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I love ice cream - all flavors.  I love everything about ice cream and every way it can be served - floats, sundaes, shakes, cones, sprinkles, whipped cream and of course the cherry.  NOW learning about the Barlors takes it to a whole new level. While trips to the ice cream parlor as a kid meant gobs of hot fudge and mountains of rainbow sprinkles, ice cream brands are increasingly turning their attention to a new demographic: ice cream-loving adults who want their scoop fix in a more sophisticated setting. Over the past several years, boozy ice cream parlors or…

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More and more I hear had workers hours are cut, the dining experience is changing because there are fewer people working on a shift, positions are being eliminated.  This can be a scary trend because restaurant owners are having to look at different options in staffing in order to not raise prices to their consumers.  There may be a time when the minimum wage may be $15/hr but no hourlie employees are getting hired. There is now the first, fully automated burger restaurant (Bbox) in San Francisco who is fully automated. Bbox serves a collection of hearty goods, including pastries…

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The hotel industry, with its huge variety of job roles and its 24-hour way of life, is leading the pack when it comes to implementing flexible working practices (FWPs).  The traditional shift pattern is fundamental to the operation of the hospitality industry, with shift-swapping almost a way of life with employees. Other working practices include part-time hours, banked hours, time off in lieu, term working, flex time and annualized hours. But there are new patterns emerging. Career breaks, secondments and sabbaticals are all being embraced, while requests for paternity leave have also soared in recent years, a figure set to…

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Hospitality people - think about this.  How do you know when you're working too hard? We all have those times when it seems like all we do is work. But how do you know when you're working too hard? If any of the below sound familiar, it might be time to assess your work-life balance.   1. Dropping the ball You've made a stupid mistake and people want answers. When your brain tries to focus on a hundred things at once, it gets overloaded and disorganized. It's no good being at work if you're not doing your job properly. High levels…

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10 Reasons Why Hospitality Jobs are Great! 1. You make people’s day Whether you’re a concierge in a hotel, or a kitchen porter working behind the scenes, or even if you’re involved in the management of a hospitality business, every time you come into work you’re making someone's day that little bit better. Your business is all about people. It’s not about widgets or spreadsheets; it’s about making people happy. So much so that there's a dedicated website for it! 2. It’s creative As well as being a people-oriented industry, hospitality is creative. You are creating a product — be that food, drink, or an experience —…

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Hospitality Recruiting strategies are ever changing. Bob Evans and Cracker Barrel were 2 of my very first clients when I started in hospitality recruitment.  I have seem then go through many changes with regard to compensation and quality of life.  They have both been leaders in recognizing the need to change and again they are stepping out to make it happen. Hourly recruiting is evolving. Competition continues to intensify and applicants have far more available opportunities. What worked before no longer works today. If you want to stay relevant, you need to reevaluate your approach and get more strategic--which is…

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After 30 years the hospitality recruitment business, I have learned what's important to get people to respond to your ad for employees. The industry you're in doesn't matter when it comes to writing ads. When I look at most ads posted, on Monster, Indeed, etc, the ad is  all about what that company wants in an employee.  You want this, you want that, you need to have this, you need to have that.  Here's the job description, which anyone applying for the job should already know, and oh by the way apply now. There is nothing on most ads that…

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For the last 30 years I've watched lots of changes affecting the recruitment process.  From using fax machines, to the onset of job boards (which everyone thought would solve their problem but didn't), to social media recruiting.  Previously no one ever thought an Employee Value Proposition.  Why would they?  People wanted a job, you had a job, and you could pick the best person from the multitudes that said "pick me, pick me!" Today everything is different.  No longer are people standing in line that want your job.  They have options, they are tech savvy and have checked out your…

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Social Media Recruiting is a simple, fast and affordable way to target top talent and promote your Employer Brand. In today's shrinking marketplace for top talent your employer brand is critical.  WHY would someone want to work for your company? What makes you different from your competitors?  You need to understand WHAT your employer brand is today and then take steps to change if necessary. What is Employer Brand? Employer Brand is the term used for your company's reputation as an employer.  Employer Branding is the process of presenting your company as a desirable employer. The goal of Employer Branding is to attract high-quality candidates and position your company as their employer…

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Restaurant Turnover and Recruitment Challenges are Here to Stay! I have been in the hospitality recruitment business for 30 years (and will now stop counting!) and every year I hear that hospitality recruiting agencies will no longer be needed.  The goal has always been for restaurants to find their own staff and as Staffing Partner to my clients we help with that goal.  But the stark reality that restaurant turnover and recruitment challenges are here to stay! The best restaurateurs know that it takes more than a good restaurant menu to bring guests in the door. Every year, new restaurant industry trends shape and…

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Pizza Hut expands beer delivery to seven states Consumers are more and more all about convenience and speed of service.  Restaurants that don't offer in-home delivery on their own or through GrubHub, UberEats and others are losing market share.  The Pizza industry is #1 for "dine at home" options and now Pizza Hut steps out to be the leader once again. More than a year after first testing beer delivery in Arizona, Pizza Hut said Monday it will expand the pilot program to 300 restaurants in seven states by mid-January. Restaurants in Florida, Iowa, Nebraska, North Carolina, and Ohio will…

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Each year it seems like the restaurant industry reinvents itself on some level.  It's been interesting to watch this year.   The Top 10 Restaurant Trends for 2018 Restaurants Designed for Delivery or "Ghost" restaurants.  Today's diners demand convenience and 80% order online from a restaurant's website.  They are outsourcing delivery with companies like UberEats and saving money on rent as they don't need large spaces for customer seating. Healthy Food Trends.  Many restaurants are embracing healthy food trends as consumers seek healthier lifestyles.   63% of Americans said they were actively trying to eat healthier while another 49% were consciously eating products with…

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Ron Ruggless | Oct 22, 2018  Nations Restaurant News Recruiting remains a challenge for restaurants, and the third-quarter People Report Workforce Index registers how wide and deep the difficulty is. “We’ve seen sustained levels for the past two or three years that we hadn’t seen in a decade or more,” said Michael Harms, vice president of operations at Dallas-based TDn2K, which produces the People Report Workforce Index quarterly. “The percentage of companies reporting difficulty is high,” Harms said. “People are saying it’s almost impossible to staff a restaurant these days.” The national unemployment rate fell to 3.7 percent in September, the lowest…

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Teens have been the focus for decades Operators have always worked to figure kids out Bret Thorn, Nation's Restaurant News If you think Baby Boomers are square, think again. The generation that came of age in the 1960s and ’70s were self-aware enough to work en masse to effect change, and they were arguably the first group of teenagers that were directly marketed to. In 1966, the students weren’t just protesting against the Vietnam War, but against the high cost of dorm food. At Cornell, officials waited out what turned out to be mostly a beverage strike, with students selling…

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The baby boomer generation is defined by Pew Research Center as people born between 1946 and 1964. This population has given most western economies a pronounced economic premium since the 1970s. A recent report from Bain’s Macro Trends group suggests that the premium is beginning to fade out, however, as growing numbers of boomers enter retirement. There has been a lot of discussion around the impact of this in a societal context, whether regarding the shifting "dependency ratio" or the rise in healthcare expenditure as large numbers enter into retirement, but the transition of the boomer generation is also likely to have…

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Is your restaurant 'all in' on hospitality? Diners and workers are both guests, after all Jenna Telesca, Nations Restaurant News As a kid, I spent a lot of time eating Sunday dinners at my grandparents’ house on Long Island. The menu was always the same: penne pasta, homemade sauce, bread with butter, salad in a wood bowl with special dressing that I sometimes helped make, and meatballs/sausage.  For dessert — coffee and hard cookies, maybe a cake. You shouldn’t be stingy on dessert, after all. Knowing what to expect from the meal was comforting. Why change what works? There was…

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How your brand can tackle unconscious bias 6 takeaways from MUFSO panelists on this important issue Gloria Dawson | Oct 02, 2018 Starbucks. Papa John’s. The Spotted Pig. In the last year, restaurants large and small have made headlines over race and harassment issues, leaving operators to grapple with how to create inclusive company cultures while also preparing themselves to respond if an incident occurs. “You need to be ready,” senior managing editor Christi Ravneberg said when kicking of a panel on The Role of Unconscious Bias in business. Ready to handle accusations and acts of discrimination from your employees and customers.…

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5 emerging brands reveal secrets to success Nancy Luna | Oct 03, 2018 Instagrammable merchandising. Hyper-focused menu. Sexy vegetables. Gorgeous food. Authenticity. These are the individual attributes of this year’s Hot Concepts Award winners, who were recognized during this week’s MUFSO conference. Leaders from each emerging brand told industry executives why their concepts have resonated with consumers. Related: Meet the 2018 Hot Concepts award winners At Denver-based Punch Bowl Social, founder and CEO Robert Thompson said he took the “eatertainment” movement and flipped it on its head by paying more attention to delivering quality food and beverages than many competitors in the space.…

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HOW QUICK-SERVE RESTAURANTS ARE SCALING THE FOOD CHAIN By Jessica Wohl.  Lisa Mason stood outside a Chicago restaurant at 9:15 a.m. on a recent sunny Monday, where she would continue to wait for two hours. She wasn't there for breakfast. She was there to get a $1 burrito. Mason was the first person in line at the new Chicago outpost of Dos Toros, a New York-based fast-casual taqueria opening its second location in the Windy City. By the time the doors opened at 11:30 a.m., more than 200 people stood on the sidewalk in a line that stretched across the West…

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Jonathan Maze of Nation’s Restaurant News posted an article yesterday highlighting the findings of the 2017 American Express Restaurant Trader Survey. The survey reached out and polled 488 owners, managers, directors, an CEO’s of independently owned restaurants. One surprising finding is the optimism that many restaurant operators still possess despite recent sales trends across the nation. “More than half of restaurant operators and managers, 54 percent, said their revenue is up over where it was a year ago. And 72 percent said they expect revenue to increase over the next year. And 83 percent of operators said they plan to hire, while…

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Nation’s Leading Talent Acquisition Firm Serving the Hospitality Industry Celebrates Outstanding Growth and Successes Among its Team of Franchisees and Regional Developers DUNKIRK, Md. – Patrice & Associates, the nation’s leading talent acquisition firm that specializes in the hospitality industry, celebrated system-wide growth and several franchisees and regional developers at the company’s annual franchise convention held earlier this month at the Double Tree Hotel in Baltimore, Maryland. Themed “Breakthrough to Excellence,” the convention included educational and breakout sessions on a variety of topics pertaining to client management and operations, as well as roundtable sessions and a client panel discussion with…

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Seasonal Hiring: 6 Tips for Employers This article was written by Saige Driver and originally featured on  the Business News Daily’s website. View the original article here. The holidays can be the most wonderful time of the year. But if you are a business owner, it can also be the most stressful. Business picking up during the holiday season is great, but days like Black Friday can put a strain on the employees who are left doing the extra work. Many small businesses combat this by hiring seasonal help. However, there are some important things to consider, as regulations for hiring short-term workers differ from hiring…

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