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, e-mail, 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