Changing The Hiring Game

There are multiple alternatives out there for those seeking to hire employees and those seeking to be employed. The problem is not one of agencies and availability of sources for employees; the challenge is finding the right match. We ask Mark Dickinson, CEO of Done! Hospitality Training Solutions, to tell us about the current status and future direction of online recruitment

Online recruiters have become a funnel for sourcing candidates. They screen and pass along the most suitable ones to employers, who then undertake the traditional paper and face to face interview process (physically or by Skype) at the end of the pipeline. By entering one's own CV online into one of these systems, one becomes more of a number in a machine and less of an individual. The challenge of being a part of an online database of candidates is that you secede control of your key product 'Yourself', and put yourself at the mercy of the numbers game. In our online database we have over 50,000 candidates registered. Each one of them has filled in information concerning their criteria. When a customer seeks a candidate it is the computer that produces the matches. Then when the ideal candidate is identified, the software can clone that candidate and you will have similar people from within the database, past or present employed or not, as a suggested fit for the available vacancy. So the game for online recruitment agencies is to get a volume of quality candidates loaded into the system so that they have sufficient database to feed the available opportunities. And, on the other hand, they also have to have sufficient clients requesting candidates to ensure that they succeed financially through placing people in jobs.

Is Linkedin one of the most well-known and reliable sources?

Yes. The reason Linkedin is so powerful is because of the business/professional social-network that it is based upon. It enables employers to see potential candidate's profiles and see what he or she has been accredited for by his or her own connections. This goes a long way to helping an employer in determining the successful qualities of a potential candidate.

What about others: Monster gulf, for example?

There are great agencies out there; however they are mostly one way pipelines, processing candidates to their customers, the employers. Monster gulf and Caterer Global are two of the bigger ones in our region, both doing an excellent job of supplying candidates. They display a wide selection of opportunities on their websites and await candidate registrations. Agencies do not generally truly represent a candidate, and do not make agreements with individual job hunters to assist them until they are hired in a position of their choice. There would probably be a good business opportunity here.

What is the caliber of people applying online and to which vacancies?

The beauty of online is that there are many types of agencies, boutiques for executives, executive search companies, and mass recruiters. As global connectivity accelerates, the greater access there is to agencies, resulting in the broader diversification of candidates.

What are classic recruiters doing to face the tech-Invasion?

The smart recruiters are doing what they always did: investing in great personal relationships with their clients' HR managers and owners. They don't cut corners; they screen more tightly and provide strong personal guarantees for replacements.

 Which companies recruit online?

I think probably a fairer question would be, "Which one's don't?" Today, companies should recruit online as part of diversifying their search for qualified candidates.

What are the advantages and the disadvantages of recruiting through Linkedin directly rather than a reliable recruitment agency?

The advantage of Linkedin for a company recruiting is that their HR will most likely have a first or second level connection with many of the candidates and can find out about that person pretty easily. This entails a higher level of work on the part of the company seeking employees, but may give them a greater sense of security. Again, it depends upon who is recruiting. If it is a large business starting up in the GCC, then many of their employees will be fresh hires from Asian countries. There the online agency will not help as much as a personal relationship with a recruiter who has proved his worth by delivering high quality personnel in the past. The key disadvantage of Linkedin is that it is time intensive, and the employees managing the search have to be aware of what they are really looking for. Additionally there are no guarantees or replacements available should the employment agreement not work out. Just because an agency is online does not make it less reliable. Monster gulf have a terrific follow up and will keep on following for as long as it takes to deliver the type of personal that clients want. Online executive recruitment agencies rarely want to speak with candidates; they first identify potential candidates through their databases until they find a profile fit. After a preliminary check on that candidate, they will typically present a headliner for the client to see which candidate attracts them. Once a client indicates an interest then the recruiter will get in touch with the candidate and prepare them for the interview. Candidates often report a sense of frustration with agencies because once they submit their profile they anticipate an immediate response. The reality is rather different, and for candidates it is a 'sit and wait' game.

Is this a fad or have recruiting agencies truly been bypassed?

Agencies have only been bypassed if they have allowed themselves to be. There are some classical laces to face only agencies that are doing more business today than they have ever done, and cannot keep up with demand. There are online agencies that cannot find sufficient clients to keep their candidates happy and are therefore unable to sustain their overheads.

In our opinion online is not a fad, neither is it the end of face to face' agencies. As in all business, success will go to those who understand how to create a unique combination of all the tools available, and are able to adapt their business model to take advantage of them. Simultaneously, agencies should be seeking additional spokes to their wheel of products that add greater value to their customers, thus ensuring their place for the future. 

ENTRUSTING THE RIGHT PEOPLE TO SHARE YOUR MESSAGE IS AS EASY AS ABC

Master Trainer Mark Dickinson focuses on the power of Traditional training

"Every customer is going to walk away as a brand ambassador that sells your restaurants to their friends or family"

Your passion has grown. Maybe you started off with a small restaurant that you poured all your love into. But now, it is no longer just you and your family and friends making a fun company that you are happy to run; it has become serious & Now its a business. As the business has grown the finer touches slip through your fingers like grains of fine sand. And, the more you try to grasp at them, the less effective you become. You have people working for you and though you are sure that they try their best they don’t quite seem to understand the feeling that you have been trying to propagate in your business. You’ve hired managers to help your business grow. And grow it has; so much so that you are now far away from the front lines.

But what of the customer?

They were the special individuals that you used to welcome personally into your restaurant for lunch and dinner, day in. d’ out You were always there. If you weren’t feeling 100 percent then you would at least grab a stool and sit in the back corner of your restaurant so that you could see what was going on. But today your customers rave become just numbers on a page. They contribute to your bottom line. They are a part of the KPI’s that you push your managers to deliver. so that you grown and serve even more customers, and make more profit It has become a circle. With the customer at the center, but never really the focus.

           As your business grows it is right to leverage every reasonable opportunity to expand. But what if there was an equal amount of effort being focused on the customer? Here are two questions that you need to answer:

·         ‘What If every new customer you served was a referral?

·         ‘What If you stilt had every single customer you ever had?

How would business be? Wouldn’t it be the best it’s ever been? Of course! Owners become busy and hire managers to help them. Managers become busy taking care of everything around them. Who focuses on taking care of the customers? So often it is just the front line employee, doing the best they can in the best that they think things should be done. He or she does not understand the performance that you want. They serve customers in the quickest way using the knowledge that they have. But is that good enough? Absolutely not! For years we hear managers and corporate people shouting about how employees are the pillars of the company, but they are not living that out in reality. It is time to convey the skills and experience and talent that seeded your business. Give it to these front line people and they will be true guardians of your customers.

The way to do it is ABC.

Create trainers. Create people in your organization that Love to share knowledge with others. There is always at Least one person that wants to deliver the standards in a fun and memorable way. ABC will ensure that every training session reaches its target. It is a time-honored system that has been handed down through the training industry for decades.

A=ATTENTION –

• Welcome people business

. • Record their attendance

• Tell them why they are here

• Break the ice

• Tell them what they will know and understand by the end of the session

B = BREAKDOWN

• Tell them what you want to tell them and show them how to do it

• Ask questions

• Get them to tell you what they are going to do, Showing you as they go along

• Praise them and ask them if they can do it alone

• Get them to do it

• Praise them and ask questions to cover the key points

C=CHECK

• Praise everyone for their contribution and attention

• Review and confirm the key points

• Link forward to the next session

• Thank them for being a part of your session

Every training session depends upon these three pillars.

Attention - Bring people in and tell them what they are going to learn. Make it attractive so they feel they will get something out of it.

Breakdown - Tell them exactly what you want, and show them how you want it done, getting them to show you that they can do what you have trained them to do.

Check - Finally, ensure that they ‘got it’. Pepper the sessions with an abundance of praise and above all encourage employees to think of training as the knowledge transfer that will inspire them, and transform their lives.

Real training is a powerful and positive experience for trainer and trainee alike, and the owners benefit more than they could ever A imagine from an investment at the front end. After alt the mistakes that create the greatest challenges to your invariably take place between customer and server that is where you need to hone your skills and ensure that every customer is going to walk away as a brand ambassador that sells your restaurant to their friends and family. Train the Trainer is a powerful tool to help build the business. The tools that we created in the last article are the ones that our trainers use to ensure that our team is all working towards one goal. Practice builds strength. By doing something over and over S you build a reflex reaction that causes you to do a task without thinking about it. And once the team has been trained, then it is time to grow to the next level and develop group training skills where managers learn to be great speakers and presenters so that they can capitalize on the strengths of the people within the team through giving advanced training sessions.

Managers need to remember: The better trained the team, the Less work there is to do!

Owners need to remember: Training is always an investment and will always inspire people to grow and reduce team member turnover.

Everyone needs to remember: Training makes CHECK happy and confident employees. Happy and confident employees create happy customers and spread it throughout the team.