Coffee Shop Staffing Plan: Hiring, Branding & Selection

Three-Year Staffing Strategy

Staffing in the coffee shop business is complicated, in large part because the industry has very high turnover, yet it requires a high level of customer service skill. High turnover can make fostering strong customer service a persistent challenge. The plan for the next three years is oriented around developing a core group of long-term, high-caliber baristas who can grow with the business, help train newer employees, and foster a greater sense of permanence. This matters for several reasons. There are significant costs associated with a revolving door in staffing — training costs, inefficiency, and declines in customer service quality all accompany high turnover. This is especially true for a coffee shop, where many customers are regulars and staff continuity directly affects the customer experience. The strategy is to keep the turnover rate below 50% in an industry where rates well over 100% are the norm.

There are two critical components to the three-year staffing plan. The first is that the people brought in initially must be the best possible candidates. These early hires are in the best position to grow with the company, and the business needs people who are genuinely committed to that. Barista work can be a serious profession — it is treated as such in Australia, for example (The Australian, 2006). The initial staffing plan therefore focuses on finding career-oriented people with strong leadership skills: individuals who can establish the company culture, pass it along to new hires, and eventually move into management roles as the business expands to new locations. Beyond leadership, because the company is new, there will inevitably be moments when people must take on tasks outside their formal job description. Flexibility, competence, and a proactive attitude are therefore essential. It is expected that a slightly higher-than-normal wage may be necessary to attract this caliber of talent.

The long-term staffing profile will hold this standard as an ideal, but subsequent hires may be selected more for their commitment to great customer service rather than their ability to take ownership of broader operational responsibilities and move into higher roles. The long-run plan is largely to offer attractive opportunities for people who want flexible employment. There is therefore a deliberate distinction between initial hires and subsequent hires, and it is expected that later hires will carry a slightly higher turnover rate due to variable hours and similar factors.

Communication Message and Employer Branding

There will not be a formal communications strategy in the traditional sense. Most job openings in this industry are filled through informal channels, and given the high visibility of a coffee shop and the small number of expected openings, there is no need to move beyond the hidden job market (Collamer, 2013). Word of mouth and internal referrals are expected to be the primary sources of new hires. Without a formal channel, the message must be very simple: this is the best coffee shop to work at, with low turnover, high employee commitment, and genuine long-term opportunity.

The goal of this message is to build a strong employer brand. When a position opens, the aim is to already be hearing from talented people who have expressed an interest in joining the company. An employer with a great brand attracts candidates, and as a high-visibility business, this is an achievable goal. Building an external employer brand requires cultivating a great public atmosphere, but it also requires a strong internal culture — because the most effective referrals come from employees who genuinely believe in where they work (Maxwell & Knox, 2009). With a strong employer brand, recruiting starts from a higher baseline: more candidates and higher-quality candidates, reducing the need to pay for advertising. If necessary, positions will be posted on the company website and its Facebook and Twitter accounts, allowing fans of the business to learn about opportunities and expanding the candidate pool.

Conclusion

With this plan, the business can launch successfully and build toward something bigger by adjusting hiring requirements to facilitate growth. Maintaining the corporate culture is important, as is delivering the best possible customer service. Of course the coffee itself must be excellent — but if the shop is not an enjoyable place to be, customers will not return. The focus must therefore be on bringing in the people who fit best with what the business is strategically trying to achieve.

References

Collamer, N. (2013). 6 ways to crack the hidden job market. Forbes. Retrieved November 30, 2013, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/nextavenue/2013/08/12/6-ways-to-crack-the-hidden-job-market/

Maxwell, R., & Knox, S. (2009). Motivating employees to "live the brand": A comparative case study of employer brand attractiveness within the firm. Journal of Marketing Management, 26(9–10).

The Australian. (2006). Laying the grounds for a career as a barista. The Australian. Retrieved November 30, 2013, from http://www.theaustralian.com.au/archive/business/laying-the-grounds-for-a-coffee-career/story-e6frg9ho-

Van Hoye, G. (n.d.). Word of mouth as a recruitment source: An integrative model. Ghent University. Retrieved November 30, 2013, from http://www.researchgate.net/publication/244780082_Word-of-mouth_as_a_recruitment_source_An_integrative_model/file/9c96051d4556d8e5f4.pdf