Retention and staying fully staffed remain the two greatest challenges we hear from restaurant leaders as well as from the broader industry. While concepts vary from fast casual to fine dining they all share the same moving part that determines success: people. Staying fully staffed and retaining people who consistently execute seems like an uncertain process; but a simple first step to step is to begin with the end in mind: performance. What behaviors, values, and mindsets are needed to deliver the guest experience? In our Foundations for Performance series, we highlight core performance drivers within and across industries to put into action in how you hire and develop your teams.
What is Cognitive Ability?
We do things every day that requires some level of cognitive ability, both at work and in our personal lives. We pay attention to learn and process new information, we communicate with each other, we think through problems and make decisions, and we adjust to daily demands by multi-tasking and prioritizing. Whether it’s organizing a work project, making financial decisions, or coming up with a creative solution, we rely on our cognitive ability to make choices that will help us navigate through our experiences and accomplish work and personal tasks.
The scientific definition of cognitive ability is the mental processes and mechanisms of how we use our brain-based skills. Functions like memory and attention play a critical role in cognitive ability.
When we use our cognitive processes to pay attention, memorize, reason, or learn by verbal and visual information, we then have to decide what to do with that information. This results in how we make decisions, solve problems, manage our time, set goals, and adapt to new information. Cognitive ability is not just about how smart you are, and it’s not just about acquired knowledge, (the what of what we know). It’s also about using our brains to do something with that information; (the how) to comprehend and apply that information to our daily work and life.
Why assess and interview for cognitive ability?
Because it reflects our ability to learn and effectively problem solve it has a direct impact on job performance for a large variety of positions. Some core behaviors for food service and restaurants influenced by problem solving include:
- Remembering a team goal or strategy and putting it into practice through one's day-to-day
- Recognizing important information and recalling it when needed
- Applying operating procedures in uncertain guest or operational situations
- Recognizing cause-and-effect
- Time management and prioritization
- Remembering new information: from recipes and skills to new specials, allergy information, and menu items
- Understanding the perspectives of others and knowing when someone has a gap in understanding and determining how to resolve it (whether a guest or fellow team member)
Cognitive ability assessments are consistently shown to be some of the strongest predictors of job performance. Why? Because each time we use our brain-based skills there is an outcome, and that outcome (the decisions we make with the information we are given) has a direct link to how well we perform in our jobs. Cognitive ability assessments help predict not only what someone will do, but their likelihood of success.
Cognitive Ability in Front-of-the-House
Let’s apply the use of cognitive ability skills to a practical everyday example. An applicant is hired as a server at a restaurant. They have the knowledge of what it takes to serve customers (based on the application information that tells us they have worked in several restaurants as a server). It’s safe to assume they know they need to greet the customer, get their drinks and appetizers, take their dinner order, check on them regularly, and bring them the bill when they are done.
But do you know how they would do if they had to complete those varying tasks at your restaurant with your expectations (competency: coordinating multiple activities simultaneously and managing time)? What if their customer’s food was delivered to the table and the plate was missing the coveted cheesy broccoli that was suggested (competency: attention to detail and monitoring to ensure standards are met)? What if they were asked by the manager to shift gears and help the busser during the dinner rush (competency: adjusting to multiple demands)? How quickly they adapt to new environments, analyze and evaluate surrounding information, and determine appropriate actions are examples of cognitive ability skills. The quicker they are able to learn and respond, the shorter the training time, and the greater the accuracy they will have in performing job tasks. Don’t we all want employees who learn quickly and adapt to new situations without instruction?
Your front-of-house employees typically have high customer contact and selecting candidates with greater cognitive ability will help ensure consistent execution of your intended customer experience, and your ability to reach critical business and financial results.
Which Cognitive Ability Skills Are the Most Important?
Through our experience, research, and validation studies, we’ve identified three components of cognitive ability that are important for predicting performance:
• Fluid Intelligence: Ability to process and learn new information
• Verbal Ability: Vocabulary and verbal reasoning to manage these requirements in the workplace
• Mathematical Ability: Basic numerical calculations and problem-solving; measuring a person's potential to understand cause-and-effect, attention to detail, and logic
Candidates who score higher on these components are able to adjust easier to multiple demands and sudden change, use logic and reasoning to consider the long-term impact of actions, and use their critical thinking skills and logic to solve problems. Don’t we all want employees who can multi-task, adapt to new challenges, and use critical thinking to work through daily matters at work?
In addition, it has been found that new hireswho scored higher are:
• 15X more effective at managing their time
• 10X more conscientious in fulfilling work obligations
• 14X more professional and takes a “no excuses” approach to their attitude and performance
Measuring Cognitive Ability
So how can you best measure cognitive ability in your applicants? While resumes and structured interview processes can be helpful for identifying if an applicant possesses the necessary technical skills, the best way to measure cognitive ability skills are through assessments. Measuring these skills early on in the hiring process will weed out applicants that may look promising on paper, but don’t have the necessary skills to advocate for your brand. By hiring employees who demonstrate higher levels of cognitive ability you can increase performance, fit with your culture, and retention.
What's Next?
Let’s apply the use of cognitive ability skills to a practical everyday example. An applicant is hired as a server at a restaurant. They have the knowledge of what it takes to serve customers (based on the application information that tells us they have worked in several restaurants as a server). It’s safe to assume they know they need to greet the customer, get their drinks and appetizers, take their dinner order, check on them regularly, and bring them the bill when they are done. But do you know how they would do if they had to complete those varying tasks at your restaurant with your expectations (competency: coordinating multiple activities simultaneously and managing time)? What if their customer’s food was delivered to the table and the plate was missing the coveted cheesy broccoli that was suggested (competency: attention to detail and monitoring to ensure standards are met)? What if they were asked by the manager to shift gears and help the busser during the dinner rush (competency: adjusting to multiple demands)? How quickly they adapt to new environments, analyze and evaluate surrounding information, and determine appropriate actions are examples of cognitive ability skills. The quicker they are able to learn and respond, the shorter the training time, and the greater the accuracy they will have in performing job tasks. Don’t we all want employees who learn quickly and adapt to new situations without instruction?
Your front-of-house employees typically have high customer contact and selecting candidates with greater cognitive ability will help ensure consistent execution of your intended customer experience, and your ability to reach critical business and financial results.
Considering Adding Assessments to Your Hiring Process?
Hiring assessments for guest and customer facing restaurant employees are powerful tools that increase your accuracy in selecting quality hires: those who perform, fit, and stay. To help you evaluate assessment providers, read our whitepaper, 10 Considerations for Selecting an Assessment Provider, which includes an evaluation checklist.
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