Ask the right interview questions

For years, Nordstrom would welcome a new employee by issuing each a handbook. On one side it would welcome them to the company. On the other it would have only one goal, "Use good judgement in all situations."

As Steve Jobs often said, "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." In this case, Nordstrom really captured their expectation and company culture in one sentence.

When you are hiring new staff, do you communicate what your expectations are for the role and immediate objectives so they know what/how/when to achieve it? Are you clear as to what success would look like in their first 90-days of their "probationary" period? Don't forget, this period of probation is also for your new employee to determine if you are right for them. Unfortunately, you are far more patient and tolerant than they are, as you don't want to spend time and money again for the hiring process. Compared to your new employee who is determining fit in the first few days since seeking new employment is less troublesome and costly for them.

To start, ask the right interview questions that would help you find the right soft skills necessary for success in their role. For example, situation-based questions are useful for the candidate and effective for you to determine how they'd respond to certain circumstances. If you're looking for a server with a servitude mentality, present situations like; "your customer is leaving after a lovely meal to discover they left their umbrella at home and it is now pouring out, what would you do in this circumstance?" or "in the middle of dinner rush you discover that your customer who just departed has left behind her purse, what would you do?" or "your customer breaks her heel during a bathroom visit and is all dressed to go out afterwards, what would you do?"

In addition, find out what they are like in their personal life as it gives a good indication to who they are as people. That is, "if you were to host friends at your house, tell me exactly how you'd provide hospitality starting at the front door, go..." If their response indicates they never entertain at home, how would you expect them to behave/preform at your restaurant?

Remember, you can teach hard skills but never soft skills.

"SHOW ME THE MONEY"

Jerry Maguire is a movie that resonates with me, especially being in the recruitment business, taking less clients in order to focus on providing better service. Then and now, doing something against the grain takes guts, vision and conviction. Seth Godin refers to this idea as being in a "Category of One" or checking the box of "other" when asked "favourite soft drink", that is, not trying to become Coca-Cola. Oddly, even Coca-Cola understands the power of a niche market with their recent campaign "Let's look at the world a little differently" and large companies like BMW- Mini's campaign "Not Normal". Of course, some of these large company's new brand strategy seem inauthentic while others hit home.

It is a similar argument when large food service providers like GFS and Sysco are now providing "Green" and "Sustainable" products as a category for their Locally-sourced/Sustainable focused restaurants, how ironic. However, isn't it better for more consumers to be introduced to this small category so that it is widespread, as long as these large companies are not pressuring/strong arming the farmers/small producers, versus keeping it a secret to a selected few. At the end of the day, none of this means anything unless more people understand and practice sustainable eating and not just sustainable production.

In the information age, hospitality owners need to focus on becoming more than just "best burger" or "most romantic date place" especially in a crowded/competitive market when consumers are more savvy then ever. People are hungry for memorable experiences, caring interactions and genuine hospitality. "Best Service restaurants" is the only worthwhile list to exchange with your friends not "Best New restaurants"

Emotional Wage

The barista at Rooster Coffee is getting paid regular wage, remembers not just a customer's name and order but their child's name, is someone who clearly loves their job. The wine consultant at LCBO-St.Lawrence Market is in a union but provides uplifting service to her customers by emailing "my top five picks" every month just because she cares. And the flight attendant at Porter who is getting paid market wage but happily serves you a complimentary glass of wine with a snack on every flight to earn your business.

What they have in common is emotional labor. Like physical labor, emotional labor requires you to provide more engagement with your customers even when you don't feel like it. Fortunately, you cannot pay a higher wage for more emotional labor. It requires time and focus to seek out those who innately have this soft skill and provide the culture to support it. Aside from creating a reputation for your business, these people attract others like them into your organization.

The reality is the person who brings emotional labor to every client, employer or charity organization they volunteer, will only continue to do so in a culture they support and an environment they respect. Otherwise, they will move on to another company that values their special gift that is rare in the market place and provide their emotional labor there.

It is not surprising when an owner provides emotional labor to their customers, the key is for the same owner to provide emotional labor to their employees/team everyday. The result is drastic, the first owner would add value to their business while the second would multiply value to their business.

Is your business paying the proper wage to attract this employee?

One more song

For Billy Talent, one more song is never true even after half-an-hour into the encore.  The goal is to ensure their fans are overwhelmed, overjoyed and leave in complete awe.  Over delivering is a fundamental premise for them, whether for a crowd of 100,000 or just 1 person. High energy and passion is how they perform each song from the first to last, you'd never know if they're starting or finishing.

When you show up every time with the intent to under promise and over deliver, your clients will be delighted and happy to spread your excellent work.  Becoming an expert is not just doing it 10,000 times, it's to be purposeful each and every time you deliver.

Thank you for an amazing show guys, We can't wait to see you one more time.

Cycle-analysis

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Reticular Activator is part of the brain system that stays on alert. Due to billions of stimuli around us, it helps us focus on certain things and, more importantly, ignore all others. When you buy a green bicycle you will notice many green bicycles on the street. Or, at the airport you will hear your name through a loud room. That is the reticular activator at work.

The cycling shops in Toronto seem to understand the importance of hospitality excellence and provide caring service. Cyclemotive, Duke's Cycle and Curbside Cycle (check out "our people" page on website) are great places to observe how it's done. A caring welcome, genuine intent to help, knowledgeable, patient, understanding, discerning and professional. Regardless of your budget, they encourage you to "take it for a spin!"

As retail sales people can be discriminating, this uplifting service was not limited to those with a big budget. On the flip side, the service agents were not limited by age.

Has it always been this way? When did these small business owners decide to change their service culture to compete with big box retailers selling bikes?

Whatever the answer, they have figured out how to inspire and empower their team, create and execute a service culture to provide a remarkable shopping experience, and convert browsers into loyal customers.

Wise words from Albert Einstein; Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.

Hospitality industry, let's get on our bikes and keep moving.

Thank You

Field Trip was the one day music festival created by Arts & Crafts, an Indie record label from Toronto, to celebrate their tenth year anniversary, and what a celebration! Needless to say, the whole Field Trip experience from noon to eleven was extraordinary and incredibly unique to Toronto.

Of course nothing great can be done without a team, I'd like to thank the teams of people who made Field Trip memorable, specifically those behind the scenes & volunteers:

Promotional team for all the product sponsors
Security
Food Trucks & Vendors (see complete list)
Wine sponsors (Huff Estates & Burning Kiln) and Liquor sponsors (Elyx Vodka)
Kid's play area
Evergreen
Etsy pop-up
Drake General Store pop-up
A&C merchandise booths
Water station
Live Nation production
For the Love of Food
The Underground Market
Arts & Crafts

In the words of Helen Keller, "Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much"

Field Trip, you did so much for the city of Toronto. THANK YOU.

HELL YES

Maria who is dating someone she really likes met via on-line dating service, Beth who gives daily to the homeless has decided to make a difference because her moniker is "Make it Count", and Sam who calls me out of frustration seeking a career change all have one thing in common, they all said "Hell Yes!"  As Richard Branson famously said, "Yes is more fun!"

Your business is no different, determine your core HELL YES's, anchor your actions to this belief, ignore the NO's - including naysayers, reviewers & those content with status quo - and you'll attract clients who you want to do business with.

Otherwise, your lethargy is confusing your employees and turning away your customers.  We don't want to hear "maybe, let me check with my boss, or don't know", for we'll continue down the line until we find another business that screams HELL YES on service, food quality, culture & purpose.

The cellphone company who ties your hands with a two-year term, a hotel who charges you for wifi, and a bank who charges fees to deposit/withdraw your own money, we simply say,"HELL NO!"

Are your choices more clear now?

Smell the coffee

Universally, morning coffee is critical to start the day.  We'd line up, wait patiently, try a new blend and not even think twice about the cost of this small indulgence at our local coffee house.

To open a coffee house, the barrier to entry is a cash register and espresso machine, pretty low. Yet, so few operators seize the opportunity to dazzle their customers - people who are at your cash register several times per week. They mistaken steady flow of business, usually out of convenience, with being unique. Coffee is a commodity, service is the value.

In the short term, we'll tolerate the small inconveniences/annoyances until it amounts to an unforgivable experience or until another coffee house opens across the street.

When a restaurant owner across the street sees a disgruntled customer leaving the coffee house invites us in for a cup of fresh brewed coffee just to say hello, we'd finally realize there are many options available and being tolerant is not serving anyone well.

Never take your customers for granted, as the only variable that is replaceable is you.

HR is Marketing

The ability to interact with a potential customer is powerful, your objective is to have them walk away and tell a story of their experience that resonates with their network or tribe. This opportunity is no longer limited to the sales and marketing department, you must empower everyone who works in your business from line staff to top executive, anyone with this unique opportunity to interact - even a brief "hello" moment - with your customers.

Your HR department is often the first line for a potential customer to interact with your brand. A summer student seeking work often looks at a job board, finds an opportunity that interests them, and researches your company for first impression. Then they apply to your company nervously waiting for someone to respond. In most times, no one responds! Even worst, this student has an interview but the interviewer is rude leaving a bad impression on the potential customer that they tell all their friends.

Here is an opportunity for the HR department to cajole the summer student by giving timely feedback or a follow up phone call especially when they didn't make it to the next round of interviews. Heck, go further by giving the student a gift card so you can convert a customer, "Please come back with your friends and let me know how we do!"

A summer student is easy, they are forgiving and impressionable. What if this story happened to a seasoned professional?

Ensure your HR team understands the value of each applicant, they are no different than the person lining up at your front desk or flipping through gallery photos on your website. This can be your competitive advantage to blow away your competitors.

P.S. HR is Human Resources, let's not forget the HUMAN part.