Regardless of how nice your dining room looks or how great the food tastes, if you are short staffed you will run into problems on opening day. This is why it is important for you to plan ahead and make sure that your staffing needs are met before the Grand Opening day. Unless you have done this previously, you likely are left unsure about hiring and how to go about the process. You may not know how to determine what your staffing needs are. There are some tips that can help you make it through your initial hiring phase so that you avoid running into problems.

Determine Your Positions

Before you can effectively hire the staff you need, you must first determine what you need them to do. Some positions will be obvious to you, and others may not, but will be necessary as well. Take the time to sit down and thoroughly determine what positions you need to make your business run smoothly each day. If you have questions, talk to others who are in a similar business about their staffing needs. They will likely have the same staffing positions as you need to have. Some of the common positions the food industry are; chef, cooks, dishwasher, bus person, hostess, management, wait staff, cashier and bartender. You may need more or less positions then the ones mentioned depending on your business.

Evaluate Your Business

In order to hire the appropriate number of people you need to determine when you need them to be working. Run through your hours of operation and jot down those hours that you will need as much staff on hand as possible, and when you can effectively work with fewer employees. Depending on the type of food service you run, that's what will help you determine your hours of operaion and your staffing needs. A breakfast diner will have a different peak time than a fine dining establishment. You can use your own knowledge, as well as research from your competition, to help you determine when your peak and off-peak hours will be.

Set Your Schedules

Before you begin hiring you need to decide what your schedules are going to be. If you are open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, then you need to schedule all three shifts. Otherwise, you only need schedules for those services you offer. Many businesses stagger their employees so they come in and leave at different times to ease the transition. Often this is done in thirty minute increments.

Do Your Hiring

The first thing you should do is hire the most valuable employees first. In many places, this will be the chef and the management. You can then use these employees to help with the process of hiring others. Since you are planning for a Grand Opening, you will want to hire your staff well in advance. It is important to leave plenty of time for training them to do their job in the way that you want it done. You should also hire more than what you need because the food industry typically has a high turnover rate.

Found this article helpful? Read more relevant articles and how-to's in the food service industry.