Executive Chat – March 2010
With Rebecca Patt, Vice President of Development, Dick Wray Executive Search
Executive Chat with Rebecca Patt - featuring Joni Doolin
When it comes to insight on workforce issues in the foodservice industry, few shine a brighter light than Joni Thomas Doolin.
The CEO and founder of the innovative research and consulting firm People Report, Joni is well-recognized as a trailblazer and thought leader in workforce practices. In addition to publishing quarterly and annual reports for its members that track, analyze and benchmark the people side of the P&L, she and her team host events such as the annual Best Practices Conference and Workforce Symposium.
Joni’s also an avid reader, anti-hunger activist, eco-citizen, animal lover, political junkie, kayaker, and early Twitter adopter. She has a wonderful family with husband and fellow foodservice industry dynamo Wally Doolin.
Here’s what Joni had to say about how the economy has affected the foodservice workplace and what leaders can do to be more successful with hiring practices.
Do you think the recession has made it easier for companies to recruit highly skilled workers? From where I'm sitting, the best employees are difficult to recruit in any economic market.
Clearly the answer depends on the position and the skills and experience required. When you need to hire large numbers of workers for a similar function (eg. Restaurant managers ), there are in fact many good candidates who have lost their jobs because of the recession. Recruiters need to be open to interview workers who are not currently employed, as that taboo has become almost quaint in this job market. The flip side – employees are hanging on to their existing jobs for dear life, and may be afraid to lose what they have by risking looking around – even if they are not particularly happy with their current circumstances. The really good companies are the ones that are taking advantage of this downturn to re-recruit , re-deploy, and re-train their top talent.
As companies seek to hire executive talent, or highly specialized talent – as you suggest – those candidates are just as difficult to find today as they were two years ago. The foodservice industry is losing top talent to other service sector employers and will be challenged to overcome those losses in the next few years.
What are the biggest changes you are seeing today in the workplace?
This workplace is at best, fragile. Employees are still waiting for the next shoe to drop – they are tired – they have lost ground in real wages – and perhaps most critically their trust levels have been significantly eroded by the constant stream of real and reported bad news. The further from the corner office, the more pronounced the problem. It has never been more critical for leaders to be visible, available, and as transparent as possible; no one expects all the news to be good – they just want to get it from their leaders, rather than the rumor mill or the media. Stress is a huge issue in business right now – with significant impact on profit and productivity.
What do you notice that the most successful companies do differently to recruit and manage their employees? Any specific examples?
The good companies are working hard every day to make real change – in every part of their businesses. They are not trying to save their way out of the recession – they are making careful, strategic investments designed to differentiate them as a business and as an employer. They are leveraging technology to create community, to improve productivity, and most critically to improve the guest experience. They are taking risks, and paying for it with the cushion provided by low turnover and flat wage growth.
You released the People Report Workforce Index for Quarter 1 of 2010 in February. Any surprises in there?
The biggest surprise was that several components of the Index have rebounded to Q2 08 levels – including employment expectations and recruitment difficulty. What that tells us is that recruiters are feeling the same way today as they did before the crash – in spite of 10% unemployment. It will be interesting to watch for the rest of this year – but we believe that we have definitely hit the bottom of the market and are headed back up.
Looking ahead to more robust economic recovery, what do you think the restaurant industry needs to consider for recruiting strategy?
It is very hard to get operators or even HR execs to focus on issues like staffing, diversity, succession planning or even compensation practices in this environment. There are plenty of people looking for jobs, and turnover is at all-time lows for both employees and managers. The data will tell you that is a short-sighted outlook, as the age waves start to accelerate, the skills gap accelerates, and issues like immigration reform, EFCA, health care, and others remain ticking bombs for the industry. We talk about the three T’s a lot – Talent, Technology and Trust – all three are mission critical for thriving and profitable businesses – and recruiters need to be looking for candidates who bring all three of those T’s to their new company.
My one personal request to every recruiter and hiring manager out there – is just to be kind. A good job is the key not just to a paycheck, but so often to a person’s feelings of worth – and dignity. We can’t and shouldn’t give everyone a job – but we can and should treat them with dignity and respect. Job seekers have a long memory, and their treatment by you, and impressions of your brand will absolutely have impact on your business in the future.
Read any good books lately?
Linchpin by Seth Godin and Drive by Dan Pink.
Want to have an Executive Chat with Rebecca Patt? Contact her at Rebecca.patt@wraysearch.com.