According to the National Restaurant Association, 62 percent of restaurants still do not have enough staff to meet demand. Turnover remains high, too. Unhappy employees are more likely to leave and seek employment elsewhere, which may happen more when employees feel they don’t fit into a restaurant’s culture.
High turnover numbers mean operators are constantly looking for new hires and having to carry out extensive interviews. Accurately assessing candidates based on their resume and interview performance alone can be challenging, as this may only give a partial picture of their abilities or fit for the job. Who knows how well they will mesh with existing staff? As a result, many employers are turning to innovative hiring platforms, such as Sprockets, to help streamline the recruitment process and find the best candidates for their teams.
Rhiannon Wilson, human resources manager for Lafontant Organization, LLC—a McDonald’s franchisee with three locations—took her current job during the pandemic, when the organization was experiencing high turnover numbers. “I walked into this position in October of 2021 with a 90-day turnover of 69.3 percent and a trailing 12-month turnover rate (TTM) of 166 percent,” Wilson says. “Using sprockets, we now have a 90-day of 53 percent and a TTM of 143 percent.” That means Wilson and her organization have reduced 90-day turnover by 24 percent and TTM by 14 percent in just over a year—and Wilson adds that those numbers continue to trend in a positive direction for her team.
Sprockets’ hiring solution streamlines the process by automatically engaging and qualifying applicants using an AI-driven algorithm to identify the best candidates. Instead of traditional interview questions, Sprockets sends applicants a simple, three-question survey to determine whether they would be a good fit for specific roles and locations. It uses natural-language processing to predict success based on shared personality traits with top performers. “Interview questions are more focused on an individual’s personality rather than asking questions they have practiced answering,” Wilson says.
For the McDonald’s franchisee, this approach has proven to be a game-changer. “Our crew is staying with the organization longer. The average number of employees who stay at least one year has grown from 11 crew members to 28 since October 2021,” Wilson says.
By focusing on personality traits rather than skills alone, Sprockets helped the franchisee identify candidates more likely to be a good fit, resulting in fewer disputes and a stronger sense of a team. “I have fewer issues with conflicts in our stores. People get along with each other. When I first took over, I handled conflicts in stores at least two to three times a week. Now, it hardly happens, and when it does, I can focus on the issues instead of what will happen next,” Wilson says.
Sprocket is a valuable tool for any restaurant looking to decrease turnover rates and create a more collaborative workforce. As the McDonald’s franchisee attests, implementing Sprockets can significantly improve employee retention, job satisfaction, and overall business success.
“Sprockets has enabled me to focus more on what is important as an HR manager rather than using a difficult interview process,” Wilson says. “I suggest Sprockets whenever I can.”
For more information on how to hire the right employees, visit the Sprockets website.
