Can’t Find the Right Hospitality Staff? Start With the Role You’re Asking Them to Fill.

“We just can’t find good people.”

When a vacancy stays open and the team is covering extra responsibilities, that frustration is understandable. The restaurant still has to open. Guests still expect good service. Someone has to manage the pressure while interviews continue.

But before concluding that the right people are not out there, I would take a careful look at the role you are asking someone to fill.

Have you explained what they will actually do? Does everyone involved in hiring agree on what the business needs? And do you have a reliable way to assess the people who apply?

For me, better hospitality recruitment starts with those questions. A larger pile of CVs cannot resolve uncertainty about the job itself.

Start with the problem the new person needs to solve

A job title gives a vacancy a name. It does not explain why the business needs that person.

You may be looking for a restaurant supervisor because service becomes disorganised at peak times. Or because junior team members need more guidance. Or because the manager is spending every evening resolving issues that should be handled on the floor.

Each situation calls for a slightly different emphasis in the search.

I would begin by sitting down with the person who will manage the new hire and asking: what needs to work better once this person joins?

Be specific. “Improve service” leaves too much open to interpretation. “Run the pre-service briefing, allocate sections clearly and support the team with guest concerns during evening service” gives you something you can recruit for.

It also helps you see whether the vacancy is realistic. If you expect one person to supervise service, build the wine programme, manage purchasing and take responsibility for social media, pause and examine the workload. A long wish list can hide several different jobs.

Describe the working day honestly

The job description should help a candidate picture the work and help your team evaluate their suitability.

Explain the operation: the type of venue, service style, department, reporting line and the responsibilities the person will own. Include the demands that materially affect the role, such as coordinating several service periods, supporting events or working across more than one venue, where applicable.

For a management position, be clear about decision-making authority. Will the person manage a team, control a budget, take responsibility for training or make recommendations that require approval?

Responsibility without authority can create disappointment on both sides. Someone hired to improve an operation needs to understand which decisions they can make and what support they will receive.

The same care applies to the employment proposition. Agree the approved salary range, benefits, location, working arrangements and expected start date internally. Communicate the relevant conditions accurately and early enough for candidates to make an informed decision.

Be equally precise about development opportunities. Explain what you can genuinely offer rather than relying on “excellent career progression” as a promise without a plan behind it.

Separate what is essential from what can be learned

One of the most useful exercises before advertising is to divide your requirements into three groups: essential from the start, preferred, and teachable after joining.

A task that the person must perform independently on their first shifts may require existing competence. Your particular reporting template or internal service terminology may be something you can teach.

Ask why each requirement is there. Does it reflect the work, or has it simply remained in a job description copied from an earlier vacancy?

Previous employment with a familiar hotel or restaurant can provide useful context. It does not tell you everything about a person’s responsibilities or ability. Someone from a less familiar operation may have relevant experience that deserves a closer look.

Likewise, “good attitude” needs a practical meaning. Do you mean accepting feedback, communicating problems early, supporting colleagues or taking responsibility for mistakes? Describe the behaviour you need, then ask for evidence of it.

Turn the brief into something you can assess

Consider this illustrative requirement:

“We need an experienced restaurant supervisor with excellent communication skills and a positive attitude.”

It sounds reasonable, but it leaves the interview panel with very little shared guidance.

A more useful brief could read:

“The supervisor will coordinate evening service, lead briefings, allocate sections, support junior colleagues and handle guest concerns within agreed authority. They will report to the restaurant manager and provide a clear handover at the end of each shift.”

Now you can ask better questions. How has the candidate allocated work during a busy service? How have they helped a new colleague improve? What would they escalate to the manager, and why?

You can also agree what a credible answer should demonstrate: practical organisation, clear communication, sound judgement and respect for the team.

This is how a job description becomes useful throughout recruitment, rather than being a document you write once and put aside.

Then choose tools that support the decision

Once the role is clear, the next question is whether your hiring process gives you the information you need.

At a practical level, I would want five things in place:

• A shared vacancy brief that everyone works from.
• Candidate information organised consistently, so relevant experience is easy to compare.
• An interview guide linked to the actual responsibilities.
• A simple assessment sheet that records evidence, strengths and unanswered questions.
• A clear record of next steps, with someone responsible for each decision and update.

The assessment sheet does not need to be complicated. For each essential requirement, record what the candidate has demonstrated, what remains uncertain and how you will clarify it. Avoid turning an unanswered question into an automatic rejection.

Ask candidates the same core questions, then follow up on their individual experience. Give interviewers time to record their observations before discussing the decision together.

These habits make it easier to explain why someone is suitable. They also help prevent a confident presentation from outweighing relevant evidence, or a quieter candidate from being overlooked.

Understand where your hiring process is losing people

If recruitment keeps falling short, look at the stage where the difficulty appears.

If you receive few relevant applications: review the clarity of the vacancy, the requirements, the employment proposition and where you are reaching candidates.

If CVs look promising but interviews disappoint: examine what the initial screening is checking. Job titles and employer names may be carrying too much weight, while actual responsibilities remain unclear.

If suitable candidates withdraw or decline: ask about their reasons where possible. Review communication, delays, changes to the role and whether the conditions were understood from the beginning.

If people join and struggle: revisit both selection and onboarding. Did the work match the description? Were expectations explained? Was training available? Did the manager have time to support the person?

These are questions to investigate, not conclusions to assume. The point is to identify the difficulty before paying to repeat the same process.

Where Kairos Merit fits

This is the approach I want Kairos Merit to support: hiring built around a clear understanding of the role and useful information about the people being considered.

Kairos Merit brings together a hospitality talent platform, structured candidate information, specialist sourcing and human screening and validation. The purpose is to help companies assess relevant experience with greater clarity and reduce the initial screening work.

That support is most useful when the business can explain its needs. The more accurately you describe the operation, responsibilities and essential requirements, the stronger the basis for assessing professional fit.

Human judgement still matters. A profile can help you prepare for the conversation; your interview should explore how the person would work within your particular operation.

Before you publish your next vacancy

Bring the hiring manager and the people involved in selection together. Agree what the role exists to achieve, the responsibilities it includes, the requirements that genuinely matter and the conditions you can offer.

Then agree how you will assess those requirements, who will make the decision and how you will keep candidates informed.

I know that taking time to do this can feel difficult when the vacancy is urgent. But a little clarity at the beginning gives everyone a more useful starting point, including the person you hope to hire.

Good people deserve to understand the job they are considering. Your team deserves a colleague hired for the work they actually need help with.

Start there. Then give your hiring team the tools to make a thoughtful decision.

Lissandra

Kairos Merit

Explore Kairos Merit at www.kairosmerit.ae.