If you thought finding a restaurant worker was tough, try finding a restaurant manager. Restaurant managers have a mix of skillsets, from hiring and managing staff to handling customers and chefs, payroll, HR, scheduling, ordering, and so much more. Finding this kind of chameleon in the forest of candidates takes skill, effort, and a knack for knowing the right places to look. This blog will share some best practices for hunting for the elusive restaurant manager.
How To Find the Best Restaurant Manager Candidates
Start with the job description. Finding the right fit takes knowing exactly what you’re looking for, but we so often seem to recruit on the fly that it makes it harder than it needs to be to find a good candidate. Take time to create an appealing job description from the perspective of the candidate. Instead of listing responsibilities, create a description that explains why a good manager would want to come work for your company. What are the “selling points,” in addition to job responsibilities? Once you’ve figured this out, post the ad on every job board you can find, in addition to on your website. Some of the best hospitality-related job boards include:
You can also post on traditional job sites like Glassdoor, Indeed, Monster, or ZipRecruiter.
Tip: Job board posting can be unwieldy and expensive to manage. But if you work with a staffing agency like Gecko Hospitality, we do the work and handle the risk. We may even have a restaurant manager already in the funnel, just waiting for your call!
Social media is a must-have presence for any company seeking new restaurant managers. This can’t be a one-off; these channels change at the speed of our digital universe, so you should post, share, and post again to further your reach and stay top of mind. You can use your restaurant’s social media profiles on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn (or other venues) to post a link to your ad. But also, don’t forget to ask your employees if they know anyone and if they would be willing to share your social post. You may consider ads on these social channels. Most are “click to play,” which means you pay a preset fee for every person that clicks on your ad.
Direct sourcing your candidates is a trick most recruiting firms use. This is a proactive approach that reaches the passive job candidate before they even apply. Most experienced restaurant managers have a LinkedIn profile. While this is a time-consuming process, you can search for the candidates that fit your criteria and email them through that platform, inviting them to apply.
Tip: If you have a basic LinkedIn membership, the portal will limit the number of emails you can send. But you can invite anyone you want into your network as an individual member. When you invite a potential job candidate, the platform gives you room to write a note in the email. That’s a good place to put your job link and invite the candidate to apply.
While these are just a few of our best tips for finding a restaurant manager, the number one best practice we recommend is to call Gecko Hospitality. We have candidates standing by that may fit your open position perfectly. Contact us today to find out more.
