How regular coaching and training boost employee experience in the food industry
Your restaurant’s personnel is an extension of your brand. They are, in essence, your brand’s advocates. The degree of service quality of the workers and their conduct is extremely important in the hotel sector, where everything revolves around offering a great and unique experience to the consumers.
Customers expect prompt and efficient service and will not accept anything less. That implies your workers must go above and beyond to create a distinct brand identity for your restaurant rather than simply serving fantastic dishes.
In today’s time when restaurants are trying to hire and retain people, ensuring that your employees have a pleasant working environment and employee experience is more vital than ever.
Investing in your restaurant personnel and caring about what they go through daily can result in a better and more effective operation. Here are some ideas for improving your staff’s experience.
Improve your restaurant employee training processes
Restaurant proprietors and managers cannot anticipate acceptable performance from personnel who have not been adequately taught.
According to one research, nearly one-fifth of small businesses (17%) never had workplace safety training, and 40% reported their business did not post.
Most towns need Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) signs. To increase safety and enhance their experience, your employees must understand how to conduct their duties appropriately. There is no better moment to begin than when they are employed.
Make sure that a new hire training program is in place. This is critical for getting your staff off to a good start and making them feel at ease in their workplace. Train them on how to use the register and other transaction systems, culinary equipment, and any regulations and standards your company follows.
It is also critical that you inform your personnel about the various pieces of training mandated by the state. Employees will not only have a better grasp of the fundamentals of working in a restaurant, such as food handling and staff safety, but you will also avoid a slew of fines and penalties if you ensure everyone follows state and federal regulations.
For example, Arizona requires Food Handling coaching, which is also one of the most crucial exercises your workers should take. They will acquire the Arizona Food Handler’s card after finishing the course. Meanwhile, serving alcohol beverages in California requires a Responsible Beverage Service Training certificate.
Having a standard in place, such as the Food Handling Certification, aids in the reduction of food-borne diseases. As stated by the NRA, the Food Handling Certification is intended for professionals required by their state to get a food handler card to serve, store, or prepare food.
Food safety, cleaning and sanitation, time and temperature, personal hygiene, cross-contamination, and allergies are the main topics covered in the lecture. Food service personnel also learn about risk management, standards and guidelines for food safety, and the FDA Food Code.
Teach your restaurant employees how to use cutting-edge technology
Most sectors, including the restaurant industry, have been altered by technology. While people loved tradition and some skeptics found it hard to embrace change, these technological transformations were proven convenient and beneficial. As a result, many restaurants employed computerized systems in order processing, online orders, calculating totals, and raising bills for many clients simultaneously.
Installing such technologies, however, is insufficient to assure employee efficiency. The owner must still invest in restaurant employee training. Only then will your restaurant’s operational speed and service quality increase.
Using videos and podcasts, teach your employees how to use your established technologies. It’s more engaging and straightforward to comprehend than reading the instruction manuals that come with these devices.
Involve them in role plays where they must develop fake orders and billing procedures before utilizing them in real life. This will aid them in comprehending essential concerns such as handling voids, coupons, and so on, as well as increasing workplace efficiency.
Out-of-house technology
Technology may assist your restaurant personnel in providing excellent customer service. Employees can conceive, build, implement, administer, and analyze loyalty programs using outsourced technology, such as loyalty management software. As a result, your personnel must always be aware of how to operate the technology in your restaurant.
Front-of-house technology
During basic training, your front-of-house (FOH) employees may be required to execute roundtrip foot drills that require them to move plates of food and beverages on large trays. However, the most critical item they should be familiar with is your restaurant technologies, such as your POS system, kitchen display system, pay-at-the-table system, and guest management software.
Back-of-house technology
Despite a flawless FOH team, your consumers will be disappointed if the back of the house personnel is subpar. This imbalance would pull down the entire workforce’s performance, especially in the perception of impacted customers and their circle of influence. Even during peak hours, your team must be able to utilize back-of-house technologies, such as the inventories and menu monitoring platform, to respond quickly in times of crisis.
Restaurant reviews
Did you know that a one-star rise in your average Yelp ratings might result in a 5-9% boost in revenue? Aim for more significant and favorable customer reviews to increase restaurant engagement. For example, you may hold monthly instructional seminars for your staff on effective customer service and hospitality.
Social networking sites
Almost half of the consumers find your restaurant via social media, implying that you may engage with nearly half of your customers simply by being active online. Customers should be encouraged to stay engaged on social media to receive discounts and event details.
Teach service every day when coaching your restaurant staff
Simply placing a critical message in a memorandum or a pre-shift meeting does not guarantee that it will deliver to team members in the manner you expected. Improving a specific area of service needs consistent focus. Furthermore, the shift might be gradual and continuous.
Also, once you’ve achieved the required level of perfection, don’t forget the time and effort you put into developing the service. Even after you have repaired the program issue, return to it daily to guarantee that the case does not reoccur. Remember that it takes approximately a month to form a habit and about a week to revert to the old one.
Improve staff efficiency by using employee motivation
Motivation is crucial in establishing a successful and effective team. Motivated personnel is always willing to go further to increase the restaurant’s output. Starbucks believes that its staff, not its coffee, is the basis for its success. As a result, it takes measures to make employees happy by treating them equally, listening to them, and seeking assistance in making goals.
By the way, Starbucks personnel are referred to internally as “partners”! What a clever method to inspire staff! Employees who feel belonging to the restaurant will work hard to deliver good service to clients. They know that their actions affect the restaurant’s brand and consistently endeavor to provide good service.
Invest in employee experience
Your restaurant personnel plays a vital role in simplifying restaurant operations and brand boosting. While the taste of your food and the identity of your restaurant are important deciding factors to success, it”ll be difficult to showcase them without motivated and trained employees as advocates.
Therefore, you must have a complete staff education plan, appropriate state-required certifications, and recurring trainings to continually teach your personnel to be efficient, reflect your restaurant’s style and values, and sport the appropriate attitude for the environment.
