Building Tomorrow’s Restaurant Teams: A New Approach for Hiring in 2025

“Nobody wants to work anymore.” “They don’t even show up for interviews.” “If they do show up, they ghost us after two shifts.” Sound familiar?

The hiring landscape of today’s restaurant industry is a daunting place, where job openings outnumber willing workers and no-shows have become the norm, it’s tempting to hire anyone with a pulse. This desperation creates a vicious cycle: lower hiring standards lead to a challenging work environment, which drives away quality staff, forcing even lower hiring standards. The cycle continues, and our industry suffers.

But here’s the hard truth: in a market where workers have more options than ever, restaurants need to differentiate themselves to potential staff just as much as they do to potential guests. When a skilled line cook or experienced server has their pick of establishments, they’re doing the same thing your customers do – checking your social media, reading your reviews, and assessing your brand’s presence both online, through social media, and in person.

Before you can attract the kind of team members who will care about your restaurant’s success, you need to take a hard look at how your establishment appears to potential hires.

Before you can attract the kind of team members who will care about your restaurant’s success, you need to take a hard look at how your establishment appears to potential hires. Is your Instagram showing the passion behind your cuisine, or just sporadic food photos? Do your reviews reflect a positive work culture, or are there red flags about management and workplace environment? Does your website tell the story of your restaurant’s mission, or is it just a menu and hours? In other words: would you want to work at your restaurant based on what potential hires can learn about it?

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On a typical Tuesday evening in a New England kitchen, another restaurant owner proudly plates their twentieth dish of the night but as they check their phone for new messages they wonder, “how much longer can I keep up this pace?”

The labor crisis isn’t just a headline – it’s a daily reality that’s pushing our independent restaurants to the breaking point. With 12-14 hour days becoming the norm for owners and many running businesses by themselves, the restaurant industry needs more than traditional hiring solutions. It might be time for foodservice operators to consider a fundamental shift in how they approach staffing and team building.

Lately, the conventional wisdom in hospitality has been “we need hands in the kitchen – yesterday!” But this desperation for immediate help might be exactly what’s holding them back. In the rush to fill positions, business owners may have lost sight of what truly builds lasting restaurant teams: a foundation of genuine care for the craft, the customer, and the culture we’re creating.

Consider this: When was the last time you shared the story behind your signature dish with someone who wasn’t family? Or walked a staff member through your food costs and pricing strategy? Or asked your team’s opinion on menu changes? Or shared the real story of why you opened your doors in the first place? The secret to building tomorrow’s restaurant teams isn’t just about finding people with the right skills – it’s about fostering an environment where people naturally want to develop those skills because they care deeply about your restaurant’s success.

The transformation to position caring over craft starts with a simple but powerful shift in mindset. Instead of viewing new hires as pairs of hands to train, we need to see them as potential stewards of our vision. This isn’t just idealistic thinking – it’s a practical response to our industry’s challenges.

Take those fifteen minutes during prep time when you’re explaining how to plate a dish. Rather than just demonstrating the technique, share why you chose that presentation, what inspired it, how customers react to it. When team members understand the why behind the what, they become invested in the outcome. They’re no longer just executing tasks; they’re participating in creating experiences.

For example:

• Hold monthly “taste and talk” sessions during prep time
• Create a log of guest feedback and review it together weekly
• Let staff experiment with one special per week
• Share food costs and pricing strategies to build business understanding
• Share “insider knowledge” about your techniques, key ingredients, and vendors

This approach aligns perfectly with today’s workforce dynamics. There is an enormous desire for experiences permeating the market of employable foodservice workers–especially Gen Z. In an era where line cooks are becoming social media influencers, we need to embrace rather than resist this evolution. Today’s culinary professionals want more than a paycheck – they want to build their own legacies while contributing to something larger than themselves.

Imagine a kitchen where each team member brings their unique perspective to your brand’s story. One staff member might excel at photographing your dishes, while another has a gift for explaining your sourcing philosophy to guests. By supporting these individual strengths and allowing personal brands to flourish within your restaurant’s framework, you create a more dynamic, engaging environment that attracts and retains talent.

For solo operators, running the business by themselves, the decision to bring on their first team member often comes from exhaustion or desperation. But what if we reframed this milestone? Instead of asking “How can I get some help?” ask “Who could help elevate this brand?”

Hopefully your first hire can be more than an extra set of hands – they should be someone who sees the potential in your vision and brings fresh energy to help realize it. Look for someone who asks thoughtful questions about your concept, shows genuine curiosity about your methods, and demonstrates an eagerness to contribute ideas, not just execute tasks.

The right first hire might take longer to find, but they’re worth waiting for. They’re the ones who stop by your restaurant multiple times before applying, who can articulate why they connect with your concept, who show interest in learning every aspect of the operation – not just their assigned station. If that person hasn’t shown up yet, it might be time to amplify your message: share your restaurant’s story and vision more actively on social media, engage with local culinary schools, or host community events that showcase your restaurant’s unique culture and opportunities.

When team members genuinely care about your restaurant’s success, skill development happens naturally. Create opportunities for your team to experiment with specials, involve them in vendor meetings, share the stories behind your recipes. These investments of time pay dividends in dedication and innovation.

The path forward isn’t about working harder – most of the industry has already reached its limit. It’s about working differently. By focusing on building genuine care and investment in our restaurants’ success, we create environments where excellence becomes inevitable rather than enforced.

As we enter the new year, New England’s independent restaurants stand at a crossroads. We can continue struggling with traditional staffing approaches, or we can pioneer a new approach that speaks to the next generation of food service professionals. The choice isn’t between maintaining standards and adapting to new workforce realities – it’s about finding innovative ways to do both.

Remember: every legendary chef and restaurateur started somewhere. By creating spaces where care comes first, we’re not just solving today’s staffing crisis – we’re cultivating tomorrow’s culinary leaders. The future of our industry depends not on finding more hands to do the work, but on nurturing more hearts that care about doing it exceptionally well.

Taking Action: Your 2025 Implementation Guide

First Steps:

• Document your restaurant’s origin story: Write down what drove you to open your doors—this becomes a powerful tool for connecting with potential hires who share your values.
• Create a “vision board” for 2025: Map out where you want your restaurant to be, including growth milestones, menu evolution, and community impact.
• List opportunities for personal brand development: Identify specific ways your future team members could build their professional presence while advancing your restaurant’s mission.
• Identify ideal first hire characteristics: Beyond skills, define the qualities of someone who will champion your vision and help elevate your brand.

Creating a Culture Where Care Drives Craft

Daily Practices:

• 15-minute story sharing during prep: Use prep time to share the inspiration behind dishes, building deeper connection to your menu and mission.
• Team tastings of new dishes: Make sampling and discussing new items a collaborative experience that builds investment in menu success.
• Vendor meeting involvement: Include staff in supplier relationships to deepen their understanding of quality and cost management.
• Cost and pricing transparency: Share the business-side of the operation to help team members better understand the factors, and their role, in the restaurant’s success.

Personal Brand Development Support Strategies:

• Social media guidelines: Create and post clear parameters that encourage personal growth while maintaining professional standards.
• Content creation opportunities: Designate times and spaces for team members to document their work and share their expertise.
• Staff spotlight programs: Regularly feature team members’ specialties and stories across your marketing channels.
• Teaching/demonstration roles: Give experienced staff opportunities to train others, building their leadership skills while strengthening your team.

Measuring Your Success:

• Staff-initiated improvements: Track how often team members proactively suggest and implement positive changes.
• Customer feedback mentioning staff: Monitor reviews and comments that specifically praise individual team members.
• Team member content engagement: Measure the impact of staff-created content on your restaurant’s social media presence. Noticeable engagement could merit anything from praise to a monetary perk.
• Personal development achievements: Document the professional growth milestones of staff, from new skills mastered to increased responsibilities. Much like your restaurant’s origin story—this can be a powerful tool for finding future employees who share your values.