We take great care
to recruit our people in order to ensure that they have the
qualities essential to bringing alive our ethos of good service.
To that end we have blended an international team of British, French,
Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Bulgarian, Brazilian, Canadian and
North American people. We
recruit through: BUNAC - an exchange program for American and
Canadian students; the French consulate; the Charles Peguy
centre - an agency placing young French people, through adverts
in local English schools and from a steady trickle of walk-in
applicants.
Our selection
procedure starts with an application form (available above), designed not only to gain the basic required
information but to
also allow the
applicant to express himself or herself, both generally and with
specific relation to the application.
Due to the wide
range of services and products The White Horse offers we try to
gain a commitment of at least six months from potential staff
and this is made clear from the outset of the interview.
Interviews are conducted in an informal manner to try and gain
an insight into the personality of the applicant rather than a
measure of their skills. We do not necessarily look for people
with a wealth of experience, but rather for people who we feel
fit into our way of thinking, will be professional and reliable
and who seem to show an active interest in the job they are
applying for.
We have found that
the above avenues of recruitment yield people who have the
intelligence and commitment to become very good bar people,
cellar people, or waitresses even if they do not intend (at
least when they arrive) to make a career in this field. Many of
them come to England to sample a culture very different from
theirs and feel that working in pub such as The White Horse is
an ideal way to do this, others are here to improve their
language skills, some are travelling around the world and come
to work in London as part of their general experience. It is in
fact the case that most of our staff do not intend to continue
to work in this industry and this has the advantage of creating
a team with a diverse wealth of talent and experience, from
trainee doctors and dentists to those with a masters in Biology
or English, or people who have done skilled professional jobs in
their (non English speaking) countries but have come to work in
a bar to improve their English rather than their career. This in
turn creates an interesting front for customers.
There are other
advantages of recruiting through these channels.
Firstly we do not
have to try and recondition people who have unfortunate
preconceptions of how an ‘English pub’ should be. For example
Europeans do not find it strange that we have waitresses serving
food and drinks throughout the pub whereas English people might.
Training:
As can be seen from
the above points The White Horse has a vast range of drinks and
a wide selection of different food all of which have to be
served to the exacting standards both the customers and The
White Horse demands. This, coupled with the fact that we often
prefer to recruit people with little experience but lots of
potential, means that training is a vital and integral part of
The White Horse’s business and success.
We have general
paid training sessions on a weekly basis as well as separate
smaller weekly meetings for the cellar staff, the waiting team,
the kitchen and the office.
As well as the
required statutory and health and safety training and the
training required by M&B, we base the training of staff around
two key areas – customer service and satisfaction and product
knowledge.
When training staff
in the art of customer satisfaction we often use role-play
techniques encouraging active debate as well as providing the
staff with either written or verbal minimum standards that must
be achieved. New staff are given a mentor who can help to make
sure these standards become second nature.
Linked intricately
to this is the staff member’s level of product knowledge. The
White Horse is known for its beers, both on draught and in
bottle, its wines and, increasingly, the matching of these
drinks with its food - this would not be possible without
knowledgeable staff. From the simplest knowledge, such as what
‘bottle conditioned’ means, to an in depth knowledge of brewing
processes there is no limit to what a keen and enthusiastic
member of staff can learn.
Product knowledge
is usually based around tasting and therefore the first thing
staff learn is how to taste. The physiology of taste and how to
write a short tasting note are a key part of all product
training. Each week we taste a range of products, for example
red wines that we sell by the glass, during which a brief
outline of the grape variety, history, climate and ageing of the
wines is given followed by tasting and open discussion teaching
people how to learn from the perceptions of others. This is then
backed up by written materials, produced either by a brewery or
wine merchant or within The White Horse.
We also organise
regular brewery tours for those staff interested, have regular
tastings with our wine supplier – Adnams, as well as by other
suppliers such as Coffee House and Gordon’s gin.
Our aim is to help
staff to educate the customers in the diverse range of beers and
wines we stock, to be able to recommend a product to a customer,
to be able to match dishes with drinks and to help a customer
who wants to try something new to choose a suitable product.
‘ When a customer
comes in and orders a Bacardi Breezer, they may be persuaded to
have a Liftman’s Kriek instead and when they return for more
they might be persuaded to try Rooster’s Yankee for the first
time. The customer then falls in love with these beers. So,
not only is the customer satisfied but this fits with The White
Horse ethos of actively promoting good quality products and
helping revive or create interest in products that the customer
possibly has never heard of before.’ (Cellarman, Toby Ellis)
