This article is written by Janet Morrison, CEO, J. Morrison Group, contributing writer for HCareers. The National Restaurant Association partners with HCareers on an online job board.

“Competing for talent is one of a company’s toughest challenges and it’s not going to get easier,” explains Karen MacPherson, CEO of Hcareers. “The available labor market is shrinking, the demographics are shifting, and the skills gap is widening. And if these things were not concern enough, competition for talent is heating up not only from an ever-increasing number of restaurant competitors, but also from other industries targeting the same potential employees as an answer to their own labor shortages.”

So how is the restaurant industry going to fill the 2 million jobs the National Restaurant Association predicts will be needed over the next 10 years? And how can you get your share of the available talent pool? Industry experts agree it’s a threefold continuous process: attract, develop and retain.

ATTRACT

Although some would say they “recruit,” the most successful companies understand they have to “attract.” It’s a matter of stimulating in the minds of your employee audience an interest in your company and a preference to work for you. Long gone are the days of employers having a multitude of qualified applicants from which to choose. It’s now a seller’s market and workers have more control over where they work, how committed they are to the job, and how long they stay.

Creating the first blush of attraction is the employer brand. Best-in-class restaurant employers understand this and use every available communication channel to set themselves apart from competitors. Their online job postings contain graphics and text that consistently convey the elements that make them a great place to work. Even if the company name were deleted, one could view their job postings, print ads, company careers page and in-store recruitment materials and know it was the same company. The message is clear, consistent and true to their company culture.

But even the best communications are worthless unless they are delivered to and heard by those to whom you want to communicate.

“It’s important to get your message out to as many prospects as possible,” explains Martin Riggs, director of field recruiting for Brinker International. However, he notes that "there is no single source that is going to cover everything.”

Riggs oversees recruiting for more than 1,700 restaurants in the company’s diverse brands: Chili’s, Macaroni Grill, On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina, Romano’s Macaroni Grill and Maggiano’s Little Italy. According to Riggs, while newspapers still have some value in the much smaller locales, it’s the job boards that provide the most consistent source of candidates.

Robyn Coffey, manager of recruiting for the 400 restaurants in Arby’s South Region, agrees. She uses all the job boards, although not all in the same way.

On some job boards Coffey chooses to only search the resume database and does not post jobs in order to avoid an onslaught of unqualified applicants. On others, she uses both the resume database and the job posting service.

“Large job hubs are great for casting a broad net,” Riggs explains.

While large job board may be good for entry-level personnel and targeting those seeking to change industries, Riggs is convinced that it’s the industry-specific job boards that provide the best results for experienced industry professionals.

Coffey gets well-qualified and quick response for Arby’s from the industry-specific site Hcareers. In fact, one recent posting yielded her a great hire in the first week.

“Hcareers is our best external source of hire for management positions,” adds Kim Marshall, director of corporate restaurant operations at Landry’s Restaurants. “Forty percent of our managers we grow from within.”

DEVELOP

Utilizing a company’s existing employee base as a source of management hires has a high return on investment. There are no recruiting expenses and the hire can be made quickly. The quality of hire also improves as the identified internal employee candidates are known and proven entities. And even though time and effort is required to train an existing service-level employee for a management role, they usually perform better and stay with the company longer than hiring an experienced manager.

“Those who already work for us understand our culture,” Marshall says. "We can mold them into the managers we want.”

Since the overall corporate culture is the same, Marshall finds promotion from within an advantageous recruitment strategy even when she hires from one Landry's concept to another.

Landry employees know that no matter which restaurant they currently work in, they have an opportunity to move to any of the other 27 brands, including Landry's Seafood House, Chart House Restaurants, Rainforest Cafe, and Saltgrass Steak House.

Such defined and visible career paths within an organization contribute to increased employee retention.

RETAIN

Companies become employers of choice by not only attracting the best employees, but keeping them. This requires creating a corporate culture that makes employees want to stay.

While providing professional growth opportunities is pivotal to long-term retention, a variety of other variables are important as well. Open communication, acknowledgement for good performance and work/life balance, just to name a few. With the changing mindset of younger workers, however, a new set of criteria for best employer status has been added.

On a recent round of college recruiting trips, Riggs was surprised by the number of students who inquired about the company’s policy on healthy food choice, corporate giving and green initiatives.

Focusing on the areas of health, arts & culture, and social services, Brinker International annually contributes millions of dollars to charitable organizations as well as thousands of volunteer hours from their employees.

Arby’s also believes in being a good corporate citizen. Over the last 20 years the company has supported both locally and nationally the youth mentoring organizations, Big Brothers and Big Sisters. In fact, Arby’s is the world’s largest corporate sponsor of these organizations.

“Today’s employees expect their employers to give back to the community and appreciate the opportunity to be a part of that,” says Riggs. “It’s a part of our overall corporate values of balance, passion, growth, diversity, family and integrity. These are the reasons people join us and why our 100,000 associates worldwide stay and grow their careers with us.”

Competing for top talent will always be one of your company’s ongoing challenges. Positive results in the talent arena really depend on your actions today, tomorrow and next week. It is really your company’s daily focus and response that will make the difference. It’s being committed to that threefold process: attract, develop and retain that will yield the best returns in the area of talent recruitment and retention. Top talent is out there. But you have to take action to get it and to keep it.