Diversity in the workplace still matters. This is especially true in the ultra-competitive world of restaurant food service. Having a crew of employees that encompasses a wide array of people means your customers will feel welcome, no matter their ethnicity. Offering a multilingual menu and making subtle shifts to accommodate culture can help attract a diverse candidate pool to restaurant, but how can a restaurant entice a worker pool that brings together a wide variety of people to serve these guests?

Tips for Hiring a Melting Pot in Food Service

While race is typically the first thing we consider when using the word “diversity,” the term can include age, gender, sexual orientation, body size, veterans, people with disabilities, and so much more.

One tip to consider before even beginning the recruiting process is to provide diversity training to your human resources team. Having cultural sensitivity training for your staff is also important for helping customers feel more welcomed to your restaurant. Try tailoring your recruiting efforts to maximize what you’ve learned.

People often naturally gravitate toward others who reflect their own culture. Having servers who speak Spanish or another language can make a visit to your establishment less intimidating. It can also help with communicating and just generally make the guest feel more at home. Imagine if you spoke only Mandarin and recently immigrated. Wouldn’t it make you feel more welcomed if you received a restaurant menu in your language or your server could speak with you comfortably? What about offering other languages on social media or on your website? While these techniques will attract a diverse array of customers, you can apply some of these same techniques to your efforts to attract a diverse team from servers to line cooks.

Here are some tips for attracting a more diverse staff:

• create advertisements for non-English media outlets;
• make sure your ads and the workplace itself has your all-inclusive diversity policy displayed;
• tailor social media efforts to target specific types of people;
• attend job fairs or other events that attract a diverse pool of candidates;
• ask your employees for referrals to reach deeper into specific communities;
• reach out to specific community organizations to let them know you are hiring; and
• place “We’re Hiring” signs in your restaurant. If you’ve already attracted a diverse customer base, they may be able to recommend new employees.

While these are just a few tips, they will get you started toward changing your homogenous staff into all the colors of the rainbow, while attracting more customers to your restaurant.

Benefits of a Diverse Team

Creating a culture of diversity in your restaurant is an important way to attract a broad audience to your tables. Studies show it also improves the overall effectiveness of your workforce. That’s because a broad mix of attitudes and ideas can create innovation wherever we find it. Every restaurant can benefit from fresh ideas and more customers and that is exactly why diversity still matters in the hospitality industry.

Gecko Hospitality helps employers find a wide range of talent in the hospitality field. We offer a variety of solutions and have been named one of the top hospitality recruitment firms in the U.S. Contact our top hospitality recruiters for creative employment solutions that will make your business stand out.