When running a successful food business, the people you select to be part of your team play an essential role. To succeed in the competitive marketplace of food entrepreneurship, whether you’re scaling or simply needing to keep up with your existing demand, your new hires must be supportive additions.
We’ve already unpacked why hiring requires a marketing strategy. Now, we will give you an easy list to help you avoid common hiring mistakes that can hurt you and your business.
Five Common Food Business Hiring Errors
- Ignoring Cultural Fit:
They might have a top-notch resume, but will your new hire fit in with your team and company culture? Hiring employees who do not align with your company culture can lead to poor team cohesion, inevitably leading to a high staff turnover.
Don’t underestimate the importance of assessing whether your candidates share the company’s values and work ethic.
- Overlooking Soft Skills:
If your candidate’s soft skills aren’t up to scratch, they’ll fall behind. Technical skills are crucial, but soft skills like communication, teamwork, and customer service are equally important in customer-facing environments like the food industry.
Poor communication skills and a lack of customer service training can also result in poor reviews for your business.
- Inadequate Training Programs:
This is a big mistake that many businesses make. Food entrepreneurs have loads on their plates, building and running their businesses and performing several roles at once. Because of this, staff training sometimes falls behind.
Failing to provide training can lead to inconsistent service, operational inefficiencies, and poor customer experiences. Prevent this from happening by ensuring hires are well-trained in technical skills and company protocols. If you lack the capacity, consider outsourcing staff training. Your customers and business will thank you in the long run.
- Rushing the Hiring Process:
We know hiring staff to meet demand is urgent. However, hiring too quickly can result in the selection of under qualified candidates.
Map out a thorough hiring process, conduct multiple interviews with candidates, perform reference checks, and even request a practical skills test to ensure you get the right person for the job. And don’t forget the importance of cultural fit!
- Not Checking References:
In the food industry, references are crucial. They prevent you from hiring individuals with poor work history or issues that will impact their performance in your company. Always check your candidate’s past employment and ask for feedback from previous employers.
Hire For Food Business Success
Avoiding these common food business hiring mistakes should smooth the path toward growing your team and your business. To help you get the job done, it’s critical that you ensure you get the best candidates for the job. This will improve job satisfaction, reduce staff turnover and save time and resources in finding replacements.
You’re not alone in your food entrepreneurship journey. Crafted Kitchen provides a community with like-minded professionals either experiencing similar challenges or have already done so and have lessons to share. Visit our Knowledge Hub to learn more from them, and join the Crafted Kitchen community to help your business grow.
Leave a Reply