If you were to put fifty restaurant, nightclub, bar, tavern, pub and cafe owners in a room and ask them what today’s biggest obstacle in doing business is, the majority of them will tell you staffing. Several years ago I attended an executive retreat where the featured speaker was B. Hudson Riehle, Vice President of Research and Information Services with the National Restaurant Association. He provided the attendees with a plethora of information culled from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the U.S. Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the National Restaurant Association. As a recruiter my focus has always been on management and not the hourly side, which represents the majority of the industry labor force. As I listened to Mr. Riehle speak, my initial reaction to the data was bleak. I watched power point slide after power point slide and broke into a sudden sweat. The entire presentation left me scratching my head and thinking “How in the world are we going to staff our industry moving forward?” I glanced around the room and observed Presidents, Directors of Operations, H.R. Directors, C.E.O’s and C.O.O’s of major chains sweating and twitching right along with me. It was on that day that I realized our industry needed to re-evaluate how we staff, get educated and become more proactive with staffing moving forward. The main reasons are obvious to those of us in the hospitality industry; however some of them are not so clear. The following bullet points highlight why the Restaurant Industry is currently struggling:

• Failure to attract and understand Generation Y.
• Declining number of 16- 24 year olds entering the hospitality and retail industries (lowest since 1953).
• Immigration reform and potential legislation that would prohibit over 35% of our current labor force from working.
• Baby Boomers have begun to leave the industry and this demographic will be in constant exodus for the next 15+ years.
• Steady industry job growth forecast for decades to come.
• Wages have been stagnant since 2007

The best solution to addressing the labor shortage is to become familiar with Generation. As Stephen Covey would say, “Seek first to understand”. I know what you’re thinking; these kids simply don’t want to work. They would rather skate board with their pants hanging off their butt listening to the rap music they downloaded onto their $300 IPod. There are several contributing factors as to why they don’t fit into your stereo type of what a productive employee is. Let’s take a look at how they are different from us. First off, they were raised with both their mother and father working. Their parents dual income makes them by products of the wealthiest medium income in the history of the United States regardless of their economic class. That means they did not have to work from the ages of 12-16. Mom and Dad handed them money and possessions and consequently they have no clue as to the value of money. Previous generations were taught the value of money from doing odd jobs to make a buck. At 12 years old if we wanted a new bike we would have to get a paper route, mow lawns, rake leaves, shovel snow, caddy, baby-sit or wash dishes. More often than not, Generation Y just receives the new bike without earning it or even worse they are rewarded with the bike for getting good grades. Give me a break! Good grades were like breathing when we were in school and were achieved to avoid the wrath of your parents. Let’s take it a step further with both parents working and a dual income. Junior spends his time playing X Box all day and then decides he wants to go to the mall. Mom or Dad drive him there and then give him $20 to spend. Bingo! There lies the problem. Junior does no chores or helps around the house and is rewarded with a ride and $20. Awesome! Not only is he rewarded for doing absolutely nothing, he spends the $20 in less than an hour and has no appreciation of how his parents earned the money to begin with. Later that night Junior plays in a championship baseball game and gets four strikes at the plate. His team loses the game yet he still gets a trophy. I don’t know about you, but when I played baseball it was three strikes and you’re out. If you lost the big game you got nothing except a “better luck next time.” The champions got the trophies. Results were rewarded, not simply for participating. Starting to get the picture?

Generation Y eventually goes to work on average at 17 years old. They have no value of a dollar, no work ethic and are accustomed to being rewarded for mediocre performance or for simply doing nothing. Now the prospective employer expects them to show up and work as hard as he or she did for minimum wage. Like it or not as their employer you will need to spend more time with them and get them involved early and often. Unfortunately, it falls to you to instill work ethic, teach the value of a dollar and make them understand that recognition and praise must be earned. I do not want to paint a picture that each and every member of Generation Y is like this, however the fact remains that a large percentage is. Many parents raised their kids in a manner that did develop strong work ethic and the value of a dollar. To identify the best of this generation, I recommend some basic screening questions and observations when Generation Y comes in to fill out an application or and/or be interviewed.

Some things to look for:

• Do they come in dressed appropriately
• Do they come in alone
• Do they have a pen
• Do they make eye contact with you
• Can they complete the application
• Do they follow up

Suggested screening questions:

• How did you get your last bike/skate board?
• What was the first paid job you worked?
• What have you done to earn spending money?
• What do you do in your spare time?
• What activities are you involved with?
• Have you ever had to work for money?

The bottom line is that without Generation Y you will always struggle to achieve your staffing goals. So the mind set should be not to avoid them. It should be to find a way to attract them and then take the time to train them. They are a generation that was raised differently and understanding that is a good starting point. There are a lot of good kids out there with some great qualities and education. Here are some of the qualities to appreciate and differences that are helpful to understand.

• Gen Y is the most technologically advanced generation in history.
• Gen Y prefers to multi-task and is more efficient than previous generations.
• Gen Y works well in groups.
• Gen Y is very tolerant of different life styles.
• Gen Y is inherently skeptical so be sure to align your words with your actions.
• Gen Y prefers perks over money.
• Gen Y needs to get involved immediately, so tailor your training program appropriately.

The days of making a new employee wait for you during training or orientation are over Employers need to be ready for the new hire. An Orientation/Training program must be thought out in advance, not pieced together by the seat of your pants. I put myself in the guilty as charged group. I too had new employees wait for me as I checked in a liquor or food order. Shame on me for not making them front-burner material. The adage just ten years ago was that if they can’t wait for you another candidate will come along tomorrow. Well, tomorrow is here and no one is going to be knocking down your door to work for you unless you learn to adapt to generation “Y”. Invest in them and you will have a leg up on your competition.