When To Outsource Hiring

Does finding staff for your franchise business feel like a never-ending poker game trying to beat the odds? You post an ad and hope that luck deals you great applicants. Yet the deck is stacked against you with unemployment running at only 3.7% and job openings in the industry continuing to outpace hiring.

The waiting and hoping approach may not get you any applicants at all, much less the high-quality candidates you want. And how much time can you afford to spend on the search process? Maybe it’s time to start a strategic outsource approach.

What does outsourcing hiring look like?

Most people associate staffing companies with temps and hourly hires for the office. Reality is full-service staffing agencies also work in niche industries, including hospitality. Staffing firms are a great way to find permanent management and executive level staff as well as hourly line team members.

You provide the job description, and the agency handles the recruiting, screening, and initial interviews. The agency then provides you with a slate of qualified, vetted candidates, and you complete the final interviews. Partnering with a recruiting firm reduces the time and resources needed to make a good hire, allowing you to focus on other areas of your operation.

When should I outsource hiring?

Several situations exist where it makes sense to bring in outside help to fill your open positions. Is your business rapidly expanding? Do you have questions about your hiring team? Is the search confidential or for a highly specialized role? Has there been a lot of turnover in this role? If any of these situations apply to your business, using a professional recruiting agency could be what you need.

Rapid expansion

If your business is growing and opening new locations, you have a lot on your plate. You need to hit the ground running with trained staff in your new sites without compromising service at your existing locations. When you need to make multiple hires, especially at the management or executive level, a trusted hiring partner can get you the quality candidates you need while freeing you up to handle the rest of the expansion details.

Questions about your hiring team

Let’s be honest. Sometimes, you’re just not sure if your hiring team is up to scratch. They may be bringing you plenty of candidates, but if those applicants aren’t a good fit, you’re back to square one.

A recruiting partner with deep roots in the hospitality industry understands the business and knows how to recognize great talent. In addition, through connections built up over years, a good recruiting agency will have a network of experienced passive candidates who may not be actively searching for work but are open to offers. These candidates often bring stability and maturity to a workplace, as they are coming to a job out of sincere interest in the opportunity, not just the need for a job.

Need for confidentiality

Sometimes you must keep an opening under wraps, especially for C-suite positions. You can’t publicize the opportunity, but an outside recruiting agency can cast a wide net for you. If the agency has strong links in the industry, your search can be streamlined, as they may already have candidates in the pipeline who would meet your criteria.

Hyper-specific requirements

For a role requiring unique expertise, using job boards to find a candidate with a specific skill set is like looking for a needle in a haystack. An outside recruiting agency with experience in the hospitality industry can do the sorting and sifting for you, finding qualified candidates while saving you time and resources.

High turnover in this role

We all know that turnover among hourly staff is common, but if a salaried role undergoes continuous turnover, there may be a cultural mismatch between the candidates and the company. If your internal hiring team is continually bringing in candidates who ultimately don’t match your company culture, you’re going to have turnover. An objective third-party hiring agency may be able to help break that cycle by studying your company culture and finding candidates who would be an excellent match.

Next steps

Once you know when to outsource hiring needs, finding a recruiting partner you can trust is your next step. Look for a partner who will take the time to learn about your hiring goals and create a plan for finding the employees you need.

George Lessmeister is CEO and founder of LGC Hospitality, a national staffing firm headquartered in Indianapolis. LGC has offices in more than 40 U.S. cities. Team members work with hotel and restaurant leadership to place executives and temporary workers.