List Jobs Hiring
Recruit Like The Marines; Improving Your Hiring Process Today For Better Hires Tomorrow
Rumor has it the economy is recovering slightly. There are some positive signs, but the floodgates have not opened. In fact, there are predictions of another lean year or two before we see some heavy movement. With that said, hiring is probably not top-of-mind for you. But, that is a mistake. While I fully agree that this is not the time to hire people, it is absolutely the time to refine your hiring process. Investing time in that now will save you time and money when you do start hiring again.
People often ask me what makes the Marine Corps so good at making Marines. They draw from the same pool of candidates all the other services do, yet somehow, they make Marines out of civilians--Marines who fight our battles and make us proud to be Americans. Well, I have a secret for you. It isn't boot camp and it isn't the drill instructor, although those are critically important. It is the selection process. Marine recruiters find people who want to be Marines. That makes training and motivating a whole lot easier. In other words, they find people who are better-suited to be Marines. You can do this, too.
A number of firms are putting technology to work for them and creating job profiles, or benchmarks. These profiles describe the ideal candidate and are created through a facilitated discussion of key employees who then complete an online assessment to create an objective benchmark. Candidates who make it onto the short list then take the same assessment, and the hiring firm is able to compare the candidate to the ideal. Of course, few people will be an exact match, but the fewer deviations from the ideal, the stronger the candidate. In areas where the candidate does not match the benchmark, you are now able to interview in more depth. In fact, a good benchmark will have a library of interview questions for you to use in the interview process. These will target the most important areas for success in the job. These questions alone are a benefit of creating the benchmark, but the real value comes in improving the quality of your hiring process.
Unstructured interviews are reported to be about 30% effective in making a good hire. A simple personality assessment will give you additional information on the candidate, thereby pushing the likelihood of a good hire toward 40%. However, a benchmark comparison can increase your hiring hit rate to 70%. That means if you are hiring ten people this year, seven of them will be highly likely to succeed in your organization--whereas in the past, without a benchmark, perhaps three of them would have done anything to enhance your organization.
The implications here are obvious: you do a better job hiring people, and your turnover rate drops. This makes you money. Bringing on better-suited employees allows them to make a bigger impact from Day One. This makes you money. You are more efficient and effective in your hiring process, and the process itself is more streamlined. This, too, makes you more money.
Some folks worry that it will take too much time to set up. Actually, it only takes a few hours to create and review a benchmark for a job. Others tell me they already know how to hire; they don't need this. But their hit rates on successful hires are no better than anyone else's. Why not make them better? Some complain that it is too expensive. But, if you consider that the cost of a new hire is a two to five times multiple of base salary, I find that argument pretty weak. In other words, there are plenty of weak reasons not to consider doing this, but several strong ones to actually do it.
The benchmark will look at personal attributes, values and behaviors. Personally, I find the values part pretty compelling, because it helps me know what makes a person tick. They may have all the "right" attributes and behaviors. But if they're driven by something that has nothing to do with your firm, that will hurt you in the long run. For example, "Joe" may have a history as an outstanding salesman. So, you're wondering why he is not having success selling widgets for your company. What you don't know is that Joe has a very strong social drive. He would be a much better fit selling products for Greenpeace. Sure, that's an oversimplification, but you get the idea. The point is that if I can understand what drives someone, I can better motivate them--or better realize that they won't fit in my organization. I can get similar information about attributes and behaviors. You may have a job that requires a high degree of customer focus and interaction, and find you have someone who does not share your commitment to that attribute.
The traditional hiring process used an application, an interview filled with personal bias and baggage, and poorly-done reference checks. Today, fewer people do reference checks, so they are losing an important data point. The addition of a benchmark adds an entirely new set of data to the hiring decision, and enables you to compare candidates to make the best decision. Bill Bonstetter, President of TTI, a pioneer in creating job benchmarks, puts it this way: "Ultimately, the process leads to a complete understanding of the knowledge, intrinsic motivators, personal attributes, behaviors and hard skills required for each key accountability in the job."
I put it this way: You figure out what you are really looking for, and then you find it. If it works for the Marines, it will probably work for you, too.
About the Author
Wally Adamchik is President of FireStarter Speaking & Consulting, a national leadership consulting firm based in Raleigh, NC. Visit his website at
www.FireStarterSpeaking.com
or email him at [email protected]
what are some good websites to find local jobs in your area?
Looking for websites that are able to list jobs that are currently hiring in your state, city or even county?
So no monster,career builder, or snagajob because those leads are false
Try Gumtree.co.uk
It's a good site. I have used it many times
List Jobs Hiring
LinkedIn Job Seeker features: Move to the top of the list
When Hiring a Chef for your Restaurant
Hiring a chef for your restaurant is not going to be as easy as you think it will be. An outstanding chef can demand a sizeable compensation package and may only be good at preparing outstanding dishes and be very poor at managing the kitchen. Finding one that can do both is the trick.
Chef schools are a good source for finding newly minted chefs, but they will rarely have any management experience. If you can continue to run the kitchen as the new chef learns the ropes of leading the staff, then this may be a possible solution. If you want someone to take over the kitchen from top to bottom, this is going to cost some money and your restaurant may be just a resume-building job in the eyes of the newly hired chef. This is a sticky problem for a restaurant owner. If you are off the beaten track, this will make it harder to attract a really good chef, unless they are just tired of the rat race in the big city. Small towns are not a show place for a talented chef. If their intention is to build a reputation for future use, then your restaurant will not fill the bill.
Chef schools
Chef schools are expensive and are supposed to be a three-year curriculum, but are often only a one-year course before the student is offered a great opportunity with a big hotel or casino. This competition for these young people will make your offer more difficult to stand above the rest. There is such a demand for quality chefs and the supply is limited. Newly trained chefs can prepare great food, but they have no experience in running a kitchen or managing the staff. This part of a chef’s job takes time to learn and you will have to be the teacher of how to manage people, buy for the kitchen and plan for easily delivered meals. If you are not in an upscale area, then you will face the problem of the chef wanting to become known and your restaurant not allowing for that to happen. These people realize that there is a difference between being in the big leagues and playing in a small market. The other factor in finding a chef from these schools is the students are constantly offered jobs in restaurant chains and hotel chains. Your offer to them will have to be very competitive and enticing as to the freedom you may be able to offer compared with a chain operation. You still will not gain a chef with managerial experience.
Listing job on the web
There are websites that allow restaurant owners to post jobs for chefs. These sites are another possible source for finding a candidate for your business. The advantage to the owner of the restaurant is they can list the requirements of the job. Job requirements can eliminate some people who would not have qualified for your job. The chefs who do respond will have different levels of experience and capabilities. Running the kitchen, ordering the ingredients and being able to put out quality food are important elements for a solid chef. Imagination and food knowledge will also come in various levels. Finding a chef you can afford that can also do the job is going to be like trying on shoes. Some will fit well and some would never work out. Those that fit will need to be looked at as to working compatibility. A candidate may have all of the requirements and be very difficult to work with over time. This situation will not work out for the restaurant owner.
Compensation
Structuring the pay to the chef can be worked out in many ways. Straight pay for hours is the obvious way to pay the chef. This may not work, as you cannot come up with enough pay under your current situation. Performance pay connected with a guarantee is one of the ways you may be able to compete with the big boys. Sales improvement is easy to calculate and is an obvious way to show growth of the restaurant.
A percentage of ownership for the right person may also be a way to get a really capable person. This also has the advantage of binding a quality chef to the operation. In the right situation this may offer the best option of all.
A contract between the owner and the chef is not unusual. The contract will detail exactly what the duties are and how they will be paid. Any really qualified person is going to demand that the agreement be put in writing so that both parties know what was agreed to between the owner and the chef.
Training of staff and education
A good chef will by example show the staff how to complete the work in the kitchen. He will know all aspects of the job and be able to show or demonstrate what he wants from the kitchen staff. If the chef is also a good teacher, you have a winner as this talent can be multiplied. Teaching the staff the correct way to run a kitchen will increase efficiency and lower cost. This will help the bottom line of the restaurant.
A chef that is worried about giving up his secrets is detrimental in the long run. You learn by doing. Asking questions and trying a new ways of doing things can find improvements. New specials are discovered this way all of the time in quality restaurants. Sharing knowledge and answering questions helps all involved grow. New restaurant dishes are the result of experimentation and trying out a new idea. If this is not done, the growth will be slow to non-existent. Restaurants live on reputation and quality of food and service. The reputation is not a given and must be earned over time.
Conclusions
Finding a chef is not like hiring wait staff. Many people can serve food. A good chef must be looked for, given reasons to join your restaurant and then compensated in a way that meets the competition. This will be a major expense to a restaurant that may or may not be covered by an increase in business. It could however give the owner more free time and not be such a slave to the business. Some owners would be happy with that trade off. Others want the talent of the chef to increase the sales and add to the bottom line.
Advertising on the internet and in larger city newspapers may be useful in getting some possible candidates. Chef schools could also be a source for chef for your business. The problem most restaurants have is the chefs are in demand and can be very difficult to hire. Their expense will not be small as their reputation or skill will be what you are hiring and not everyone can do the job. This accounts for the shortage of good chefs. Schools that teach are constantly raided for half trained chefs. This makes finding a chef you can hire and afford a problem that you may have to spend a lot of time doing. The chefs have the advantage at this time.
About the Author
Bill Henthorn formerly was principal broker and owner of a resort / commercial real estate brokerage in Honolulu which specialized in representing sellers in transactions up to $50MM.He currently serves as the marketing director of http://www.acquireo.com
|
|
Wallmonkeys Peel and Stick Wall Decals - Classified Now Hiring Ad - Removable Graphic WallMonkeys wall graphics are printed on the highest quality re-positionable, self-adhesive fabric paper. Each order is printed in-house and on-demand. WallMonkeys uses premium materials & state-of-the-art production technologies. Our white fabric material is superior to vinyl decals. You can literally see and feel the difference. Our wall graphics apply in minutes and won't damage your paint or l... |
|
|
The Greatest Job Ever: Your key to the top of any fire department hiring list This three-disc interactive DVD course guides the fire service applicant through the difficult process of getting a fire service job in the United States, covering how to pass the written, psychological, video-based assessments, and medical screenings, how to prepare for the physical agility test, and how to pass the oral boards and shine in the chief's interview. The set also contains two mock or... |
|
|
Cracking the Coding Interview: 150 Programming Questions and Solutions $33.99 Now in the 5th edition, Cracking the Coding Interview gives you the interview preparation you need to get the top software developer jobs. This is a deeply technical book and focuses on the software engineering skills to ace your interview. The book is over 500 pages and includes 150 programming interview questions and answers, as well as other advice. The full list of topics are as follows:The I... |
|
|
Who: The A Method for Hiring $9.72 In this instant New York Times Bestseller, Geoff Smart and Randy Street provide a simple, practical, and effective solution to what The Economist calls âthe single biggest problem in business todayâ: unsuccessful hiring. The average hiring mistake costs a company $1.5 million or more a year and countless wasted hours. This statistic becomes even more startling when you consider that the ... |
|
|
The Google Resume: How to Prepare for a Career and Land a Job at Apple, Microsoft, Google, or any Top Tech Company $12.51 The Google Resume is the only book available on how to win a coveted spot at Google, Microsoft, Apple, or other top tech firms. Gayle Laakmann McDowell worked in Google Engineering for three years, where she served on the hiring committee and interviewed over 120 candidates. She interned for Microsoft and Apple, and interviewed with and received offers from ten tech firms. If youâre a student... |