ATTRACTING TALENT

Ways to think outside of the box and zero in on culture to build your labor force // By ACF Chef Ashten Garrett

One of the most common issues in the food industry today is staff retention. Phrases such as “no one wants to work right now,” “the students are unmotivated” and “it’s difficult to hire and recruit right now” have circulated widely and are creating an unfortunate strain in many establishments nationwide. It is no secret — the tremendous turnover rate has plagued the hospitality profession for decades. Keeping staffers engaged or just retaining them at all, especially through busier seasons, has been challenging for kitchen managers. But it’s not all bad news.

On a more positive note, as the past president of ACF’s Young Chefs Club, I’m seeing a new wave of young chefs emerging who are excited to explore new ideas, discover various techniques and network with kindred-minded individuals. With many food trends leaning more toward sustainability, public exclusivity and cultural inclusivity, it is also refreshing to see a dynamic being built that caters to what matters most to younger generations.

Young chefs today perhaps are more engaged than ever before when it comes to learning about entrepreneurship and alternative culinary career paths and the endless possibilities they can provide. The age-old mantra of “putting your head down and grinding it out” for X number of years in a hot kitchen is fading to give way to a new industry mantra that includes hard work but also “smart work” — chiefly in the embrace of entrepreneurship, social media and technological advancements to bring new ideas to fruition.

While I was in culinary school, every hospitality student had to take a capstone class about the restaurant business and cost control. The point of this class was to provide a real-life perspective into restaurant operations while also learning about entrepreneurship. On my first day, the professor asked our class of 29 students, “How many of you wish to own and operate your own restaurant?” Nearly everyone raised their hands in overzealous excitement. Fast-forward to the last day of class, with now only 18 students, he posed the same question. Only three students raised their hands — this time with uncertainty on their faces. I wondered: How could something that these young chefs were so excited about and wanted to do for the rest of their lives be an uncertainty now after taking one class? It became evident that it wasn’t about the class or the hospitality system, but what that individual wished to do. And in a lot of ways, we now have many high school and college graduates who have decided to break from the traditional approach of grinding it out for hours in restaurants to instead find other ways to get trained, learn new skills and advance their careers.

That said, I believe the best approach to attracting talent and retention is to first discover what kind of job, life and career younger chefs today really want and to leverage some of the skills they may have that older generations may not. A colleague recently sent me a link for a job posting and asked my opinion about it. The job posting was made by a restaurant in Florida that was listing a TikTok content creator cook position. What a peculiar job concept, I thought, until I read the description and saw how many applicants already applied — close to 20 and only on the first day. Imaginative, out-of-the-box ideas that benefit both the operation (think of the marketing potential for that restaurant), as well as the cook (who gets to use social media skills), is what’s really going to propel this industry forward.

Clearly then, being a diverse and inclusive kitchen doesn’t have to be confined to race, gender and ethnicity — there is considerable opportunity to include younger chefs with more diverse backgrounds and skill sets. I truly believe that the hospitality profession has to thrive — not just survive. Providing mentorship and establishing a system where young chefs can see themselves grow and find success is paramount for that.

Food Network's “Guy's Grocery Games” winner Ashten Garrett is an ACF chef, food and sustainability activist and the immediate past president of the ACF’s Young Chef's Club. Born and raised in Akron, Ohio, Chef Garrett received his associate and bachelor's degrees from Johnson & Wales University, graduating summa cum laude. After traveling through Italy, Spain and France to cultivate his palate and refine his culinary skills, Chef Garrett is a former chef de partie at the Ritz-Carlton, Cleveland, and currently serves as a culinary assistant chef for ACF Culinary Team USA and the Bocuse d’Or International Culinary Competition, held this month in France. Learn more at chefashten.com