When I started my business sixteen years ago, I had no idea how to sell my services. So I decided to get a part-time job to supplement my income. And because I needed my days free, I decided to try my hand at bartending.
The problem was I had never bartended before. I didn’t realize what a challenge this would be until I started to look for a job. Every listing read “experienced bartenders only.” Every bar owner I talked to said the same thing. Talk about a Catch-22!
So I decided to create a flyer (a bio of sorts) to send to restaurants and bars in my area. I included a picture of myself, as well as the reasons I thought I’d make a great bartender. Among these were my flexible schedule, my enthusiastic personality and my willingness to learn. I included the fact that I had never bartended and that I thought it could be an asset…as they wouldn’t have to train any bad habits out of me.
Of all the flyers I sent out (over 20) only one manager called me. A General Manager from T.G.I. Fridays.
When I met with the General Manager, I discovered that he was new to this particular store which may be why he was willing to meet with me. He wanted to make some changes.
He explained it was highly unusual for Fridays to hire a bartender from outside (instead preferring to promote from within) and hiring someone with no bartending or even restaurant experience was virtually unheard of. But my flyer had intrigued him enough to consider something unorthodox in his industry.
So when he looked at me and point-blank asked, “Why should I hire you?,” I took this opportunity to share with him the hiring philosophy that, to this day, I use with my clients:
“Traditionally, most employers hire for skill first. That would explain the ‘experience only’ dilemma I have faced trying to find a bartending job. Yet most bar owners and managers will tell you that 90% of bartending is attitude and personality and 10% is making the drinks.
If this is true, why don’t hiring practices reflect this?
I once heard a hiring manager say, ‘I can teach someone the skills to do the job. I can’t teach them to want to do the job.’
A new approach to hiring would focus on screening applicants based on job-related criteria which is more likely to predict success.
It’s great that you know how to make a Margarita; but will you show up when you’re scheduled to work? Will you be motivated and enthusiastic? Be friendly and engaging with customers? Show cooperation and relate well with other employees?
Basically, if I have the motivation and behavior to do the job well, can’t you teach me to make a great Margarita?”
When I was done sharing my philosophy, it turned out that the General Manager and I were on the same page. He was looking for someone self-motivated, lively, and team-oriented and I fit the bill.
Still, hiring someone without bartending experience was a gamble for him and we both knew it.
Turns out it was a gamble that paid off. I worked on Fridays for a year until my business was self-sustaining.
During that time, I earned the respect of the managers, servers, and bartenders who, at first, were resistant to my being hired. I was told by many patrons that it was a pleasure to see someone who enjoyed their work and always had a smile on their face.
One regular of many years said, “They should hire more people like you.”
And you know what? They’d be smart if they did!
According to research by Salesforce, 77% of employers believe that soft skills are just as important as hard skills when it comes to superior performance in most jobs. And of all new hires who fail in the first 18 months, 89% of those failures are due to attitude, behavioral or motivation problems – not lack of skills.
So wouldn’t it make sense then to flip the traditional hiring process upside down and instead of hiring for hard skills and experience alone, we would look at things like passion, motivation, behavioral style (DISC) and soft skills?
~ Nancy Roberts
The DISC Wizard
P.S. If you’d like to discuss any of your specific hiring challenges, feel free to reach out to me here.
