How to choose the right worker for your shift

When several people want the shift, the easy option is to pick whoever replied fastest, or whoever sounds nicest. Sometimes that works. But when it doesn’t, you find out in the middle of the rush.

The good news is that you’re not hiring someone for years. You’re choosing for one shift, and the question is much narrower: will this person do this shift well? This guide is a way to answer that quickly, even when you’re flat out.

1 What exactly does this shift need?

Before you look at anyone, write down the two things whoever comes must have. Not ten; two. For example:

• Cashier on a busy shift: speed, and accuracy with money.
• Barista: can work an espresso machine, and keep up with orders back to back.
• Kitchen assistant or dishwasher: stamina, and can move around a tight, hot space without getting flustered.
• Shelf stocker in a shop: precision, and stacking stock the way you want it, not the way they see fit.

Those two things are the yardstick. Anything else, like being pleasant or well dressed, is nice, but it isn’t what will save the shift.

2 The experience that matters

Not all experience is equal. Someone who spent a few months in a busy café is more use to your shift than someone who spent years somewhere quiet. Ask about the last place they worked, not the number of years.

A specific question gets a real answer. Instead of “Do you have experience?”, which is always answered “yes”, ask:

• “At the last place you worked, how busy did it get?”
• “Have you worked a coffee machine before? What did you make on it?”
• “If the queue is long and an order comes out wrong, what do you do?”

You’re not after a perfect answer. You’re after one with detail: people who have really done the work bring up details without being asked.

3 Reliability: look for things you can see

Everyone says they’re reliable. The difference is that there are signs you can see for yourself before the shift:

• A clear reply. When you send the details, do they reply “Fine, I’ll be there at 3:45” or “Hopefully, I’ll try”?
• They ask the right questions. Where exactly the place is, what to wear, who to ask for. People who ask these are really getting ready.
• They confirm on their own. They message you before the shift to say they’re coming, without a reminder.
• Someone you know vouches for them. If they’ve worked before with someone you trust, a quick call tells you more than anything they say.

4 Signs to think twice

No single sign decides about anyone, but if you see more than one, choose someone else if you can:

• Unsure about the time: “I’ll try to make it”, “I might be a bit late”.
• Says “I can do anything” when you ask what they can do.
• Didn’t ask a single question about the place or the time.
• Tries to change the shift itself before it starts: arrive an hour late, or leave early.

The reverse holds too: someone who tells you plainly “I haven’t worked this machine, but I’ve worked one like it” will probably also tell you when they need help mid-shift, instead of staying quiet and getting it wrong.

5 Decide fast, and confirm in writing

In a rush, don’t wait for the perfect person. Pick the one who has the two things you wrote down, and be done.

Once you’ve chosen, send them one message with everything: the day, the time, the address, who to ask for, and what to wear, and ask them to reply to confirm. That message closes the door on “I thought that…”.

What goes in that message, in detail: How to write a clear shift

6 Five minutes when they arrive

Even a good choice can go wrong without a good start. As soon as they arrive, take five minutes with them:

1. Introduce them to the people they’ll work with, and to the one person to go to if they need something.
2. Show them around: where the things they’ll use are, and where to leave their belongings.
3. Tell them the one thing that must not go wrong today.
4. Tell them when and how the shift ends.

7 After the shift

Give them your honest view, briefly: what went well, and what needs adjusting. Then make a note for yourself: would you ask for them again?

If two or three people worked out well, you now have familiar faces to pick when they apply for your next rush.