As a Chef for 11 years before starting SSC Hospitality-I have to say-and our staff often ask me-“Why hasn’t “that” place called a Hospitality Staffing Agency earlier?” Often the reason is the “supposedly” sky high rates-but are they as high as many think? My research would estimate that its about $50-$100 a day more to have that extra pair of , in most cases-badly needed hands helping out.

5 Pitfalls Of NOT utilising a Hospitality Staffing Agency

For the record- I’ve been in the engine room for over 11 years now and brought up by parents who ran hotels , pubs and restaurants-so these aren’t guess’s-

1. When the required amount of staff aren’t present-everyone has to work harder-which, if repeated is Morale sapping at the best of times.
2. If a kitchen normally has 3 chefs on duty and one calls in sick-all of a sudden the remaining two chefs workload and responsibility increases by 50%. (originally 1 person in a team of 3 is 33%) I can assure you and I hear this often-food standards drop-they might say they don’t to you if you are the manager/owner but they do-through necessity to get everything done-and that little morale issue!
3. Lower standards of  service result in less repeat business-so loss of revenue. And damage to reputation and brand. What happens to a business that has a lot of this?
4. Higher staff turnover-I’ve been there-and I’ve done it! I’ve worked at venues where someone different seems to call in sick once a week-leaving “guess who” to pick up the pieces?! Eventually that breaks even the hardest of workers and they move on. And then you have to not only find new (and decent!) staff but train them and try and keep the customer experience consistent?!
5. Social media-bad reviews from not only customers, but current and past employees telling the world what its like working at your venue-resulting in a smaller potential employee pool.

So is saving $50-$100 worth all of the above -or do you think-just a call to a Hospitality Staffing Agency can’t hurt? Just to weigh up the costs? Sure-I’m biased-but I’ve been there too!

One last thought maybe an agency chef for 6 hours costs the same as what you pay your chef (that called in sick) does for 8 hours? I know the reaction myself and the other guys get when we arrive to help is “delight” to put it mildly!