One of the largest challenges the restaurant industry faces is an extremely high rate of employee turnover. Many restaurants use pre-employment testing to identify productive, reliable workers and improve their employee retention rates.
The Statistics
- Employment in the restaurant industry is expected to grow by nearly 2 million employees between 2016 and 2026
- Average turnover in the restaurant industry is estimated to be near 61%
Why Use Pre-Employment Testing
Turnover is a persistent challenge in the food service industry, and restaurants ranging from nationwide fast-food chains to fine dining establishments rely on Criteria's employment tests to help them address their hiring challenges. Pre-employment testing can help restaurants find candidates who will easily pick up training and who also have the appropriate communication skills and attention-to-detail for customer facing roles. Testing can also highlight candidates with the personality to be comfortable in their roles, improving both productivity and employee tenure.
What Tests to Use
Most of our restaurant customers use tests primarily for their front-of-house staff, although the tests can also be used for kitchen staff. For servers and other front-of-house staff, many restaurants use the Customer Service Aptitude Profile (CSAP). The CSAP is a personality test that helps employers ensure they hire staff who will be courteous, cooperative, and patient with customers.
It's also important for restaurant employees to have the basic aptitude required to learn and perform their jobs. The Criteria Basic Skills Test (CBST) measures verbal and communication skills, basic math, and attention to detail. It helps to assess general job readiness for entry level workers by predicting "trainability."
Sometimes the Workplace Productivity Profile (WPP) is also administered for employees in the restaurant industry. The WPP is a personality measure that can be used to determine if an applicant will be a productive, reliable and trustworthy employee, and to assess the risk that he/she will engage in counterproductive work behaviors including theft, tardiness, and absenteeism.
For management and supervisory positions, the Employee Personality Profile (EPP) is recommended. The EPP is a general personality test that measures traits that are correlated with success in managerial roles, including competitiveness and assertiveness.
The Criteria Cognitive Aptitude Test (CCAT) is an aptitude test that is also often used for managerial and supervisory positions because it assesses a candidate's ability to solve problems and think critically, important abilities for roles that involve regular decision making.
Why Criteria
- State-of-the-art, cloud-based assessment platform
- Unlimited access to all of our aptitude, personality, and skills tests
- Tests backed by science and validated for employment
- Flat-fee pricing model
If you're an employer interested in previewing these tests, start a 14-day free trial or book a consultation to learn more.
Case Study
How Criteria Helps Restaurants:
Increase sales: A restaurant chain used Criteria's employment personality tests to drive improvements in quality of hire and to increase sales. Employees who were recommended for sales by the SalesAP test were 4 times as likely to be rated as high performers than employees who were not recommended for sales roles. Read the full case study.
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