Want to get more from your hospitality staffing service?  Who doesn’t!

Whether you work for a banquet facility, industrial caterer, hotel or convention center, you deserve the best from your staffing company.  In February, Penguin Staffing provided a list of five tips to get better hospitality staffing results.  Today, here are five more:

1. Set expectations from the start.  Establish mutually agreed-upon standards for interacting with your hospitality staffing partner at the beginning of your relationship (think order-placing procedures, feedback methods, quality control checks, etc.).  As with any business relationship, setting clear expectations from the outset will ensure clear communication and expedient service.
2. Benchmark performance of your core employees.  Find out exactly what tests candidates who work for your staffing firm must take, and then ask for the test scores of referred candidates.  Establish preferred scoring levels for placements within your hospitality organization, using your own staff as benchmarks.  Finally, encourage temporary employees to take advantage of hospitality training available through the staffing service.
3. Provide regular feedback.  Maintain an ongoing dialogue and honest relationship with your hospitality staffing company, keeping them abreast of changes in your company.  Provide feedback on their service and the performance of their hospitality temporaries.  Meet regularly to obtain their input on what you can do to improve the quality of service and placements.
4. Create a true partner in your success.  Consider involving a staffing firm in your organization’s business planning.  For example, you might want to include your staffing representative in an annual meeting to plan staffing strategies.  Hospitality staffing experts, like Penguin Staff, can offer valuable insight regarding the possible uses of workforce partnerships and outsourcing to manage production cycles, improve customer service and help you hire better.
5. Reward results.  High quality hospitality staffing firms focus on more than filling orders.  They want to help you save time, lower expenses and get work done.  When you find a company that does a great job, look for opportunities to enhance the relationship.  Invite them in.  Challenge them to help you solve your problems.  See what you can do to reward their good results.  Not only will you make your top vendor happy, you’ll increase their commitment to your success.

At Penguin Staff, we know what it takes to:

• improve the quality of hospitality temporaries you receive;
• increase your staffing ROI;
• simplify your staffing function.

Give us a call, and let us help you achieve better staffing results – every time.

When it comes to hospitality staffing, great results don’t happen by accident.

Instead, they occur when an organization like yours develops a strong partnership with a highly specialized hospitality staffing firm like Penguin.  The more successfully we work together, the better your results will be.

If you’re looking for ways to strengthen your relationship with us – and ultimately get better results – here are five tips to get you started:

• Give us as much lead-time as you can.  Sure, we’re prepared to handle your on-call event staffing needs.  But when you plan ahead for upcoming staff requirements, it optimizes your chances of finding the ideal candidate(s) with the skills, experience and traits critical to success.
• Give temporary hospitality staff formal job descriptions.  These descriptions should be well-defined, prioritized, current and submitted in writing.  Furthermore, they should include what you expect in terms of candidate abilities and experience, along with specific performance goals and standards.  This step helps clarify expectations and ensures you get exactly what you want.
• Remember that you get what you pay for.  People (including on-call and temporary staff) are your organization’s most valuable asset.  They should be viewed as an investment in your success, not merely an expense.  So make sure you work with a hospitality staffing firm that takes the time to fill your needs correctly – and not just the lowest-cost provider.
• Train your Penguin Staffing representative.  Tell us about your organization’s mission statement, goals, culture, history and current challenges.  Explain the types of work styles or personalities that fit best in your business.  By familiarizing your Penguin representative with your needs and preferences, we can become a more knowledgeable extension of your human resources department.
• Take full advantage of all we have to offer.  Did you know that, in addition to traditional hospitality staffing, we offer outsourcing services?  Strategic workforce solutions?  Hospitality training?  Invest a little time to learn about our full range of capabilities and value-added services.  At your request, we will gladly arrange for a capabilities demonstration.

Great Hospitality Staffing Starts with Penguin

When you need hospitality employees in Central Virginia, Atlanta or the D.C./Baltimore metro area – think Penguin Staff.  Contact us today to learn more.

The National Conference of State Legislature’s (NCSL) website indicates that changes in credit screening legislation are occurring from coast to coast.  Seven states now limit employers’ use of credit information in employment: California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Oregon and Washington.  To date, 58 bills in 28 states, including Georgia and the District of Columbia, were introduced or pending in the 2011 legislative session.

Hospitality employers use credit reports as a screening tool for a number of reasons:

• They believe it allows them to predict future behavior based on a candidate’s financial history.
• They are trying to prevent employee theft and assess the applicant’s trustworthiness.
• They want to reduce legal liability and negligent hiring.

But checking a job applicant’s credit is not without its potential drawbacks:

• An applicant who has been unemployed for a long period of time may have no choice but to incur inordinate amounts of debt and fall behind in paying bills.  If the candidate has been out of work for months, that doesn’t necessarily mean he should be disqualified for employment.
• Credit reports fail to provide context.  For example, if debt problems are the result of expensive medical procedures, a low credit score may not indicate anything about future job performance.
• Credit reports are not perfect.  Ambiguous, dated, inaccurate and/or redundant data create the potential for credit score errors.  While these errors are generally minor, employers should be aware that they exist.
• Credit reports may not be relevant for the job in question.  Unless the person you’re hiring will have access to sensitive financial information, make financial decisions or handle money, a candidate’s credit report may be of little significance.

Eliminate Credit Check Liability with Penguin Staff

Given the rapid changes in credit screening legislation, checking applicants’ credit can be risky business.  To reduce your liability, trust Penguin Staffing to find and screen the right banquet and kitchen employees, hotel front desk or other hospitality professionals for your organization.  We combine our industry experience with a comprehensive screening process to ensure you receive only the most highly-qualified and trained professionals for your hospitality positions.

Starting a new hospitality job?  Congratulations!

As you know, entering any new work situation means dealing with a set of unknowns – about the work environment and pace, about the personalities of co-workers and supervisors, and about how well you will fit in.  To thrive , you must do more than merely perform your job duties well.  You need to learn how to navigate the sometimes tricky waters of a new culture.

Use this list of suggestions to fit in on the job from day one – and ensure your success:

• Observe. From the moment you walk in the door, pay attention to others – how they interact, dress, maintain their workspaces, etc.  By simply observing, you can learn a lot about how the company operates on a daily basis.  Find out who the most successful team members are and take your cues from them.
• Be flexible. Be open to changing the ways you approach tasks, communicate with others and structure your work day.  The company probably has well-established ways of getting things done and expects you to conform to their standards.
• Be courteous and respectful. One of the best ways to win over new co-workers and supervisors is by using good business etiquette.  Treat everyone with respect by being considerate of others’ workloads and meeting your commitments on time.  If you are working in close quarters or open spaces with others:  use a quiet tone when speaking; keep your cell phone off or on vibrate; keep socializing to a minimum.  Remember that everyone has work to do, including you.
• Dress for success. Your clothes influence the way your manager and co-workers perceive you.  While on the job, avoid fashions that are too trendy, revealing or casual.  Make a good impression by dressing appropriately for your position, or one notch above.
• Beware of office politics. Office politics are part of the interactive process of working together toward individual, team and company goals.  While on a short-term assignment, the best choice is to steer clear of these dynamics.  If you’re on a long-term assignment, or have accepted a direct position, however, you need to learn to cope with them.  Learn how to compliment and not criticize; disagree without being disrespectful; stay above gossip by not spreading rumors.  Establish a reputation as a hard working, positive employee who is not a part of the rumor mill, and you’ll be off to a good start.

Find a Great Fit with Penguin Staff

If you’re looking for a hospitality job or temporary assignment in the Atlanta, GA or Herndon, VA areas, we invite you meet in-person with one of Penguin’s staffing professionals.   Together, we can discuss what type of hospitality job works best for you, the environment you like, your strengths and your salary requirements.

As a leader in hospitality staffing, Penguin knows that a good fit means more than matching skills.  To find the right opportunity for you, we will carefully match your career goals, experience and strengths with the hospitality organization’s culture and the requirements of the job.

Contact Penguin today to find your next hospitality job!