A 2 min read.

After two decades managing restaurants, I made a significant career shift to join a local ice cream company in Colorado. This company aimed to expand from 6 to 20 locations, a slower pace compared to my previous role with a restaurant group that grew from 6 to 48 locations nationwide. The transition was both manageable and exciting. During my two years in the ice cream industry, one of the most valuable lessons I learned was how to effectively manage turnover in an environment known for its high employee turnover rate.

The ice cream industry experiences an average turnover rate of 120%. Why is this? The majority of employees in ice cream shops are working their first job, so there is a lot to learn. Many get a taste of customer service and decide it’s not for them. However, not all turnover is negative. Within that 120% are stories of employees who leave and come back during the school year or while on summer break from college.

At the company I worked for, our turnover was around 100%. Knowing this, we had an incredible process in place for finding, hiring, and training great talent. Today, I want to share our approach to hiring.

If you are struggling to find and retain great talent, I can help. Let’s chat at christinlmarvin@gmail.com.

Unfortunately, many of our employees, being new to the workforce, were not great at planning ahead with their schedules when it came to managing schoolwork, finals, athletic schedules, or vacations. This lack of planning caused many employees to give managers short notice when they needed to move on or request time off. While we worked to educate employees on respecting their schedules and team, new hires—of which there were many—had to be taught this lesson frequently.

Our solution was to build and maintain a pipeline of talent that managers could pull from immediately if needed. We ensured that every job in the shop was always posted on job boards and our website and that our team reviewed applications daily.

This approach helped our managers become experts at reviewing resumes and conducting brief Zoom, phone, and in-person interviews. It also helped our teams identify strong talent that we could hire at different locations within the company. Another major benefit of this hiring strategy was that we constantly created guests by inviting every single candidate to come by the shop and say hello next time they came in for a scoop of ice cream.

Managing turnover in the ice cream industry can be challenging, but with the right strategies in place, it’s entirely manageable. By building a continuous pipeline of potential hires and engaging with candidates, you can not only fill positions quickly but also create a positive and inviting atmosphere for both employees and customers. Embrace the high turnover rate as an opportunity to refine your hiring process and build a stronger, more adaptable team. Your ice cream shop's success lies in how well you manage these transitions and maintain a welcoming environment for everyone involved.

For more innovative ways to improve your hiring process, tune into this week’s episode of the No Hesitations Podcast, where I chat with the leadership team from Poached Jobs about their approach to thinking differently about hiring and their passion for supporting the industry.

P.S. 

For more leadership development, here are some additional resources for you:

1. Tune into the No Hesitations Podcast Episode 32 : How to Lead with Clarity : 5 Strategies for Effective Restaurant Management

2. Contact me for a strategy session about overcoming your biggest challenge at christinlmarvin@gmail.com and start transforming your mindset, your restaurant, and your life today!