The Meaningful Hospitality Smart Hiring Guide

Transcription

1 The Meaningful Hospitality Smart Hiring Guide This guide will help you make smart hires by teaching you: What to look for in potential employees What questions to ask in an interview How to ensure you made the right decision

2 At Meaningful Hospitality we are all about creating meaningful experiences for others. This means we highly value how your guests are treated and hospitality your team provides. With more than 15 years of experience working in hospitality we have learned a great deal about how to help you create these experiences. It s without a doubt that the most foundational peace to great hospitality is smart hiring. We believe a business ability to create meaningful experiences for their guests is based on their ability to hire the right people. You need to know that you ve hired people that will buy into your mission and vision. You need to know that you ve hired people that will perform at a high level. You need to know know that you ve hired people who are obsessed with creating meaningful experiences for your guests. If you know these things, you know you ve made a smart hire. We ve built a framework that will help ensure that you ve made a smart hire. This framework is built on two core ideas. 1. Every employee must be a culture fit 2. Every employee must be a high performer Through building a hiring process based on these two core pillars, you will be able to hire the right people who will be sure to create meaningful experiences for your guests. In this guide we have three sections that will teach you how to hire people who fit your culture and are high performers 1. 6 tips on identifying a culture fit 2. 5 tips on identifying a high performer 3. Smart hiring checklist

3 What is a culture fit? A culture fit is someone who is able to buy into your mission vision and goals. A culture fit is someone who is prime to fit in with with leadership and existing team members. You may have a great deal of applicants who have the appropriate skills to succeed in their role at your company, but that does not mean they are automatically a culture fit. In fact, it will cause your company damage to hire someone who may be skilled, but does not fit into your culture. You must hire someone who is prone to think the way you think. Someone who values your values. Someone who fits into your culture. We have 6 tips that will help you find a perfect culture fit for your company.

4 CULTURE FIT - TIP 1 INTERNAL AUDIT Conducting an internal audit among your team allows you to clearly identify the specific needs you have in your company. This is important in finding a culture fit because you must ensure that your new hire is filling an actual need in your company. If you are able to find someone who can fill real hole they will seamlessly fit into your culture. But if you hire someone who does not truly belong in the system, they will cause friction and ultimately harm your company culture. ACTION STEPS: Have all team members write what they perceive their job description to be. Have them list their daily tasks and approximate the hours they spend on each task per week Have each team member rank their tasks on a scale of 1-5. ( 1=dislike 5=love) Identify the tasks that your team is spending too much time on and what they don't like. This will help identify the type of person you need to hire in your company. BONUS: An amazing part of conducting an internal audit is that it allows you an opportunity to see how your current team members are doing, where they are thriving, and if they are where they need to be within your company.

5 CULTURE FIT - TIP 2 IDENTIFY YOUR PERFECT EMPLOYEE In order to find someone who will fit into your culture you need to identify the specific details that outline the ideal employee. Some of these details could include: What specific days of the week and hours do you need this employee to work? Do they have flexibility in their schedule to participate in community/company events? What's the ideal education you desire this employee to have? How much experience do you need this employee to have? What is the ideal personality you would like to see in this specific position? What type of personality will co-exist with and elevate your current team? What are the values in your company they must be compatible with? The likelihood of you finding someone who has every trait your list is low. But by identifying the major things you need in an employee will help the right person stick out. ACTION STEPS: Write down the most important traits of your perfect new employee and rank them from most important to least important. Make sure to keep these traits close so you can reference them throughout the hiring process. As you are going through the interview and hiring process score the applicants compatibility with your list

6 CULTURE FIT - TIP 3 WRITE A SMART JOB OFFER Through writing a smart job offer you will increase the likelihood of attracting the type of employees you would like to hire. If you have a clear job description some applicants will rule themselves out because they know this specific job is not for them. This will leave you with a great pool prospects to put through your hiring system. ACTION STEPS Be sure to give enough information so the candidate will know exactly what to expect from the job. Use your internal audit and identification of the perfect employee to inform your job offer. Your posting should focus on the character traits of the person you are looking to hire, not their skill set. You want to attract personalities that will fit into your culture. Skills are much easier to teach than personalities. Word your job offering as an opportunity for the candidate rather than a job. Show them that the work done at your company is meaningful. Click the following link to see some examples of a smart job offer.

7 CULTURE FIT - TIP 4 LOOK FOR COMPANY VALUES At Meaningful Hospitality we believe every company should have a Common Mission, Common Values, and Common Goals. When interviewing potential team members it s important that your candidate aligns with your company's common values. Common Values are how your company articulates what's important. They are specific traits that allow your Common Mission to be accomplished. Click the following link to learn more about company values. ( If you don t have them you need them) Once you have your list of company values you must do everything you can to ensure your new hire parallels your values. To find someone with similar values as your company means they will be an amazing culture fit! ACTION STEPS Make a list of your company values. On your application make a list of potential company values of those values should be your company values. Ask your applicant to choose 3-4 values on the list and explain why they are important. See if they highlight your company values. When asking interview questions have a list of your company values and mark down every time an applicant mentions or implies your values in their life A GREAT QUESTION TO ASK: What is your personal mission statement? - The applicant may not have a mission statement of their own, but it will force them to quickly think about what is important to them. This will give you insight to their personal values.

8 CULTURE FIT - TIP 5 STAGE This is perhaps one of the most underused tools when finding a culture fit. Stage is a term commonly used in a restaurant industry where a cook will work at a restaurant for a few months to show off their skills. This allows the chef to see if they have what it takes to work in that particular kitchen. While many restaurants use a stage to measure one's skill set, I believe it s best use is identifying a culture fit. In whatever your work context is, you should find space in your hiring budget to bring your top prospects in for a few hours to work and complete some direct tasks in your work space. When they are working you want to see how they are exemplifying your company values and how they fit in with your existing company culture. Be sure to give them a good range of tasks and obstacles they may face while on the job. It s important that you get a potential hire around your team before your commit to hiring them. This way you can see how they will interact with your team and your guests. BONUS: This gives you a chance to empower your existing team members in the hiring process. It s a beautiful way to give your existing team ownership over their work. They know better than anyone who will fit into your culture. Make sure to ask existing team members about the employe who had just staged at your company.

9 CULTURE FIT - TIP 6 TRIAL PERIOD Once you ve gone through the entire hiring process and have decided that you have someone you like, that does not necessarily mean you ve made a smart hire. While you can use the tips above to raise the probability of hiring a culture fit you will never really know if an applicant will fit into your culture until they spend some significant time in your space with your people. This is where the trial period comes in. Create a system somewhere between 3 weeks and 3 months where a team member can start working and training within your company. During this time you are to be extra keen of their compatibility within your culture and your team. If you sense that your new hire is not as much of a cultural fit as you thought, it will be in your best interest to let them go as soon as possible. There must be an understanding between you and your new hire that if there is disconnect between the company culture and the applicant that they will need to seek employment somewhere else. You ve heard the saying hire slow and fire fiast? Implementing a trial period is a clear way you can apply this wisdom to your hiring process.

10 What is a high performer? A high performer is someone who you know will perform at a high level in your company. You may hire someone who has a very high skill set in your industry, but that does not necessarily mean they will perform well in your specific context. You also may find someone who is a culture fit, but will not inherently serve the specific needs of your company in a strong way. This is why it's important to find a high performer. When you hire a high performer, you hiring someone who will do everything they can to reach the best results for your company. The following 5 tips will help you identify a high performer in your company.

11 HIGH PERFORMER - TIP 1 SEEK PASSION/INTEREST It may seem obvious, but if someone is not highly passionate about the work they are doing, they will not perform their work at a high level. It s important to note that an applicant may be very passionate about your company or passionate about the prospect of getting a job with you, but that does not mean they are specifically interested in the work they would be doing doing. You must seek out an applicant that has a passion to do the specific work you need them to do. The higher their passion and interest in the specific work the higher they will perform. SOME GREAT QUESTIONS TO ASK: What kind of questions do you have for me? - Pay attention if the applicant asks questions about the work they are doing. Does it seem like they are more interested in their specific work or more interested in pay scale and their time off? What part of the job description are you least/most excited about? - This is a very clear and direct way to identify their specific interests an applicant has in the job description. What have you done to prepare yourself for this job? - You are looking for an applicant who has shown interest in this type of work prior to the interview. They don t need to have had a job in the industry, but they do have to have shown interest in int. It may be as simple as listening to a podcast or watching a youtube channel or as extensive as taking a class. What matters is that they ve shown some interest and passion in this specific job on their own when the job was not on the line.

12 HIGH PERFORMER - TIP 2 SEEK STORIES OF PERSISTENCE A high performer is someone who will do whatever it takes to complete their work despite the circumstances they face. In order to work this way they need persistence. Of course if you are to ask someone if they are persistent in their work they will say yes. What you want to look for is multiple stories from the applicants personal life that exemplify perstance. An applicants past actions are a clear window into their future actions. If they can tell you stories of persistence in their past life, the likelihood that they will be persistent in the future is high. You want to hear specific stories both from the applicant and their references that show persistence in the life of the applicant. SOME GREAT QUESTIONS TO ASK: What are you most proud of in your life so far? - Was it a story where they had to overcome and persevere over something? Can you tell me a time in work or life when you completed a task despite all odds? - You want to look for a different story of real perseverance - Follow that question with: can you tell me another time when you completed a task despite all odds? - It s important that the applicant has multiple examples of persistence that show their character. One example is not enough proof

13 HIGH PERFORMER - TIP 3 MEASURE INTERNAL MOTIVATION VS. EXTERNAL MOTIVATION In order to find a high performer you must be able to identify the difference between an internally motivated and externally motivated person. An externally motivated person requires an outside source of inspiration to do their work at a high level. They need a manager there to hold them accountable. They need to constantly be listening to talks or reading books in order to stay inspired. Internally motivated people have an inherent desire to do a good job no matter what. They are the ones who wake up ready to go. They don t require outside motivation, they motivate themselves and work hard. You want someone who is internally motivated. Someone who is more than willing to go above and beyond simply because that's who they are, not because someone else is requiring them to. ACTION STEPS: Call the applicants references and ask about the integrity of the applicant. Ask if the boss trusted the applicant to do an outstanding job even if the boss was not on sight. Ask the reference for some specific examples when the applicant did the right thing even when the applicant didn t know the boss knew about it You want to hear multiple stories about when the applicant went above and beyond even when no one knew about it. REMEMBER: Past actions are a great indicator for future actions. Be sure to find past stories that open a window into the future

14 HIGH PERFORMER - TIP 4 PERCEPTION OF CONTROL A person who believes they have control over their life is someone you want to hire. There are people out there who try to relinquish control over their life so they don t have to have to bear the weight of responsibility. They blame their parents, their boss, or the government for everything wrong in their life. Everyone wants a solution to their problems at life or at work. But not everyone is willing to do the work necessary to find the solutions to those problems. The person who believes they are in control over their life is the one who believes they will succeed, despite their circumstances, and will work to to ensure success happens. This is the person you want to hire. If someone believes they have control over their life, they will also believe they have control over their job. This means they will perform at a high level for you. SOME GREAT QUESTIONS TO ASK: Tell me about the worst boss you ve ever had - This will give you insight into a time where things may have been out of their control. The key to this question is the follow up question: How did you work despite that difficult boss? - It s in this answer that you see how much control the applicant believes they have. Did they blame the boss and say there was nothing they could do? OR did they truly show an effort despite the difficult circumstances?

15 HIGH PERFORMER - TIP 5 SEEK INTUITION A high performer is someone who has a good natural intuition. They are flexible and are not easily flustered by a surprise or unexpected problems. If an applicant does not seem to be flexible or have a good intuition they will be easily distracted by simple problems and will not perform on a high level. Throughout the interview process it would be wise to give the applicant a few unexpected questions or problems to solve. The goal is not to stump the applicant. It really doesn't even matter if they get the questions right or wrong. What matters is their effort and willingness to actually solve the problem. Does it throw them off or do they have the attitude and intuition that allows them to solve the problem? ACTION STEPS: Come up with a very specific problem you can present the applicant to solve in the moment. Can you please edit all the errors out of this ? Can you try and fix this broken printer? Are you willing to try and solve this rubik's cube in 3 min or less? SOME GREAT QUESTIONS TO ASK: How many skittles would it take to fill this room? - Remember, the answer does not matter. It s how they answer. Do they make a confident guess? Do they think the question is silly? Do they even answer it at all? How would you catch a unicorn? - Do they come up with a creative answer? Do they actually come up with an idea that could actually catch a unicorn or do they try and skirt around the answer?