Recruitment - finding and keeping reliable staff

The majority of licensees would say one of their biggest problems is finding and maintaining reliable staff. John Porter offers advice on recruiting and keeping a workforce.

Despite the Government's best efforts to keep the trade guessing about issues such as licensing reform, the move to local authority control, and full pint legislation, national concerns naturally aren't right at the top of the average publican's list of headaches.

Most would probably list their biggest problem as making sure that they have enough reliable, efficient staff to keep the customers happy and the pub running successfully.

Responses from pub operators to the survey carried out for The Publican Industry Report 2002, published last month, showed recruitment clearly ahead of competition, red tape and licensing reform as the biggest problem they expect to face during 2002.

This is despite a series of Government and trade initiatives in recent years aimed at encouraging more people, particularly at entry level, to consider the trade as a career.

For example, the British Institute of Innkeeping's Careers UK programme has had considerable success in developing links between education and the industry to raise the awareness of the range of career opportunities that exist in the pub sector. Many pub operators have also taken on staff though the New Deal initiative, which provides employers with support for training.

Nevertheless, recent research carried out for the BII by Professor Conrad Lashley of Leeds Metropolitan University shows just how important it is to get the basic recruitment process right. The average staff turnover in the industry is 180 per cent, which in practical terms means publicans have to replace each member of staff roughly twice a year. If you're lucky, in a typical leased or tenanted pub that probably averages out as a couple of long-serving bar staff and a succession of youngsters who have to be replaced every couple of months.

That may be all you're looking for. The advantage of employing students or other part-timers who may not be looking for a career behind the bar is that they're relatively cheap. Equally, if your trade is partly seasonal you may not be looking for a year-round complement of permanent staff. Against that, you have to balance the cost of recruitment in terms of time and advertising, and the cost of training new staff - even if they are only shown the basics.

Finding applicants​

So for the most part, publicans will be hoping that any time invested in recruitment will be repaid with an employee who sticks around for a reasonable amount of time. Spending time properly planning the interview process will help in identifying the right candidate, but how do you find applicants in the first place?

• Local press advertising:​ this can be a very cost-effective way of advertising if you keep it simple. Most local papers will have a classified section where you can advertise fairly cheaply for entry-level staff; don't be sweet-talked into taking out a more costly display advertisement unless you are hoping to attract (and pay) more experienced staff.
• Job Centres:​ like the local press, this is something of a hit-and-miss approach. Research cited by the Hospitality Training Foundation (HTF) suggests that vacancies advertised in Jobcentres and left unfilled for more than three months increased in the year to July 2000 by 12 per cent for barstaff, 20 per cent for chefs and cooks and 17 per cent for licensees themselves. Speak to the centre staff to find the most effective way of getting your vacancy noticed.
• Trade press advertising:​ this is more likely to attract applicants who are already working in the trade or are serious about pursuing it as a career.
• Websites: this is more likely to be used by applicant looking for a career rather than a simple job, but the internet is increasingly the first choice for job seekers
• Agencies/consultants:​ if the post you're looking to fill justifies the relatively hefty fee, there are a number of recruitment specialists serving the trade. These will screen candidates and conduct preliminary interviews, saving you time.
• Word of mouth:​ this is often a euphemism for poaching staff from the competition, and is common practice in the industry. Remember, though, that it doesn't win you too many friends, and you really can't complain if you're a victim of poaching yourself a few months down the line.

Incentives​

You need to be realistic about the salary you offer, - remembering the old saying that if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.

However, salary isn't the only thing that keeps staff in a post. A recent survey of 400 job seekers carried out by hospitality recruitment specialist Berkeley Scott found that a promotion is a bigger incentive than a salary increase - 55 per cent said lack of career opportunity was their main reason for seeking a new job.

Even if you can't offer a promotion straight away, providing access to training gives employees an incentive to stick around. For example, last year, the BII launched its Barperson's National Certificate, which allows competent barstaff to develop their front-of-house skills. The pub trade career path has sometimes been criticised for encouraging great bartenders to spend their time drawing up staff rotas and ordering pork scratchings.

The BNC allows barstaff to test their knowledge and skills, prove that they have reached a nationally recognised standard and use the qualification as the first firm step on a career in the licensed trade. It will form part of a bigger qualification which aims to cover all the knowledge and skills required to work behind a bar. New modules will be added later this year.

Initially, the BNC focuses, in a similar way to the BII's National Licensee's Certificate, on the legal aspects of the job - especially important now that bar staff have a responsibility under law to control such matters as underage drinking.

The BNC is designed to be available to all bar staff in all pubs. On registering, staff receive a workbook which takes them through what they need to know. Questions at the end of each section enable them to check their progress as they go along.

Units include:

• licences and licensing hours
• young people
• dealing with trouble
• drinks
• the strength and effects of drinks
• drugs
• preventing and dealing with violence
• social responsibilities.

On completion of the workbook, the test itself is taken by a novel method.

Candidates phone a special number, key in an identification code and are given a series of multiple choice questions which they answer by using the keypad. It's a simple way for staff to add to their skills base, and by supporting them you will be demonstrating your commitment as an employer.

Industry facts​

• Pubs, clubs and bars employ 270,000 people, 26 per cent of the total for the hospitality industry
• Strongest employment growth in the hospitality industry between 1995 and 2000 was among barstaff - 21 per cent
• Part-timers account for 64 per cent of staff in pubs, clubs and bars, up from 56 per cent in 1995
• Only a third of licensees are women, compared to 62 per cent of barstaff and 50 per cent of chefs and cooks
• Half those employed in pubs, clubs and bars are under 25, compared to just 14 per cent of the total UK workforce
• For 64,838 people, working in a pub or bar is a second job
• 88 per cent of pubs, club