Hire Servers Who Have Good People Skills

Today we’ll discuss a skill some food truck owners miss during the interview process, good people skills. This may seem obvious to most, but the individual that works at your service window top quality must be their people skills. Yes, in some cases the server is also a line cook on your food truck, but their ability to provide your business with a friendly face that people are happy to be greeted by is invaluable.

During the interview process don’t look too intensely at a candidate’s educational and work backgrounds without focusing on the actual person and their people skills. You need to employ staff members who are multi-faceted cooks but are also able to remain friendly, understanding, and positive with your customers even during those worst case situations.

Having a friendly, alert staff that is easily able to pick up on the needs of your customers will make all the difference in how your food truck fares.

What Are Good People Skills?

Good people skills are, in short, the various attributes and competencies that allow one to play well with others.

Communication. Good people skills in the communications arena include the ability to take in information, clarify comments and participate in effective verbal and written exchanges.
Empathy. Empathy is the ability to have a visceral understanding of what another person is going through.
Conflict Resolution. Having the ability to mediate disputes and resolve conflict among customers and colleagues is an important professional skill.
Patience. Patience is an exceptional people skill that is valuable in every profession.
Tolerance. Professional workplaces are made up of people from all walks of life.

Good people skills are an asset each of your food truck staff members should have. No matter what their role in your food truck is. In general, good people skills are defined as the ability to listen, to communicate and to relate to others on a personal or professional level. Good people skills also extend to include problem solving abilities, empathy for others and a willingness to work together toward the common good of your food truck business.

The Bottom Line

Hiring new talent is an inevitable and critical part of being a food truck owner, and it’s more complicated than just reviewing applications and interviewing candidates. If your hiring process does not include looking for good people skills you’re doing something wrong.

Do your staff members have good people skills? If not, which do you which they had? Share your thoughts in the comment section below or on social media. Facebook | Twitter

About the Author: Richard Myrick

Richard Myrick is an architect by degree (Lawrence Technological University, Southfield, Michigan) who began his career in real estate development and architectural planning. In September of 2010 he created Mobile Cuisine Magazine to fill an information void he found when he began researching how to start a mobile hotdog cart in Chicago. Richard found that there was no central repository of mobile street food information anywhere on the internet, and with that, the idea for MCM was born. Richard also wrote the "Running a Food Truck for Dummies" available in bookstores everywhere and Amazon. You can reach out to Richard by email at: [email protected].