Finding great staff members to work in your restaurant is tough. Today’s business climate makes it difficult to draw potential hires to your business and away from your competition. After all, they are likely also looking for staff to work. In today’s blog post, we’ll teach you how to draw in high school and college-aged employees through restaurant staffing strategies. They’re sure to bring life and energy to the workplace!
Gen-Z is commonly defined as people born from about the year 2000 to around the year 2010. These hardworking young people are the perfect candidates to fill the vacancies in your restaurant’s staff. Restaurant staffing strategies, though, aren’t always calibrated correctly to bring your business onto the radar of gen-z potential employees. In this blog post, we’ll outline some general strategies for restaurant staffing that apply particularly to gen-z hiring candidates.
Why Hire Gen-Z Staff Members?
First of all, you may wonder why you should target gen-z hiring candidates in the first place. In tough times for restaurant staffing, targeting a different group than your competitors or who you ordinarily target can help restaurant staffing. Also, gen-z employees are eager to work. They usually are college or high school students who are using their earnings to finance their education or other living expenses. They bring new energy to your business and help draw in a younger crowd of customers. Gen-z staff members also often have friends that are looking for jobs, too! This is great for two reasons. Recruiting is easier when your staff members can draw in their friends. Plus, gen-z staff members often have friends who will come and visit your restaurant, too, especially if you offer discounts or perks for friends of staff members.
Digital Restaurant Staffing Strategies for a Digital Generation
Gen-z grew up with the internet, so make getting all of the information about your open positions easy to access online. Of course, online applications are also a must. Make sure that you advertise your openings well on all of your social media platforms. This may seem like a no-brainer, but advertising on social media is a restaurant staffing strategy that is sometimes overlooked or undervalued. Social media posts can be easily shared via messages or comment tags in a way that physical advertisements can’t.
Offer Restaurant Staffing Benefits to Entice Gen-Z Staff
Restaurant benefits are something that many employers are reluctant to offer beyond the bare minimum required of them, but this likely won’t go over very well with many current job seekers, including potential gen-z hires. With so many potential workplaces available at the moment, your restaurant will need to go above and beyond to stand out. Raising your starting wage, especially at a time when life expenses are rising, is a good place to start. Also, having comprehensive sick leave policies and being transparent about how you’re taking employee safety into consideration are important as well.
We hope that these general tips were helpful to you as you work to draw gen-z employees into your business. Best of luck with your restaurant staffing!
