Before you start, remember the categories that are illegal to discriminate against.  This will help you phrase all of your questions properly.  These categories include: Disabilities, Marital/Family Status, Religion, Sexual Orientation, Ethnic Group/Race, Nationality, Age, Gender, Arrest Record, Outside Affiliations, and other miscellaneous items such as the ability to drive.  Remember to never ask any questions that involve these categories as it can be interpreted as discriminatory.  Any questions that you ask must pertain to the job that is being interviewed for and the skills and abilities required for that position.  If you are unsure about a question that you would like to pose, consider making the question as general and open-ended as possible. 

For a very simple example, suppose that you are concerned about working schedules and would like to ask the question, “What religious holidays do you observe?”  To raise this question legally, ask, “Are you able to work our required work schedule?”  Remember that if the applicants themselves bring up any information that is in the “do not discriminate” categories, do not elaborate on or continue down that path of conversation.  Simply move on to another topic.  The following includes some more examples of how to turn some questions around.

Instead of:  “Do you plan to start a family or have children soon?”

Ask:  “What are you long term career goals?”

Instead of:  “Have you ever been arrested?”

Ask:  “Have you ever been convicted of a felony or a crime that would pertain to the position (fraud, theft, etc)?”

Instead of:  “Do you have a car?

Ask:  “Do you have reliable transportation to and from work?”

Instead of:  “How much do you weigh or How tall are you?”

Ask:  “Are you able to lift 50 pounds on a regular basis?”

To improve your interview and candidate selection process, consider putting some new types of questions into your repertoire.   Especially in the hospitality industry, interviews should be more like conversations with prospective candidates.  Your employees must interact with your valuable guests and fellow employees on a daily basis.  If only generic, yes/no questions are asked during the interview process, you will gain no insight on the applicant’s personality and how well he/she might get along with other people.  Consider some of the following questions to help bring out some personality.

“Tell me a little bit about yourself”

“Tell me about your last boss”

“Tell me about a weakness that you have”

“What is your ideal working environment?”

“How did you feel about this interview?”

There are some other tips that can help safeguard against possible lawsuits.  First, try to have another person in the room during an interview.  This can be a witness in case any claims arise.  Second, take a good look over your applications, especially if you do not have a human resources department.  Those applications may be unknowingly asking some discriminatory questions.  Lastly, make all of your job descriptions and requirements official.  Put them on paper and easily accessible.  If you are interviewing for a shuttle driver, then the question of whether the candidate has a valid driver’s license is legal in that interview.  Just like the interviewee, becoming a good interviewer takes practice.  Taking interviews even when you may not need to hire can help maintain and improve your interview skills.  Just remember to abide by the rules.

Shift breaks, they are the law here in California.  It is trouble that most restaurants  managers hate to deal with.  It is the policy that most servers fail to adhere to.  Those mandatory breaks that each employee must take is not just a burden on the server and the restaurant managers, it is frustrating to your customers as well.

While eating at the restaurant of a very exquisite and expensive hotel the other day, we had a disappointing experience.  Our service could have been described as good and terrible.  How?  Well, the service and friendliness from our server and bartender was excellent and would have rated a 5 of 5… when they were around.

 Let me explain.  We had dinner in the restaurant first and then some drinks at the bar.  Throughout the visit, it seemed as if we were following the associates’ break schedule.  First, in the restaurant, after the check was dropped off, our server disappeared.  We overheard another server mention that our server was on a break.  He neglected to inform us and also did not send another server to check on us.  It took us 15 minutes after receiving the check to find someone to take our payment and make change.

 Though we had plans later on that night, we decided to stop by at the bar after dinner to relax and have some drinks before leaving the hotel.  We sat down at the bar and waited, and waited, and waited some more.  After 15 minutes, with no associates in the lounge, a cocktail server shows up with food from the kitchen.  She then proceeded to take her time for about 5 more minutes before asking us, “Have you been helped?”  Obviously, the actual bartender had gone on break and failed to inform the cocktail server about what was happening.  If he had told her, she would have known that we were new guests and would have come to serve us immediately.  Needless to say, we were about 30 minutes late to our event that night.

Despite all this, as I mentioned above, the service was excellent.  The server and bartender were both friendly, cordial, and very professional throughout the visit.  They were just not there when we needed them.  This made the visit extremely disappointing and caused us to spend much longer than we had anticipated in the restaurant and bar. 

Restaurant managers and servers should take away a lesson from this.  Make sure that your restaurant has a break handling procedure.  Tell your guests that you are on break and introduce the server that will be covering that section.  Most importantly, make sure that other server covers that section!  Many restaurants do the first part well, but the new server just continues to monitor their own section, still leaving the customers to fend for themselves.  Also, have a break timetable in place.  Take breaks at the proper intervals and at the least busy times.  Try not to have more than one server on break at once if you can help it.  Lastly, train servers to just be aware of all customers, not just the ones in their section.  Even if it is not a break problem, other servers should be able to spot neglected customers and offer them assitance.

 Remember, it does not matter how good your customer service is if your servers are not around to deliver it.

Before I make suggestions on how to attract great applicants and how to welcome applicants, here is a list of gripes I hear from job seekers:

Some hotels only allow applicants to apply during limited hours in human resources. While this is convenient to the hotels, these hours are never convenient for potential candidates who are currently employed. I have heard of hotels who only accept applications during a four hour block each week.

Many hotels have the front desk take care of the application process. The Guest Service Agents are often completely out of the hiring loop and do not even know what positions are open.

Some hotels make potential candidates pay for parking while visiting the hotel to fill out applications or interviews. This can add a large expense to someone who is already unemployed.

Applicants often complain that when they fill out an application, they have no idea what happens next. Will the application be passed on? Is the job even still available?

I will make suggestions on how to handle those complaints later. But first, how do you go about getting applicants to your hotel?

Make sure your hotel has a log where all applicants are logged before they are distributed to the hiring manager. Be sure to list the position they applied for and how they found out about the job. Running ads is very expensive. If you run an ad, make sure you monitor the log to make sure the ad is productive for you.

Have a really good Associate Referral Program in place. Many of the best associates are referred by other associates. Also, a fifty dollar referral fee is not going to get people excited. Calculate how much you spend on recruiting per hire and consider giving a reward that large. Some hotels pay as much as five hundred dollars for a referral. When you do pay out that reward, make a big deal out of it! Present the check at your monthly meeting.

Most hiring managers still agree that the best website for hiring managers is Hcareers.com. Most report the top website for hiring hourly associates is craigslist.com.

If you do run ads in local newspapers, be sure to select the right newspaper for your target audience and track the results. Most major cities have many newspaper choices in many different languages.

Create a list of local colleges and agencies that will refer applicants to you. Send them a list of open positions by email each week or two.

Now that candidates will be storming your hotel, be sure to give them the proper welcome to keep them interested in working for you. Remember, the applicant is probably out applying for many jobs that day. You need to separate your hotel from them. Here are some suggestions:

Prepare a letter for the applicant to read before he/she fills out the application. In the letter, be sure to include the updated list of open positions, instructions on how and where to fill out the application, details of how your hiring process works, and how the parking works. Now dress up the letter with details of why your hotel is a top place to work and list the details of your benefit package.

Have your application available online. Also, be sure your paper application is available in both English and Spanish.

Be sure the front desk is updated at least weekly on the open positions and are able to sell your great work environment to the applicant. Remember, many applications are turned in at night or on the weekends.

Conduct a short, five minute prescreen interview if possible at the time the application is completed.

Consider shortening your hiring process. Having a prospective bartender go through three interviews, a background check, a drug test, and a meeting with the General Manager can take weeks! A good bartender will probably already have found another job by then. Limit the interviews to one or two trips to the hotel. Use an internet background check company that guarantees results within three business days. Drug test results should also be available within 2 business days via the internet. Keep the prospective associate up to date during the entire process.

Be sure to send a letter or postcard to every applicant that you do not hire thanking them for applying with your company. Remember, these applicants have friends that may apply at your hotel in the future. Treat them professionally.

Good luck with your hiring!