Recruitment · Case Study
Building the Founding Team for a New Restaurant
Helping a new restaurant build a reliable operational team through structured recruitment and careful candidate selection.
Project overview
The client was preparing to open a new restaurant and needed to recruit around fifteen people across its core operational roles.
The positions spanned the whole floor and kitchen, and each one mattered to how the restaurant would run on a busy night.
Chefs
Kitchen assistants
Waiters
Waitresses
This was never simply about filling vacancies. From our first conversation it was clear the client wanted to build a dependable team from the beginning, a group of people who could open the restaurant together and stay to grow with it.
The challenge
The real problem was not finding people. It was keeping them.
The restaurant had previously struggled with high staff turnover. Employees often left soon after joining, which created instability and made it difficult to build any consistent standard of service. Every departure meant starting again, and a team that is always starting again never truly settles.
The client was willing to invest in training, but only if the people being trained were likely to stay. Recruitment therefore had to prioritise long term fit over speed. Hiring quickly would have been easy. Hiring people who would remain was the actual task.
My thinking
A skilled hire who leaves in a month costs more than a steady one who grows into the role.
I decided early that technical ability alone would not solve this. Skill can be taught, and the client had already committed to training. What could not be trained was the willingness to show up, to learn, and to stay through the difficult early months of a new business.
So I looked beyond ability to the qualities that actually predict whether someone stays. Reliability, attitude, a genuine willingness to learn, and an interest in being part of something new. The objective was to identify people who could help build a stable team, not simply people who could fill a position on opening day.
The recruitment process
I ran the hiring as a clear, structured process rather than a scramble to fill seats.
Understanding staffing requirements
I sat with the client to understand the restaurant’s concept, its service style and how many people each part of the operation genuinely needed, rather than guessing at numbers.
Defining role expectations
I turned each role into a clear picture of what the person would do day to day and what would make them succeed in it.
Advertising the vacancies
I wrote and placed adverts that described the roles honestly, so applicants understood what they were joining before they applied.
Screening candidates
I reviewed applicants against the agreed criteria, looking for capability alongside the quieter signs of reliability and commitment.
Coordinating interviews
I organised and scheduled interviews so the process stayed smooth and respectful of everyone’s time, for the client and the candidates alike.
Evaluating candidates
I assessed each candidate consistently, weighing attitude and long term fit alongside skill rather than judging on first impressions.
Final recommendations
I presented a shortlist with clear reasoning for each person, so the client could decide with confidence.
Hiring support
I supported the client through offers and onboarding, so the new team started well rather than being left to find their feet alone.
Deliverables
What the client received.
Recruitment planning
Candidate screening
Interview management
Candidate evaluation
Shortlisting
Hiring recommendations
Recruitment documentation
Evidence
The frameworks behind the work.
These are the supporting materials I use to keep recruitment consistent and fair. They reinforce the process shown above without exposing any confidential client information.
Recruitment workflow
The full path from an open role to a candidate’s first day.
Candidate evaluation scorecard
A consistent way to compare candidates fairly, side by side.
Interview framework
A structured set of questions and what to listen for in the answers.
Hiring dashboard
A single view of every role and where each candidate stands.
Recruitment process diagram
The whole process at a glance, from brief to hire.
Outcome
The restaurant opened with the team it needed in place.
The client successfully recruited its founding operational team and was able to launch with the right people across the kitchen and floor. More importantly, it started with a group chosen for stability rather than convenience.
With a dependable team from day one, the client could finally begin building the service culture and training programme it had envisioned, instead of spending its energy constantly replacing people who had already left.
Reflection
Good recruitment is team building, not gap filling.
It would have been simple to place fifteen people quickly and call the job done. That is how the client had ended up with the turnover problem in the first place. The more useful work was slower and quieter, choosing each person with the future in mind.
Successful recruitment is not really about filling vacancies. It is about helping an organisation build a team that can grow together over time. When hiring is treated that way, the business gains stability, and the people gain somewhere worth staying.
Work with me
If you are building a team from scratch, who you choose at the start decides almost everything.
What the client said
“
Recruitment had become frustrating for us. We needed someone who could understand exactly what the role required instead of simply sending CVs.
Anita took the time to understand our business before beginning the search. The person she recommended turned out to be one of the best hiring decisions we made. The quality of the process gave us confidence, and we’ve continued recommending her to other business owners because we trust her judgement.
Chukwuma Paul Okoreafor
Business Owner