National Restaurant Association states restaurants continue to be a driving force behind the nation’s recovery from the great recession. Restaurant industry job growth has outpaced the overall economy for 15 consecutive years and 1.7 million restaurant jobs will be created by 2025. The ongoing battle to balance industry growth with retaining employees is a primary obstacle restaurant hiring managers face. People Report’s research concludes restaurants in the U.S. average a 66% annual employee turnover rate. Mark Steele, a fourth generation food and beverage industrialist, recognized the frustrations and challenges hiring managers have in the hospitality industry to not only identify qualified employees in a booming industry, but to retain these employees. The time, energy, and money invested in a single employee costs a company thousands of dollars; dollars wasted every time an employee exits.
Mark’s determination, progressive thinking, and passion for the restaurant industry and to make a difference in people’s lives, lead him to strive to create a solution to turnover; an age-old issue all restaurants continue to experience. Steele’s solution: Restaurant Hospitality Institute (RHI). RHI is an academy dedicated to developing students into exceptional hospitality food servers through an extensive and comprehensive 5 session educational program. RHI is the first and only food server academy recognized by the State of Nevada and has been approved by the State of Nevada’s Postsecondary Education Board. The cutting edge concept educates students on all aspects of food and beverage, including, but not limited to, hospitality, art of service, revenue generating techniques, food knowledge, beverages, including, wine, beer, and sake, physical skills, and sanitation and health codes. Health training will be provided by JVC Food Safety Specialist’s very own, Jimmy Vigilante. RHI’s unique curriculum and live-role playing develops each student’s food server and customer service skill set so each graduate becomes a candidate employers will fight over to hire. RHI makes the grueling hiring process and overwhelming job search process easy and stress-free for hiring managers and graduates alike.
Whether you are an experienced food server desiring to develop your skill set to the next level, or someone who is looking for a career change, RHI is an exciting opportunity to take advantage of. Anthony Niklinksi is a graduate of RHI’s inaugural class. Anthony has over 10 years of experience in the food and beverage industry and he highly recommends RHI to anyone who wants to better themselves to make more money and network. “As a student, once you see that your teacher has actually been there and done that, the chances of retaining information improve drastically.” Niklinski’s check sales increased his annual compensation and restaurant sales by 8% upon graduation from RHI’s program. RHI is networking with elite and reputable companies in the hospitality industry in an effort to place graduates in their ideal food server role. An exclusive job link page is available to RHI graduates and gives graduates the privilege to apply to positions not made available to the general public. The question hiring managers should ask themselves isn’t why should they partner with RHI? It is, why should they not? A restaurant’s overall success is dependent upon their employees. Hiring managers need to ensure each hire counts as having the right food servers in place will increase restaurant revenue and employee tips, which leads to equal employer-employee satisfaction. Autumn Blackard joined the RHI program as she wanted to advance her career from hostess to food server, but found it difficult to make the transition as no employer would give her a shot, without the essential technical knowledge and experience necessary. Blackard interviewed for and secured her first food server position expeditiously upon graduating from RHI. Hiring managers and students have everything to gain when choosing to network with RHI.
Steele and his team of experts will hand pick the most qualified food server candidates for venues nationwide, while taking into consideration the graduate’s unique strengths and personality to ensure a perfect match is made for both graduate and venue. Mark’s commitment to overcoming turnover and hiring challenges the restaurant industry faces stems from his life long career in the industry. He was born and raised in the restaurant industry and started his 20+ year career in the industry as a bus boy at his family’s restaurant, The Aristocrat. The Aristocrat received recognition as Las Vegas Review Journal’s, “Best of Las Vegas’ Gourmet Restaurant” in their inaugural awards in 1982. Steele’s career highlights and accomplishments in the restaurant industry are remarkably impressive. He has been a key player in the opening, hiring, and training of thousands of employees at prestigious companies, including MGM/Mirage and Wynn resorts. Steele has been honored as a “Name You Need to Know” in 2007 by Las Vegas Food and Beverage Magazine. He is also a Certified Wine Sommelier, Certified Sake Sommelier, and Certified ServSafe. Steele’s optimism and enthusiasm for RHI is magnetic and endearing. He truly wants to make a difference and a significant impact in the restaurant industry and more importantly, in the lives of all of the clients and students he will work with. Jason Cooper, Managing Partner of Scotty Browns Restaurant Group, in Washington is optimistic for the revolutionary movement RHI will have in the restaurant industry, “Overcoming turnover and hiring qualified long term employees are two of the biggest obstacles in restaurant industry. Networking with RHI takes the guesswork out of hiring and gives my company a competitive edge other employers don’t have.” RHI is excited to welcome new students of all skill levels and clients to their expanding network. New class sessions begin every six weeks. Please visit www.rhinstitute.com to complete an application to join RHI’s elite program. Businesses interested in networking with RHI to build their team, please contact RHI at: success@rhinstitute.com.
