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Articles
Draft Day
May 1, 2007
Originally published in the QSR Side Order Newsletter
The NFL held its annual draft this past weekend. Happy or not with the results of your team,let's focus on what we can learn as restaurant operators by studying pro sports:
• Scout talent - pro sports teams watch college players in action to determine who will best fit their team in terms of both the needs of the team and ‘fit'. Get out there and actively scout for employees to bring on to your team. Unfortunately, we cannot trade a current employee and a future draft pick for someone's superstar (although it may be worth a try)!
• Hold a ‘Combine' - pro sports teams gather ‘applicants' together and run them all through a series of tests and skills. In the restaurant industry, however, most managers simply ‘go with their gut' or first impressions during an interview. Do you want the employees to ‘talk it' or ‘walk it'? Hold tryouts for your team - role play scenarios, have them demonstrate what they can do or have the applicant come in for a free meal later that day and provide a report on what they saw and suggestions they have to improve the business. At minimum, see the applicant in action at their current job (i.e. the previous point).
• Draft for Need - pro football teams don't draft 11 quarterbacks - they study the needs of their team and draft to fill those holes or upgrade the talent currently at that position. Do you simply hire people or do you have a plan? What positions do you need? Who needs to be upgraded? What shifts do we specifically need to cover? You'll dramatically lower turnover and improve the team's performance by matching the best fit employees with your needs.
Ultimately, creating a team everyone wants to play for is critical. ‘Loser' teams have a hard time getting people to play for their organization. Allowing slackers to remain on the team attracts more slackers. Upgrade the current team, actively scout, hold tryouts and draft for specific needs. Pretty soon, you'll win the championship and have people wanting to join your team.