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Stuart Gentle Publisher at Onrec

Evolved recruitment methods have pushed our turnover down - we hire for culture and train for skill, say Tesco and Yo! Sushi at Caterer.com event

Over 60 key hospitality employers from restaurants, hotels, pubs and food service providers attended an event hosted by leading hospitality recruitment website, Caterer.com, exploring the process and benefits of hiring for cultural fit. The breakfast session, held on 14th March at the Soho Hotel, included delegates from hospitality employers Fuller’s, Dorchester Collection, Geronimo Inns, Harbour & Jones, Guoman & Thistle Hotels, The Restaurant Group plc, Ascot Race Course and Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons and was sponsored by LaunchPad Recruits

Over 60 key hospitality employers from restaurants, hotels, pubs and food service providers attended an event hosted by leading hospitality recruitment website, Caterer.com, exploring the process and benefits of hiring for cultural fit. The breakfast session, held on 14th March at the Soho Hotel, included delegates from hospitality employers Fuller’s, Dorchester Collection, Geronimo Inns, Harbour & Jones, Guoman & Thistle Hotels, The Restaurant Group plc, Ascot Race Course and Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons and was sponsored by LaunchPad Recruits.

Speaker Rob Ryan, Recruitment & Talent Manager at Tesco Telecoms, said the brand’s recognition that business was driven by behaviour and not skills has revolutionised their recruitment strategy: “Skills are the easiest thing to train. The most important element is what you bring to work in values and approach.”

For Rob, the traditional CV, whilst necessary, does not give enough insight into cultural fit. He uses assessment tasks and sessions that provide what he calls a “3D CV”. Tesco Telecoms’ focus on hiring for cultural fit and training for skill has driven employee turnover and recruitment costs down, with the majority of recent hires being made from within. This recruitment philosophy is underlined Rob’s frequent mantra “don’t tell me how good you are – show me”.

Speaker Suresh Banarse, HR Director at Yo! Sushi, revealed that recruiting for personality rather than skill has paid the business back in customer and employee satisfaction: “Being very specific about the people we recruit allows us to deliver the desired guest experience. We recruit, train, reward and recognise the team with the focus on customer delivery in mind. 80% of our recruitment is on personality.” Turnover within the business has been slashed as a result and customer satisfaction – upon which team rewards and bonus now rely – has soared.

For both Tesco Telecoms and Yo! Sushi, hiring for cultural fit has meant an evolution in recruitment processes. The traditional CV is now enhanced with use of social media, video CVs and vibrant assessment methods.

Speaker Kirsty Kellie-Batt, Head of Sales & Marketing at Launchpad Recruits added: “When it comes to recruitment with cultural fit in mind, so many candidates look the same on paper – how do you decide who to recruit? Video CVs are now a natural part of the process”.

If you are interested in attending or becoming involved with future Caterer.com events contact Kathy.dyball@caterer.com