Staffing Coffee Shop - Assignment Example

Staffing Coffee Shop The recruitment plan and strategy that will be used to staff the coffee shop initially and throughout the next three years wouldfirst of all be dependent highly on certain factors. The amount of capital available would decide on the salary that could be paid initially and would therefore decide on the recruitment requirements. The feedback I receive from the initial steps that I take would important in improvising the selection process along the way. The location of the shop and prevalent consumer type (their age, gender and occupation) would also decide on the type of applicants the owner must expect. Finally the strategy should have sufficient flexibility to adjust in case there needs to be made a drastic change pertaining to the feedback the project receives. The recruitment process starts with in the most reachable circle. Spread the word. The most workable way to start off in spreading the word is by accumulating information from the closest ring of people around. (Suchecki, Paul M.J) Circulating the information through friends and family is a great method to find workers initially. They can provide feedback if there are any people who would be interested to work at the small business. The work force that comes through acquaintances would be more helpful and trustable towards a novice owner. Recruiting through family, friends, clubs, activity and sports groups that you are a part of is a practical step to begin with. While recruiting young students would generally be a priority among starting businesses, recruiting a couple of experienced workers should also be considered as an option. It may be harder to with experienced workers as a beginner but their experience will only resonate in the scheme of events once such a staff starts working. It would also serve as a continuous training and inspiration as the staff would have someone professional working in the field to look up to. The recruitment should be done keeping into view the audience for the shop. If the shop is near a high school targeting teenagers, the staff might as well be capable of catering to such an audience. If the shop is by the roadside targeting ordinary passerby the recruitment must be done accordingly. Customer satisfaction should be kept in mind at this point in time as well. Since the stakes of the business depend largely on the comfort of the consumer. After the onset it would also interesting to develop a theme for the shop as it would further streamline the kind of selection I want to make in the upcoming years. If the theme has to be fun and entertainment, selection criteria would accordingly be changed. If the theme is relaxation and reflection time, the required personal traits of the staff might be different. The theme can be selected based on the observation of prevalent audience in the shop. Next stage is to devise communication message (realistic, brand, or targeted) to attract applicants to the open positions. At the beginning the shop should cater to all sorts of audiences. To restrict audience by introducing thematic services might be risky since there had been no evaluation of the kind of consumer most frequenting the outlet. The goal is, as of every business, to formulate consumer satisfaction and therefore to provide the best coffee and quality food are not the only factors that are involved. The staff is an important ingredient. They bring about the ambiance more thoroughly than the décor. “Selling Delight” can be the tagline for the start. The applicants must attain the traits of impersonal, spirited disposition. Young applicants must be welcomed. The applicants must fulfill the job requirement but the shop must also keep the shifts manageable and suitable to the routine of the applicants. Part time applicants will therefore be preferable and more feasible. Networking personally is the first step as mentioned at the beginning. Networking sites are another cost effective method to use. Therefore these two would be the foremost communication medium for the recruitment. If possible managing a website or a small blog on the shop would be a very efficient method. It is another cost effective method that reaches out to a larger audience. These can be useful in informing the applicants of the latest changes and offers. Local newspapers and radios can be invited for a free day. The coverage would invite local consumers and applicants to participate. This method is fast, efficient in matters of time and would uphold the quality of the shop. The selection process at this point would be more hectic for the shop owner. The tone should be welcoming and the process should be inviting and approachable. Now that a number of applications should be accumulated the skimming process should begin. Registration must be allowed on telephone and email. This medium would also allow applicants to retrieve certain information or job description. If the amount of application remains lacking an alternate would be to allow walk in interviews. The process would continue until all the designations are filled in with suitable candidates. These approaches of direct recruiting at this point are preferred to public and private agencies and recruiting at vocational and training institutes because of limited capital. Also such a wide selection strategies are used so that the best available candidates are hired. And this philosophy is important to be understood by small businesses who have to staff fewer people and easily get the required amount of applicants and therefore they do not use wide variety of strategies. (Ohio State University Fact Sheet) Two waiters at most would be required at each time to be present at the coffee shop. One should manage the counter while another might serve the customers. A senior waiter at this point should be given the task of the manager to attend to the clients and take their complaints and suggestions. He would communicate between the customers and waiters and also help communicate between the chef and the waiters. In case the owner is a separate person he would also be there to manage and report to him. The most expensive recruitment at this point would be the chef. If the chef becomes too expensive collaboration with a certain roadside bakery must be considered as a cost efficient alternative. In another case a certain helper with minimum knowledge of cooking can work alongside the owner for the business. All in all there are four positions to be filled in the beginning. The assessment method would be to analyze the applications that are received in written, the registrations made at phone and emails and their seriousness. Then secondly call the shortlisted candidates for an interview. The interview should be extensive evaluating all aspects of the applicant and position. After the interviews the candidates can be accessed on the basis of a short scenario based assessment paper if further shortlisting is required. The interview should assess the personal lives of the applicant. Their hobbies and interests are key indicators to their suitability of the position. Since the job requires working with people such an evaluation is of foremost importance. Recommendations for those recruited through friends and family can be of great help in accessing the ability of the candidate. Professional experience is the most helpful insight for candidates with previous experience. The candidate with Educational experience in the same field of hotel management, a diploma or internship would be naturally very suitable for the job. Furthermore accessing the enthusiasm of the candidate and his interest in the job is one of the most important thing. A candidate with a wish to excel in the field of hotel management would most likely be very serious about the job and also bring about positive energy to the rest and innovate ideas to help strengthen the business. These KSAOs must already be communicated in the job requirement. (ALL ABOUT KSAOs) Behavioral KSAOs that relate to the approach to job and cutomers and team work should be pertinent to the selection of the waiter staff ; While the Chef or Kitchen aid must fulfill the technical KSAOs that are the harder skills. They need to be extremely skilled at the task of baking and brewing coffee. They should be familiar with latest methods that are being used and the popular taste among the community. They should be efficient at evaluating the feedback that gets to them from the customer and filter and implement the useful suggestions for their job. Also they should all be successful time and resource managers for their individual jobs. At the beginning since the workforce is small and resources are important the need to be careful should be understood be the applicants and their responsibility should once again be evaluated through their previous experience. Any criminal record or health record would be very important in a coffee shop recruitment process. For the position of Chef Previous experience would be the most important factor. However the senior waiter or manager should be accessed on the basis of personal lives and enthusiasm first, then experience and in the end recommendations. Work Cited (1) Suchecki, Paul M.J., ehowmoney. ‘How to Recruit for Your Small Business’. . 13th May, 2012. (2) ‘Ohio State University Fact Sheet’. The Ohio State University. . May 13, 2012 (3) ‘ALL ABOUT KSAOs’. NATIONAL ARCHIVES & RECORDS ADMINISTRATION. . 13th May, 2012 Read More