Page 11 - Beverage Master February March 2020

Craft Beverage

you open a brewery without anyone on the team
having any knowledge about beer? Likely not. Ask
yourself why so many breweries open without con- READY TO ROLL
sulting in help with banking, with accounting, with
hiring and onboarding employees, or with sound
expertise in customer service. INTRODUCING
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Keltech Portables
The reality is that most often, people gravitate to
their comfort zone. So if you’re a brewer, you focus Electric Tankless Water Heaters
on the beermaking and very little on the other
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things. And vice versa. Bradley’s Keltech
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Point is, it’s a major help to ensure your lead- portable carts make
ership team, or your mentors as you begin your it easy to supply
company, provide a litany of expertise. Surround heated water or fluids
yourself with smart people who can fill the gaps in on-demand wherever
your skill set. & whenever needed.

I was fortunate to have Reed Odeneal, a friend,
to start as director of brewing operations. I didn’t
come from a brewing background, instead my
expertise was in marketing, messaging, branding
and operations. We complemented each other, and
that has proven quite valuable so far. (800) 439-6909 • (707) 252-6839
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Be Meticulous in Your
Hiring & Onboarding Process

Ask yourself: What is your hiring process? How do
you onboard employees? Do you have standards or
procedures for these things? In the Microbrewery
Handbook I lay out a three-step interview process
that I migrated from the health care industry and
adapted to our specific needs. It allows the owner,
the direct supervisor and the new hire’s peers to
all have a say in the people who join our team. It’s
a format that provides a sense of ownership for all
and accountability to each other to make new hires
successful.

In the hustle of opening a new business, standards
like these are so often disregarded. We “fly by the
seat of our pants.” But realize this: The cost of
one position turning over in the hospitality indus-
try is more than $5,000. Why? Lost productivity,
additional training hours, loss of regulars for that
person, paying overtime to cover shifts, etc. That
doesn’t even factor in the stress of hiring again,
new faces, onboarding them and the other psycho-
logical variables that come into play.

So knowing that, it seems like clarifying your hiring
and onboarding should be a higher priority, right?

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