Steve Weber, PCH

Turnover in the restaurant industry is notoriously high, but has recently escalated.  And increasing compensation is no longer enough to retain employees.  Burnout, long and unpredictable hours, lack of benefits are driving top talent out of the industry.  Quick fixes have become the norm; sign-on bonuses, increased wages, etc.  But none are proving effective at bridging the labor gap.  As the restaurant industry continues to shift, it’s time to take an in-depth look into your retention strategy.  How do you measure up in these three categories? Maybe it’s time to rethink your current strategies.

1. Tools & Technology

Technology is too often connected with desk-based jobs.  More and more digital tools are becoming vital for frontline workers.  Yet, it seems such a small percentage of workers are equipped to effectively utilize the technology.  Mix that with outdated training modules and you have a recipe for high turnover.  Help mitigate burnout and boost operational efficiency by offering tools and technologies that set your restaurant employees up for success.  A digital workspace platform will allow for real-time communication and digital training modules.  It will also provide a place for employees to easily fetch information to complete day-to-day tasks.

2. Hiring Strategies

Do you seek external hires when looking to fill positions?  A more cost effective and easier way to hire is internally.  The perfect hire might be right in front of you!  You already know the potential candidate and they already know the business standards.  Avoid starting from scratch and seek the ideal candidate from within.  Businesses with internal mobility have employees that are more likely to remain with the company longer.  Consider offering training to those employees interested.  Career advancement opportunities are enticing to both internal and external hires.

3. Employee Benefits

Workers desire flexibility, an engaging work environment, and respect.  If all you are offering as an employer is higher wages, then you are missing the mark.  Flexibility is essential in our post COVID-19 world, but is difficult to offer when restaurant jobs require workers to be on-site.  So you have to be creative in your approach.  Consider using a digital workspace for scheduling so that employees can pick up extra shifts.  This gives workers control over their economic well being.  You can also offer a standardized digital training that can be completed outside of a scheduled training time.  Offering more flexibility for employees will make your company more appealing from the start and will entice long-term employees to stay.

Have you found yourself a victim of the latest round of resignations?  It has been an uphill battle for businesses both large and small.  No company seems to be exempt from the “great resignation.”  When you started your company or took a promotion to manager you may have envisioned an environment where you would establish roots, build a career.  But having a revolving door of employees and customers has made it challenging to keep things afloat.  So how can restaurant operators protect their business amid the great resignation?  It starts by pinpointing problem areas. 

Here are three areas where things often go unchecked.

1. Repetitive Tasks

Recent research by Zenput found that, on average, daily operational and safety tasks in restaurants, supermarkets, and convenience stores take anywhere from 11–14 minutes each to complete.  With tasks like cleaning being performed multiple times a day, the time adds up quickly.  Before you know it 7-9 hours a day are consumed with repetitive tasks.  And unfortunately, many operators are less than confident these tasks are being completed correctly, or on time.  Identify the tasks that are repetitive, mundane and take the energy out of your employees.  These tasks that are tedious and manual could possibly be done faster, more efficiently, or even eliminated.  Consider streamlining or automating these tasks.  Your employees will thank you for making their job easier and you will accomplish more with fewer people and less effort.

2. Productivity Tools

It is vital to identify error-prone tasks.  These are often tasks completed with pen and paper.  Short-staffed or not, teams still have to maintain operations at the same quality of standards.  Consider providing your team the ability to be as productive as possible.  Consider integrating tools and apps to ease the workflow.   By having your employees use digital tools and apps to complete pen and paper tasks you can reduce the possibility of burnout while keeping operations running smoothly.  And at the same time, you are attracting a new generation of employees, who as digital natives will seamlessly ease into their new role.

3. Customer Satisfaction

In an industry that is all about service, customer satisfaction must be factored into the equation.  When talking about doing more with less you need to start by asking: what tasks get set aside when the staff get busy?  It is important to know if tasks get delayed, not performed properly, or ignored completely.  Gain visibility into the operations of your business; get your hands dirty. Or maybe schedule a meeting with your boss; make known the tasks that are inhibiting the effectiveness of your job, and ultimately their business.  The goal is to focus on higher-value work, like interacting with customers. By understanding what services are suffering, you will more frequently meet or even surpass customer satisfaction.  You will be able to keep consistency within the service which will aid your employees and bring customers back through the doors time and time again.