TIPS FOR RETAINING RESTAURANT EMPLOYEES
Learn ways to increase employee retention in the restaurant industry
As a restaurant owner or manager, you understand the difficulties that come with retaining restaurant employees. Restaurants have historically experienced high turnover and in today’s post-Covid world restaurants are still experiencing an employee shortage. Now that a number of restaurants have permanently closed and many industry lifers have left behind restaurants for good, the industry is smaller and more competitive than ever before. Now is the time to implement strategies to attract and retain restaurant employees that will benefit your business. Remember, it is more expensive to continually train new employees due to high turn-over than it is to implement a few strategies to retain them. Retention will inevitably improve your bottom line.
How do you retain restaurant employees?
There are many ways to make working at your restaurant attractive to current and potential employees. Restaurant employees tend to prioritize good pay, development, and benefits above all else. Offering better compensation, whether in the form of hourly pay and/or tips, will provide employees with better financial security which will lead to less turnover. Consider staff development for all levels of staff, both front of house and back of house. Additionally, consider offering health insurance coverage with some level of restaurant contribution to show you value your employees’ health and safety.
Restaurant Staff Retention Strategies
Teamwork and Teaching
Your restaurant staff are all-working together towards the success of your restaurant whether they are front of house, back of house or management. For this to work properly it is important to be transparent with your staff about operational needs and encourage team-building. All staff should be given the opportunity to learn more about the restaurant business and contribute their ideas.
Supportive Leadership
All your employees want to feel valued. Management needs to respect all staff while remaining firm. Praise employees in-front of others and often while dealing with issues in private. Show interest and understanding in your employees lives while keeping it professional; remember birthdays and ask how their family is doing. Management also needs to show they are not scared of hard work, and will jump in to support the team in any role. If you can do these things, staff will see it and in return respect you and work harder for your restaurant.
Work-life Balance/Scheduling
It is important to be fully staffed so you can provide quality service to your patrons, but be considerate of your employees’ lives. People have their own life outside of the restaurant, they get sick, have kids, other responsibilities, etc. Show compassion and be flexible as much as possible. Allow staff to request their ideal shifts and do your best to accommodate. Additionally, you can offer members to be placed on your on-call or pick-up shift lists so they have an opportunity to earn more money and you have back-ups in place when inevitably someone will call-in.
Supportive Work Environment/Culture
A positive work environment is essential for employee retention. Encourage team-building through staff only events/parties, family meals before shift, etc. If employees feel like family, they will be less likely to leave. Additionally, implement a harassment policy if you don’t already have one. Make sure your staff understand there is a zero tolerance for harassment and make sure your employees feel comfortable and staff coming to you or an HR member to report any problems.
Competitive Benefits and Pay
Offering a competitive pay and good benefits will go a long way with keeping your restaurant employees happy. Consider offering your employees health insurance with some type of employer contribution, a job referral program, career growth opportunities, or even vacation/sick days. Higher pay and benefits may affect your monthly bottom line initially, but in the long run will save you from having to constantly train new employees while long-term experienced staff will provide better service to your customers. Employee retention will pay off in the long-run.
Train Well and Often
Restaurant staff training should be ongoing, collaborative and engaging, not simply one-week for new employees. Make sure your expectations are clearly communicated and give your staff a plan so they can achieve set goals. Creating a schedule and checking in with employees regularly can help identify any challenges before they arise and offer additional training as needed. Most servers don’t want to stay servers forever while most dishwashers don’t want to stay dishwashers forever. A great training program will benefit everyone. Investing in your employees as valued members of your team will create an environment of trust and encourage high performance all-around.
Give and Receive Feedback
Communication is a two-way street, and it is important to give both positive and constructive feedback while encouraging employees to share their thoughts with you. Your employees are on the front line and their suggestions can add value to your business. Remember to praise often, reprimand in private. Conduct regular one-on-ones with staff to share your thoughts and listen to theirs. Clearly communicate areas staff can improve and give them the tools and time to do so. This builds trust between management and staff and leads to higher employee attention.
Conduct Exit Interviews
Learn from the past. Conduct Exit Interviews with all staff to learn why they are leaving and how you can improve operations to limit turn-over in the future. Obviously, not all employees want to be in the restaurant business forever, so naturally some will move on for reasons other than issues with the restaurant. Having this knowledge will make you a better restaurant owner/manager and improve retention going forward.
Now you are ready to implement employee retention strategies
Remember you are in the hospitality industry and your employees deserve the same level of hospitality that you expect them to give your customers. Putting your restaurant staff first is vital to retaining them long-term. Happy employees will work harder for you, provide better service to customers, and stick by your side.