 90% of the expected value of that present option, you should utilise the Gittins index table to decide which choice has the greatest value and opt for that option.
Naturally you need not consult the Gittins index table for every decision.You only need to keep in mind these two key points when looking to hire the right staff.
Firstly, an untested option with a success / fail record of 0 and 0 has a Gittins index of 0.7. That is, if an individual isn’t meeting standards a minimum of 70% of the time (their success rate is lower than 70%), you should think about pivoting to a new hire if you think a new candidate has similar potential.
Secondly. If you go for a new option and their early success to failure ratio looks inferior to your present option it still could be a better choice. If a new hire has four successes and five fails (they reached your expectations four times and didn’t do so five times). They will have a higher Gittins index than someone experienced with a thousand successes and a thousand fails. The untested newbie is more valuable (in the early stages anyway), than the veteran of apparently equal ability because we know less about them. Exploration intrinsically has value, as trying new things raises chances of finding the best.
Take the away the stress when aiming to hire the right staff in hospitality
Why not try taking the stress out of decisions by trusting mathematically validated algorithms.
CONCLUSION
Hiring: The next time you’re when looking to hire the right staff remember the 37% rule. Determine your sample size. Then utilise 37% of your sample size to determine a benchmark. Then choose the next best option that applies.
Onboarding: Keep in mind the transmission control protocol and the aimd algorithm. Begin small keep doubling up, then reduce by 50% when you encounter failure then slowly build back up bit by bit.
Pivoting to a new hire: Remember this finding of the Gittins index. When you’ve got two similar options, go with the newer less tested option for greater potential reward.
That was the essence that I got from Algorithms To Live By, written by Tom Griffiths and Brian Christian. This book provides a new perspective to evaluating decisions.
If you like these tips, please share it and as always I’d love to see your thoughts and comments below.
Your Hospitality Business IS Your Team – Attract Amazing Staff
POSTED ON 12TH JUNE 2020
Before Looking At How To Attract Amazing Staff, First let’s Look At Keeping The Talents You Already Have And The Costs Of Employee Turnover
Hiring strong talents who stay in their roles in absolutely essential to the success of any organisation. Keeping employee turnover rates low and developing a great reputation as an employer creates the environment to attract amazing staff. In this article, we discuss how to go about this.
Just Imagine that you had to write out a check for thousands of dollars to a leaving team member on their last day in your organisation. You would think that is crazy, right? It sounds it but the cost of a churn in staffing levels often amounts to exactly this. The loss of thousands of dollars of a company’s hard-earned revenue for every member of staff who leaves.
As a responsible manager, it is important to make sure you attract amazing staff and make good hires stay with your team. It costs employers up to 30% of an employee’s salary each time they leave. This figure can be much higher for more niche roles.
So how come the cost is so high in many organisations?
The process of checking candidate CVs. Arranging interviews and conducting them is a heavily time intensive process. This is even more true for smaller organisations without large HR departments for instance.
Upon completion of interviews, employers then need to invest further time following up references, doing background checks and consultation with other colleagues about which of the candidates should be employed.
Additional time is needed to make an offer to selected candidates. To sell them on the role and engage in negotiation with them. Employee Productivity
Advertising the position on the company’s website or on generic jobs sites don’t attract amazing staff who are in your niche industry. Jobseekers in hospitality are looking for jobs but missing them. Those currently employed are simply not seeing the roles that you have advertised. Roles are unfortunately often filled with low quality hires. Ones that take much more time.
Daily projects, even small tasks get put on hold or slowed whilst you hire new team members!
This is an exciting time for both the company and new hire. One that can also involve a loss of output for other team members as the process of training begins for your new hire and team members. And you pause to help bring a new hire up to speed.
Risks
One of the greatest hidden downsides of losing a team member is the risk of burning out current team members who have to cover until a replacement employee is hired. This often-overlooked situation can all too often lead to further staff turnover. Therefore a greater financial hit happens as co-workers become disengaged enough to seek a new position. Further similar risk surrounds interviews, screening, and decision-making on new hires. Occasionally the replacement decides to opt for a role with another company. Causing the organisation to need to restart the search again.
How to Resolve?
Many organisations know employment agencies help save both time and costs throughout the entire staff replacement process. An employment agency can assist with job ad creation and copywriting. They possess the knowledge of where to best post a job listing. Niche recruiters can send out job ads to their database of candidates within the industry in your region. In addition, simple paid ads on their website’s jobs boards can also attract amazing staff. This is because quality candidates know about these boards and check them regularly.
Businesses who engage employment agencies also enjoy the added benefit of expert CV review, access to a huge database of quality applicants, expert screening. A good employment agency will also conduct thorough background checks on applicants.
All of this saves organisations huge amounts of time and costs and enables them to keep their focus on the areas that drive the success in their business. While the experts at the agency will do what they do best, which is to handle the search process on behalf of the organisation in need of quality staff.
Building Your Team – Attracting Amazing Staff
Building up a great team is one of the most rewarding and exciting experiences a manager can be involved in. It’s in this key period that pulling in and also holding onto such high-quality hires can greatly impact the success of your business goals.
Discerning prospective employees use networks to understand a ‘true picture of what it’s like to be employed in an organisation. So it is essential to ensure your current employees are as content as possible. They will become your greatest ambassadors attracting the best possible staff to your company. The truth is, taking on talented new team members vastly improves your operations, enhancing forward momentum and improving your bottom line. As with all things, there are key ingredients that are important to get right when you are seeking to expand your team.
Here’s how to attract amazing staff
Training, Development & Mentoring
For high achievers, the chance to develop across a range of areas is essential for work fulfillment. They’re looking to put trust and abilities with organisations that can help progress their career. They want to expand their range of abilities (both personal and professional) as a reward for the diligent work that such employees put in. In order to attract amazing staff and retain them, it is helpful to ask some questions about the work environment. Take actions to make steady improvements in such areas.
What clear pathways for career advancement do you offer?
Do you offer your staff responsibilities that are both challenging and fulfilling?
Are you able to develop roles within your company that compliment the natural abilities and interests of your staff members / team?
Does your organisation offer on-going training/career development?
Training
Training can take a number of forms. For example on the job learning is proposed by either you or the candidate through regular evaluation. Try to develop an understanding of employees’ career goals depending on your mutual plans. Employee training and development doesn’t necessarily need to come at a great financial cost. A great deal of time isn’t required. Neither do staff need to be absent from important duties whilst taking part in such programs? There are multiple less formal and cost-effective ways to develop your team, ensuring that they know how valued they are.
These could comprise of simple measures such as the following
Online courses
Launching internal mentoring
Employee development programmes
Taking a few hours educating management to have an active interest in their employees careers
Seeking genuine feedback from staff on how they wish roles to develop, coming up with plans to work towards that.
When staff feel that you are doing the best for them, they will stop at nothing make the organisation successful. A win-win for all involved!
Engagement Attracts Amazing Staff
When employees show up for work, are they engaged when doing so? Are they doing their best for the organisation? Those that do have a far greater sense of ownership and belonging to the team. Individuals are much more driven and engaged when allowed to contribute their valuable input and ideas.
Wherever possible come up with and develop new and innovative, offerings with your team. This will help to foster an exchange of ideas within your organisation. Why not sponsor annual gatherings of ideas from your team and come up with a plan implementing those that’s workable? Giving team members a chance to show projects they are passionate about helps create an innovative atmosphere. Engaging for all those who take part.
Other ways of making employees feel valued and attract amazing staff are as simple as having a wall within your company for photographs of employees. Those who have worked there more than (X) years or that have reached certain other important milestones. Or an “equality” program that goes further than the usual slogans and HR policies.
For example, one client saw immediate improvement when they ensured that all staff including kitchen porters received an equal share of tips. Additionally, they made sure that there were no reserved perks just for executives — everyone as an equal. The company has a philosophy of as much as possible trying to treat employees as if they are family. These measures have gained this company a reputation amongst many applicants via Cutting Edge as a top place to develop careers. This has alone helped ensure a remarkably low staff turnover rate.
Accountability
Continuous feedback and accountability are vital to ensure staff satisfaction, staff retention and as a result an improvement in performance. This attracts other talented staff. Employees need to be given reasonable yet challenging targets to aim for and be held accountable for their results. So you need to ensure you have robust and fair methods in place to monitor performance. If not, it is inevitable that standards will loosen to the disappointment of clients and those working within the organisation. When employees aren’t able to meet such targets it’s important to assess whether the results are being measured correctly.
If the targets are reasonable, if after being given a chance to make improvements the team member isn’t able to meet the required standard, it’s important for the sake of the staff member (and also of your organisation) to move the employee to a role where they will be able to manage. Alternatively, they will need to be given a chance to seek a more suited role in another workplace.
For those of you who strive for clear feedback and communication and a truly engaging relationship that fosters radical growth. Something that can spur on the great increase in performance is to ask your staff to assess your performance. As a boss ask them to politely evaluate where you have done well and also come up short. As a leader, what do they expect of you? How you can improve?
Evaluation is vital to assess improvements over time and to outline what satisfy and demotivate the team.
Your processes to should evaluate…
Comprehension of attitudes
Happiness at work
Staff turnover
Satisfaction levels of your employees across a range of issues
The following should be included
Survey staff in order to comprehend the true motivations that cause people come to and depart employment in your company.
Ensure staff know if they are achieving predetermined, reasonable goals, and when they are progressing well in their careers.
Evaluate if it is possible to offer more flexible work arrangements for those who are parents or older children etc.
Conduct an evaluation of the teams/areas that are experiencing highest staff turnover. Implement solutions to resolve an issues.
Look into ways that you can you ensure managers are held responsible for staff retention and engagement
Gain a clear understanding on the key roles in your organisation that have the biggest bearing on profitability and productivity.
Look at investing in getting the best possible people and systems in place in these roles.
Check your management team understand the true cost of poor quality hires, staff turnover and how to improve on this.
Ensure that you are operating with an effective employee orientation program.
Employees should have a clear understanding of the company culture, aims and what is expected of them.
What can you do to improve your hiring process in order to access a deeper pool of talents and better match individual’s talents with company culture and job requirements?
Salary & Package. Naturally employees don’t just want flexibility in how their careers develop, they are seeking salary flexibility also.
Reasonable Compensation. Most employees comprehend that all roles are not made equal. Kitchen porters (albeit some contend the position is immensely undervalued), don’t hope to attain equivalent compensation to Sommeliers. Yet, when obligations are comparable, individuals expect to be paid the equivalent.
Enhancing the Package. Often a breakdown in salary negotiation with a prospective employee can be overcome by incorporating flexibility in the package. These can be certain benefits that can be paid out paid for out of pre-tax income. Such as: Personal computers, phones (or other technology useful to their job), equipment, accommodation closer to the workplace. Upgraded health insurance, budget for dining out (great for ensuring your staff know and keep up with the competition). Gym memberships, transportation and much more.
Compensation packaging can even be incorporated with the above section on training and mentoring. Employees who appreciate more intensive career training and development may wish to participate in courses as part of their compensation.
Many employers and employees underestimate the extent to how creative it is possible to get with the compensation package. To which extent it provides an equal win to both parties.
What are a few different perks that your organisation has used to pull in and retain its first-rate representatives? Studies have repeatedly demonstrated that offering non-monetary bonuses make organisations increasingly robust. Even in the event that individuals don’t originally all get along. Motivating forces need not necessarily be costly. Time off, gift vouchers, or meals out have all proven to be positive motivators. Additional motivators such as memberships, child care, great staff meals all improve the lives and well-being of your co-workers. They help to build morale, reduce pressure, give your team further encouragement and foster an enjoyment around coming into work.
Extra perks can make the distinction between a decent organisation or notAs you need your team to go the additional mile for your organisation, Managers that are able to achieve this develop a mutually valuable relationship from which to go forwards as a solid team within the hospitality industry.
Reputation
Often in business, our reputation precedes us. It is essential that Managers and business owners experiencing a high staff turnover look into their organisation and understand what’s causing this to be the case.
Try asking yourself the following questions
If I wasn’t employed here right now, would I want to be? What changes would you want to implement?
When we treat employees as we would hope to be treated ourselves As extended family, with kindness, appreciation and respect. It has the impact of creating a team who are hard working and dedicated who work with commitment.
Does your working environment have a strong sense of team spirit? Or are your team simply going about their work in an individual way? What steps could you take to ensure that they work better as a team. Simple steps such as asking FOH staff to work for a week with the kitchen team (and vice versa) does wonders for team bonding.
Do you ensure employees are working in a positive environment or are there factors that could be reduced. What would cause things to become less tense and stressful than they currently are?
Do certain characters in your team take away from a great working atmosphere, rather than enhancing it? If so it may be time look at moving them on and bringing in some fresh talents.
Leaders – When employees can believe in the management team, they have a sense of security and trust. Management who are available, understanding, can guide and mentor well; give balanced and reasonable feedback are vital to work satisfaction of the team.
The happiest of work environments exist when co-workers collaborate and get along well, both in and outside of the workplace. A workplace that fosters an atmosphere of adaptability, acknowledgment, and understanding. And those with supportive peers make individuals happy to come to the workplace each day
Acknowledgment / Recognition / Control
Everybody has an impact on the organisation’s prosperity. It is important to find ways to ensure that staff knows you appreciate this. Small acknowledgments that attract amazing staff can include
pausing for a moment to recognise somebody’s efforts
Composing a card or Post-It to say thanks
A public mention or accolade can mean more than you know. Always aim to offer credit to the individuals who merit it.
Firmly attached to acknowledgment is feedback (as discussed in above sections).
It is important to remember that most employees prefer not to wait upon yearly audits to know how they’re doing. Timely legitimate and astute constructive pointers encourage individuals. Help employees clearly comprehend the areas in which to improve and as such encourage individuals to do much more.
Control – The more employees feel they can assume responsibility for their day, the greater their sense of empowerment. If you’ve recruited wisely, trust individuals to carry out their responsibilities. Make sure your are on hand on the off chance that they hit a problem or need your input. Otherwise, expect and trust that they will deliver accordingly and on schedule.
Trivial Matters Snowball
We’ve all been there. Emergency or pressing issues make want to us dive in to improve things, the petty stuff can drive us insane. If not kept in check trivial matters can be real “spirit busters”. Wherever possible keep to a minimum as many such day-to-day aggravations as possible. Ensure the main tasks stay in focus. Your staff will thank you for it and it will allow the organisation to move forwards on its shoulders.
Variety
It may well be tricky trying to think of new things for individuals to do. Yet given the opportunity, most staff will welcome a new challenge, the opportunity to prove they are up to it. Boredom prompts disengagement and is one of any organisation’s least welcome adversaries. Ask team members what they’d like to work on? Areas they think the company could develop that they would like to oversee that also attract amazing staff or things they’d like to learn. You could well be surprised or even thrilled with the outcome!
Understand Your Audience
Recruiting is what drives the core of your organisation, as the staff that operates your business are the business. The art of recruiting is understanding and selling what your organisation offers to those key individuals. You are targeting whom you wish to take your company to the next level. Understand who your intended target group is and what drives them, comprehend what you have to offer to that group. What do you bring to the table, and how might they profit from what you can offer? With this more nuanced approach, you can put this offering as the focal point of your message. Promote your organisations culture. Particularly that which will resonate with their requirements, their skills, and mindset as it relates to your company.
Summary
Nothing is more effective than attracting amazing staff, engaging and motivating them and ensuring that they work as a team. When it comes to attracting top team members, reputations for great working environments attract top talents. Thus taking your organisation to the next level. As a leader, the best you can accomplish for your organisation is to get great people in roles that fit. Empower them to do what they do best.
Additionally, the most popular organisations to work for are those that have the strongest branding recognition. Ensuring implementation of the above does wonders for staff, organizations recruitment, and the quality of the people in your team.
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Today I am going to share with you a mistake I made all the time in my hospitality job search in Asia.
Fixing this is critical to your Hospitality Job Search. So today I’ll tell you what it is. You can see if you’ve been making this mistake and we’ll talk about how to fix it.
If we haven’t met, my name is Nathan and I help motivated professionals build their careers and business in Hospitality & F&B in Asia and the Middle East. So let’s talk about this mistake.
So back in the day when I was still working as a chef in fine dining and more casual restaurants in Asia,when I was job searching, I’d go to events and meet people and they’d say, “So what are you doing?” I’d say “Oh I work in as a chef at this restaurant, but I’m currently searching hospitality jobs. You know, I’m looking for something else in the industry.”
Be sure hospitality employers know your priority!
Okay, so being really broad here was my mistaken priority. I didn’t want to say “Oh, I’m really looking for hospitality jobs involving Japanese cuisine or sushi roles”, I was scared that if I said I really wanted a Japanese chef job in Asia (as that’s an area that really interested me) that would be too narrow and they’d go “No I have nothing for you”. So I didn’t want to rule out an opportunity. I was afraid if I said I really want this type of hospitality job that they might have some other great chef job opening and not tell me about it because I said I wanted something in Japanese cuisine.
So if (for example) I wanted a job in HK in a modern Japanese restaurant and something opened in Singapore that fitted my Western Cuisine experience with an F&B group there. then they could think “Oh, well, no not going to share that with him because he said he wanted a Japanese chef job”. Right? This is a fear a lot of people have, they’re scared that if they say something too specific they’re never going to get offered jobs in that niche, they’re afraid they’re going to rule out other options.
Here is the problem – When you are so general in your hospitality jobs search, no one knows what hospitality role to offer you.
For example the other day I met a job seeker and she recently graduated, she said, “Yes I’m a job Seeker. I’m looking for new opportunities and have been doing a lot of interviews” but when I asked her what kind of jobs? She said “Oh, you know something in the hotels area or also wellness area would be nice”, and she gave us two different titles and we went okay, but what industry are you really looking for?, “Oh, either is OK”. I thought you’re killing me, you’ve got to tell me what you want, because here is the thing that she didn’t realise and here’s the thing that I didn’t realise back in the day, people need to put you in a box. in order to take you out of it.
Be specific about the type of hospitality job you are searching for.
People need to know specifically what you want in your hospitality jobs search. And once they know what that is first, they can then think of things for you, they can think of what people to put you in touch with and say “Oh, you should meet my friend so-and-so, and you should meet this person who does something similar” Oh my friend works in that industry, but they’re in this department.”
You can’t connect people when you just say I’m looking for a job or I’m looking for a job in the casual dining industry, even then It’s a little too generic, right? They won’t know what to do with you. But once you’ve said what you want, then they can think of somewhere else to put you. They need to put you in the box to take you out of it.
So if you say “Oh I’d really love to do marketing for restaurant groups in South East Asia, that’s something that really interests me. I’m looking at specifically that area”. Then they can go, “Oh, well, I don’t know anyone looking for marketing candidates in restaurants groups right now, but I do have a friend who works in marketing in the wellness industry in that region, would you be interested in talking with them?
Here’s a different example of this just to prove the point.
Have you ever you been with a friend, spouse or partner and looked at them and said, where do you want to eat? And they reply I don’t know, I don’t really care… anywhere, it’s up to you, where would you like to eat? And then you say “oh, I want to go to a Chinese restaurant”, but then they say I don’t really fancy Chinese food today, I’d rather go for Italian cuisine. That’s really something that happens, but they had to hear something first to go, no, that’s not it. I want this other thing. It’s the same concept, right? You need to be specific with people.
Allow others to propose career openings in hospitality in Asia and beyond.
Don’t be scared that you are missing out on the job opportunity because you’re so specific. Once you’re specific about your hospitality jobs search they can then put you in touch with the specific right people, but they can also start thinking outside the box to peripheral options that might also be of interest to you. Let them come up with ideas around what could work for you? Don’t be so generic that they can’t figure out a way to help you at all, the more specific we are, the more people can help.
I’d like you to think about if you’ve been making this mistake and in the comments get specific. We can start to help each other, tell me what kind of jobs specifically you are looking for. I know other people read the comments so feel free to leave that below maybe one of us might be able to connect you with your next opportunity!
That’s all for today. Thanks so much, until next time!
Nathan.
Interested in more tips like this? Here’s my article on why a growth mindset is so important in Hospitalityhttps://cuttingedgerecruit.com/how-a-growth-mindset-is-the-key-for-your-career-success/
For something even more in depth our Ace The Interview course is going to take your interview success to the next level, click below
