The restaurant world isn’t just suffering from a labor shortage. It is also at a crossroads where new hiring strategies and ecosystems must be adopted to foster long-term profitability and growth. One of the biggest areas where operators fall behind is in their hiring speed, losing would be employees to competitors or other employment.

While hiring the right people is no easy task, it’s essential to be fast in your hiring process, as the first offer made to a candidate is typically accepted in the industry. Managers also spend an average of 10 hours per week on their hiring process, so even small improvements in hiring speed can mean significant cost savings as well.

This guide walks through the strategies restaurants can implement to speed up their hiring process and beat the competition to the best employees. It covers the ways to digitalize your hiring process, rethinking how you compensate employees, and incorporating the changing values of a younger workforce into your hiring strategy.