A View From The Top

Chop Chop Rice CEO: 'We can't hire like we did in the past'

David Smith, CEO of Chop Chop Rice Co., shares the eight things he does to recruit and keep high-quality employees.

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February 14, 2020

By David Smith, CEO, Chop Chop Bylined Article

A tight labor market is making it more of a challenge to develop and keep quality talent. How big of a challenge? According to the National Restaurant Association, in 2017, 37% of its members said labor recruitment was their top priority. The evolving motivators of the up and coming group of new employees are shifting the way we as employers need to look at building our teams. To make things even more challenging, there's an eruption of fast-casual restaurants currently in the marketplace, contributing to competition for qualified employees. Additionally, employers are facing higher wages, and rising healthcare costs leading to studies such as one by Harri, a company expert on hospitality workforce issues, revealing that labor costs have jumped between 3-9%.

These factors have created a perfect storm, but we can be prepared and proactive.

David Smith, CEO of Chop Chop Rice Co

As difficulties in hiring began to develop in our company, we began to ask ourselves, “If the employee landscape is changing, should our hiring practices change with them?”

Applicants in the past, on a simple level, wanted hours and a good pay rate.

Today, they want that and so much more — a sense of purpose, an understanding of their role, benefits, growth path, a socially responsible company and more. Let me say, these are all great things. I firmly believe the evolution of the new workforce is exciting and beneficial for our industry. A new sense of idea growth, creativity and desire to be a part of a great team is going to move our industry in fun new directions.

What does this mean? Simply, We are not hiring the same “employee” we were five or 10 years ago. We can't hire like we did in the past.

So what was the solution? We went back and evaluated how we used to hire, how we used to evaluate candidates, and built a new standard.

What did our past tell us? What new practices did we adopt?

In the early years, we were hiring a personality at times rather than a skill set. What we found was that if you hire someone for a job they're not equipped to do, you're setting them up for failure. Of course, many employees were able to learn, but we did see turnover decrease when we gave more focus to a skillset fit upfront.

We also learned that sometimes you have to let a candidate find a better fit somewhere else, which at times, can be a hard pill to swallow. We adopted hire slow, fire fast. Sounds harsh but it is extremely beneficial for both employee and employer.

We also identified we were hiring mangers that worked rather than manage. Managers that want to do it all themselves will not work, at least not in our system. When we started looking for leaders that can cast a vision, inspire, teach and hold accountable, we saw as very sharp drop off in turnover.

After years of experience and evolution, we have fine-tuned our best practices. Here are some more tips that I hope will help you win the battle for good employees for your organization.

Focus on Retention and evaluating turnover stats. Why do people enjoy working for you? Why do they leave? Ask! You will be amazed with what you learn.
Hire people with the right attitude and mindset. The right candidate for us must be passionate and love to serve.
Know your applicant! When recruiting we need to understand the person we really want to hire. What is their make-up, mindset, personality, professional skills, personal skills, education, etc.? Keep in mind the staff cost/benefit analysis.
Improve systems and training. Is your vision clear and concise? Are the tools you are offering your new hires giving them the best chance at success and ultimately a sense of meaning to follow? Your training is the first and most important step in retaining good team members.
It is important to establish expectations upfront. You can accomplish that with a simple, short, yet concise job description with an understanding of what success looks like and how the person will be measured or held accountable. You should have a job description for every position.
Communicate your core values and company culture. We make sure that everyone is aware of our core values. I can't stress this enough. The culture is made up of the people you surround yourself with. At Chop Chop, we hire the people that fit the culture that we want to create: such as a heart for people, a strong work ethic, creativity and a desire to serve.
Hire for attitude and work ethic and train for the skills. Attitude and work ethic is something you can't teach. We strive to be a brand that people want to work for. Employees are our first and foremost customers. This is a factor that often is overlooked.
Explain the other perks. In our case, not open on Sundays and not working a typical restaurant shift.

Texas-based Chop Chop Rice Co. has two in Amarillo and two in Lubbock, Texas. Smith and his team are building their 5th store with two others in early development.