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Staffing Tips for Your Bakery

  • 25 November 2015

Baking and human resources don’t necessarily go hand in hand, however, if you have a growing business, you might need to hire employees. Employees play a large role in keeping a bakery profitable, as well as promoting its growth. Make sure you hire the right people for your bakery with the following tips:

Paint a picture of your organizational culture. 
Even before looking for staff, have a clear vision of your bakery’s culture and what you find valuable in making it a success. Craft a mission statement and core values that you can reference throughout the hiring process.

Be honest and realistic about the job.
Not everyone can handle an early start time, long hours or engaging with customers all day. When looking for the right person for the job, be sure to communicate what it will be like working at your bakery.

Have written documentation.
No matter its size, every business should have hard copy documents outlining policies and procedures. Doing so will help you save time in the long run, ensure consistency between staff members, as well as provide your staff with the tools needed to help your bakery succeed.

Complement existing skills.
When hiring for a small business, it is easier to hire someone who is similar to you.  In some ways that makes sense, but it also makes sense to hire someone who can complement your existing skills.  So perhaps you are great at cake decorating, but have no passion for gourmet cookies.  Or perhaps you are great with selling to corporate accounts, but horrible at invoicing and inventory.  Hiring someone with complementary skills can help to add depth to your team.

Conduct working interviews.
After the initial screening process, consider adding working interviews to your hiring process. If you’re looking to hire a cake decorator, make decorating a cake part of the interview. If you need a new pastry chef, have them prepare something for you so you can see how they work and what their final results are like. Having a potential candidate partake in a working interview gives you the chance to see if their style and skill set match what you’re looking for.

Explore niche job boards.
Not sure where to advertise your job openings? Niche job boards are great resources for filling a specific role in a particular industry. CareersInFood.com is a job board for the food and beverage manufacturing industry that can help you attract candidates with the industry experience you’re looking for.

It’s important for you to be involved in the hiring process of your bakery, even if you don’t have any human resources experience as it directly impacts your bottom line.

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