He has a recipe for better hiring
PHILADELPHIA — Crocodile Cafe & Catering’s menu has many highlights, especially the Jamaican jerked chicken.
But the most intriguing recipe may be the one that Crocodile owner and chef Kurt Linneman follows to create a workforce. His complement of 20 mostly 20- and 30-somethings is “so respectful and knowledgeable and communicative,” raves a customer, Marisa Pellechio.
Actually, Linneman’s hiring strategy is for sale: a six-week program, costing $5,000 to $7,000, to help small-business owners find better people.
Have Perfect People was created in 2007. He interviews applicants — jobs paying $13 to $15 an hour — three times. He writes help-wanted ads in a blunt style, so there’s no confusion about expectations.
“I am looking for a lowmaintenance, no-BS individual,” an ad read. He measures performance with a scorecard that identifies 35 “superstar” qualities, including honesty, courage, imagination, optimism and persistence.
“Seventy percent of your labor pool is filled with losers, slackers and thieves. If you hire these problem employees, they will work against you and undermine your authority and destroy the morale,” Linneman says on his site.
He attended business seminars and yoga-teaching sessions, and then implemented his Have Perfect People hiring checklist and evaluation system.
The evaluation is based more on behavior than on how the job is done. Rewards for high scorers include raises, sales commissions and promotions.
Still, Linneman fires one to two employees a year.
“Sometimes they turn bad from circumstance or life,” he said.