Food for thought: the right sort of recruitment “risk”
Michelle Maddox is the owner of Clootie McToot, a family-run business based in Abernethy, making clootie dumplings.
In May 2018 she opened the doors of a converted horse barn and hayloft as the Clootie McToot Dumpling Shop. There are 15 members of the “Clootie Clan”, as Michelle calls her workforce. Here are her thoughts on recruiting talent into the workforce.
Running a business is full of risks, especially right now.
But speaking as an employer, I know some types of risks are actually worth it.
I run Clootie McToot, a food business based in Abernethy, where I employ 15 people.
The food & drink industry is chokingly under-staffed. Office of National Statistics data shows there are 9.1 unfilled positions for every 100 food & drink jobs, well above the UK average of 4.11.
In a recent Scottish survey, 93% of food & drink businesses had job vacancies and 90% of them described their job vacancies as “hard to fill”2.
What with Brexit, rising energy costs and interest rates, it can feel like the economy is going to hell in a handcart.
It’s in this landscape, we need to think differently as employers. It’s time to think about taking recruitment “risks”.
Talent pool
There is a whole untapped source of talent out there. You need an open mind to discover that talent pool, and open your door to people from complex backgrounds.
I’m talking about people with autism, dyslexia, or of no fixed abode and who haven’t had those employment opportunities in their lives.
Don’t get me wrong, when it comes to interviews, I always select a couple of candidates who fit the job description to a T.
But I also choose two or three “wild cards”, people who have a spark, and there is just something about them, their hobbies or interests.
The thing is, if they have a complex background, they’re less likely to have that beautifully composed, perfectly printed CV. So I give them a break. I can look beyond mismatching dates and spelling errors, if that’s not what I’m employing them for.
And when they arrive for interview, I keep that mind open. They might not arrive fully suited and booted - dressing smartly for interview means different things for different people - and they might be really nervous.
On employment
And we continue to think holistically when they join the team. It’s about taking a longer term view of building your workforce’s skills and moulding their talent to your business.
Everyone works in teams of two, and each team has a set of tasks for the day. So, if someone has dexterity problems, they may be teamed with someone who struggles with literacy. Each has to rely on the other to complete the day’s tasks.
And does it work? Let me give you an example of a young guy we employed around four years ago. In his late 20s, he’d been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism. He didn’t have any qualifications and hadn’t really ever done anything before.
We offered him a job at Clootie McToot, trained him up and let him get to know the whole business. Within a few years, he’d worked his way up to head chef.
Argument
The cynical among you may be thinking “ah, that’s all very well for the employees, but I’ve got a business to run”.
The thing about this approach is that it works.
You get a committed and loyal team with whom you’ve built honesty from trust. When things go wrong, they pull together to sort it.
You need staff that are adaptable, and this way they are moved around and trained in every department which increases your business’s resilience.
In five years of recruiting, I’ve taken on 16 people, every single one has been a “wild card” and I do not regret a single hire I’ve made.
Maybe I’ve been lucky, but I prefer to think believe that showing social responsibility and a commitment to the local community pays its own dividends.
The risk is that an employee doesn’t work out. But the reward is a committed, loyal, well-trained tight-knit family
I’ll take that recruitment “risk” every time.
This article originally appeared in the Courier opinion pages