Five Guys Enterprises

Bringing an Operations Perspective to Talent Acquisition

My restaurant operations experience has shaped almost everything about how I approach talent acquisition. I spent most of my career in operations before moving into TA, so when I talk with an operations leader about hiring challenges, I understand what that feels like on the other side of the table.

In restaurant operations, an open leadership position is not just an open position on a report. It can mean a leader working extra hours, a team without enough support, slower development of employees, and additional pressure throughout the restaurant. That experience taught me to look at recruiting through the eyes of the operator.

I believe the best talent acquisition teams understand the business they support. Recruiting should not operate from the sidelines. We need to understand what success looks like inside the restaurant, listen to our operators, and recognize that every hiring decision ultimately affects the employees and customers in that location.

I may have fallen into talent acquisition somewhat unexpectedly, but operations gave me the foundation to understand why the work matters.

Balancing Recruiting Consistency with Local Workforce Needs

Scale creates an interesting challenge because every restaurant needs great people, but every restaurant and every market can be different. At Five Guys, our recruiting team helps support operations across nearly 600 corporate locations.

A recruiting strategy that works well in one market may not work exactly the same way somewhere else. Candidate availability, competition, geography, and the needs of the operation can all vary.

The challenge is creating consistency without losing flexibility.

You need processes and technology that allow recruiting to operate efficiently across a large organization, but you also have to listen to the people running the restaurants. Sometimes recruiting teams can become too focused on numbers and forget the story behind those numbers.

“I didn't leave operations when I moved into TA. I brought operations with me.”

Applications matter. Interviews matter. Time-to-fill matters. But ultimately, the question I like to ask is much simpler: Are we helping the restaurants get the right people?

That keeps recruiting connected to the business rather than becoming just another corporate process.

Aligning Hiring Strategies with Restaurant Operations

For me, alignment starts with listening.

Talent acquisition cannot build a strategy in isolation and then hand it to operations. The best recruiting strategies are built with operations.

Because I come from an operations background, I try to keep our approach practical. What positions are creating the most pressure? Where are we struggling to build leadership pipelines? Are we giving hiring managers qualified candidates? Are our processes making hiring easier or accidentally making it more complicated?

Recruiting leaders also need to spend time understanding what is happening in the field. Data can tell us where there may be a challenge, but conversations with operations often tell us why.

The goal should be simple: remove friction, find great people, and allow restaurant leaders to spend more of their time leading their restaurants.

Using Recruiting Technology to Make Hiring More Human

Technology is giving recruiting teams capabilities that would have been difficult to imagine earlier in my career. Automation, AI, scheduling technology, recruiting platforms, and better data can make the hiring process faster and more efficient.

But I think there is an important caution that comes with that progress: technology should make recruiting more human, not less human.

If technology eliminates repetitive administrative work, recruiters have more time to talk with candidates, partner with hiring managers, and build relationships. That is where I see the greatest value.

Candidates also expect simplicity. If applying for a restaurant position takes too long or the process becomes confusing, technology is not helping.

I am excited about where recruiting technology is headed, especially AI, but I believe the organizations that benefit most will be the ones that use technology to support human judgment rather than attempt to replace it.

Turning Operations Experience into a Talent Acquisition Leadership Advantage

First, don't underestimate how valuable your operations experience is.

When I moved into talent acquisition, I didn't leave my operations experience behind. It became one of my greatest advantages. Operations teaches you how to lead people, solve problems quickly, manage competing priorities, communicate with different personalities, and make decisions when everything is not perfect. Those skills translate incredibly well into talent acquisition.

My second piece of advice would be to stay curious. Learn recruiting, learn the technology, understand the data, and surround yourself with people who know things you don't.

But don't try to become something you're not.

One of the biggest strengths someone coming from operations brings into HR or talent acquisition is perspective. You know what it feels like to be the hiring manager waiting for candidates. You understand the pressure of running short-staffed. You understand that behind every requisition is a team trying to run a business.

Bring that perspective with you.

I certainly didn't map out a career plan that said I would eventually lead Talent Acquisition. Sometimes the best career moves happen because you're willing to step into something new, learn from the people around you, and see where it takes you.