Recruitment and hiring are two of the biggest challenges restaurant operators face. The restaurant industry is notorious for its high turnover rates, and in recent years restaurants have struggled with serious staffing shortages. Many owners are turning to restaurant hiring software for help.
Today, we have access to increasingly sophisticated restaurant technology to help with hiring. Advances like automation, machine learning, and AI can improve our ability to reach, recruit, and retain the very best candidates.
But how exactly can restaurant hiring software make recruitment easier? And how can an automated recruitment process improve your ability to reach the best candidates for your restaurant? Read on to find out.
Below, we take a closer look at some innovative ways you can use restaurant hiring software to improve your recruitment messaging, speed up the hiring process, and attract better candidates.
Your restaurant hiring software can simplify the job posting process by helping you create and post job listings on multiple platforms with a single click. This means you’ll be able to post job ads on all the top job sites at once, including Monster, Indeed, and ZipRecruiter. You may also be able to use your hiring software to boost your posts on popular social media channels like Facebook and LinkedIn.
Your restaurant hiring software can also help you optimize your digital ad campaign materials for search engines. Search engine optimization (SEO) is a strategy of using keywords, phrases, and formatting to make your ads more visible on search engines like Google and Bing. This increased visibility can help more qualified candidates find your job ads.
You can also use your restaurant hiring software to make it easier for candidates to apply. A growing number of digital hiring platforms now use QR codes to encourage higher response rates for job listings.
This method lets candidates apply for open positions by simply scanning a QR code and starting the process through text message. QR codes make applying faster and easier for candidates, especially younger workers who prefer to apply for jobs using their mobile device.
Some restaurant hiring software platforms are also using video conferencing technology to improve the interview process. For instance, WedgeHR provides user-friendly video interviewing software to speed up the applicant screening process, lower the time to hire, and provide employers with a deeper sense of how each applicant engages, interacts, and presents themselves.
You may also be able to use your restaurant hiring software to automate the vetting process. In fact, many restaurant hiring platforms already use built-in AI tools to help you screen candidates faster and more effectively.
The AI technology in your restaurant hiring software can make it easy to collect and analyze data on applicants, including communication skills, work history, and hospitality experience. AI solutions make it easy to automate and administer quizzes, questionnaires, and personality assessments.
Some restaurant hiring software platforms may even allow you to customize assessments based on exactly what you’re looking for in applicants, including past work experience, certifications, and availability. This gives you a degree of personalized control over the hiring process even when using an automated recruitment process to do the heavy lifting.
Restaurant hiring software makes it possible to streamline the on-boarding process. Look for an all-in-one platform like HigherMe that allows you to recruit, track, and hire prospective candidates all from a single dashboard. Thanks to cloud-based computing, it is now possible to perform a wide variety of previously disconnected hiring tasks all in one online place, and entirely without the need for paper documents.
This means you can consolidate every step in the on-boarding process in a single online location, where employees can submit applications, submit information for background checks, complete payroll forms, read company policies, view training videos, manage tax forms, and more.
This streamlined approach to on-boarding can speed up the hiring process, reduce the risk of error, and simplify the tasks of compiling, organizing, and securing employee information and data. (And who knows, maybe it can also help with retention, by making paperwork less frustrating for employees!)
Understanding your data better can improve your ability to target and communicate with qualified candidates. Look for a restaurant hiring software platform that does advanced data analytics for you. Your hiring software can crunch the numbers to tell you things like:
You can use these data points to improve your messaging, to focus only on job sites that get results, and to ultimately reduce your recruitment spend by figuring out which job campaign strategies are actually working.
There are dozens of platforms that can help with restaurant staff hiring. However, some require a subscription and can carry fees as high as hundreds of dollars a month. So before you invest in a software-based hiring solution for your restaurant, be sure to choose a provider that matches your budget, needs, and expectations.
The right restaurant hiring software may well be worth the investment. After all, a high quality hire can bring a big return on your investment.
Not sure where to begin? Schedule a call with me or another Back of House expert and we’ll help you figure out your options.