Chapter Nine

 You cannot overestimate the importance of staffing in the service industry  The catering department's reputation rests on its ability to prepare and serve a consistent quality of food and beverage  Without the proper amount and type of personnel a caterer cannot hope to develop or maintain a sterling reputation.

 A client could rent a hall and do all the shopping, cooking, serving, and cleaning  And probably at half the cost of a caterer  Why book a catered event knowing it will be considerably more expensive?  Clients are willing to pay for someone else to do the work  And, they are willing to pay a premium for someone to do the work in a timely and efficient manner, and certainly better than they can do it themselves.

 Customer satisfaction and repeat patronage are influenced primarily by food and beverage quality, service, and sanitation and cleanliness  An inadequate, undermanned, undertrained staff is incompatible with the successful catering operation.

 Even if you are in a large departmentalized property, you should not rely solely on the facility's human-resources department to secure adequate staffing  You can’t merely call the employment manager whenever you have a job opening  Adopt a proactive stance to satisfy your staffing needs.

 Staffing is an ongoing activity primarily because the typical catering department's staffing requirements fluctuate widely  This is especially true for the group of employees who work part-time and/or work very unpredictable schedules.

 There is a critical core of permanent, fixed- cost, full-time and part-time managerial and hourly staff members  Many are career oriented and/or satisfied with their current positions  They are apt to remain with you  This doesn’t mean that this core won’t change  It is subject to change at a moment's notice ◦ a permanent part-time head bartender may suddenly leave for a full-time bartending job with a competing caterer.

 The majority of your staff are variable cost employees who tend to work for more than one caterer  Many of them prefer part-time status, some are looking for full-time employment  If they secure something permanent, chances are they may leave you on short notice  Many variable cost employees may be busy when you need them  Some of them may be working their regular jobs and cannot break away to help you, while others may be working at another catered function that day.

 The caterer must be constantly cultivating potential employees  This is especially important for hourly staff  A-lists and B-lists can never be too long  You do not want to get to the end of them and find that you still do not have enough people to staff the upcoming catering events.

 When recruiting job candidates, see to it that they possess the appropriate credentials ◦ Some positions may need to be staffed solely with union members ◦ A few may require college degrees or similar training ◦ Secretaries should be knowledgeable in word processing, , catering software, record- keeping, and other related tasks ◦ Other positions may require alcohol server awareness training certificates. ◦ Some employees may need current health cards issued by the local health district.

 Maintain up-to-date, current job descriptions so that job candidates know exactly what to expect if they come to work for you  Should paint accurate pictures of all job duties that must be performed

 Promote from within  Job referral  Use employees from other departments  Union hiring hall  Culinary schools  Colleges and Universities  Homemakers  Senior citizens  Private industry councils  Employment agencies