In a restaurant where everything revolves around giving an exceptional experience to the customers, the dining experience is not just about customer service, it’s about delivering the best hospitality. To provide the best experience you need the best people working for your restaurant. Hiring a staff that’s effective and productive is vital for restaurant owners. A restaurant staffing guide can only be helpful when you have a dedicated team. The diner wants quick and efficient service and won’t settle for lousy service. In this piece we have curated for you tips to run, grow and train your team.
More than accounting, inventory, and marketing staff hiring is what keeps the restaurant owners up at night. When juggling so many other pieces, a restaurant staffing guide can be a little tricky. It’s like putting together a puzzle and even if one piece is mismatched the entire picture could get compromised. Let us share some tips to focus on hiring the right staff and developing a sense of culture in them:
- Qualities of a good employee
- Draft interview questions in advance
- Decide on the positions to hire for
- Prepare for training and orientation
- Learn how to retain staff
With a little guidance, your restaurant can see a higher level of employee engagement and higher turnover rates.
Work on a Specific Plan for Staff Training
Every restaurant should have a well-defined training program including a restaurant staffing guide. Training programs can help your team perform better and become more efficient which will help them deliver better services. Staff training will ensure the consistency, coordination, taste, and experience of your restaurant. Before starting the training write down all the measurable goals you want your restaurant to achieve. Work on different plans for various roles and stay consistent with your planning.
Explore different methods of Staff Training
Everyone has a different learning style and pace. Prepare the methods and lessons based on your team’s data and past performance. Combine hands-on training with virtual lessons. Conduct staff tasting sessions so they understand how to describe the meal to the guests. The program should also include customer service and soft skills training for serving guests with endurance, politeness, and promptness. The restaurant staffing guide should also include other promotional and restaurant-specific training with detailed education, demonstration, and shadowing.
Make an Employee Handbook
Other than food preparation, cleaning, managing orders, and customers there’s a lot that goes behind the scenes in a restaurant. It can make you feel like there’s never a moment of rest. And that’s why having an employee handbook can become a lifesaver for you. An employee handbook is a well-crafted document that outlines the rules and policies. In addition to guiding employees, a handbook can also be helpful for restaurant managers. Covering all the essential topics in the handbook helps reduce the risk of legal issues associated with employment law violations. List of points you should add to an employee handbook:
- Mission statement
- Pay policies (paydays, timekeeping, overtime eligibility)
- Code of conduct
- Leave policies
- The assessment process for promotion and raises
- Complaint & feedback process
- Behavioral expectations
- Annual closures
- Standard operating hours
- Concluding summary and signature
Delegate the Tasks
Without being ready and delegating the tasks you could be stagnating your business growth. Whether you have no diners to serve or have long waiting lines take a good look at your to-do list and if you still don’t have one, make one! And now decide which of these tally needs your contribution and which can be done by other employees. Start small and know your team’s strengths. Try and always delegate with a plan, rather than delegating randomly, and see how you can help your team to grow and empower.
Improve Staff Efficiency by Fostering a Sense of Teamwork
A team that respects the management is more likely to deliver an efficient and prolific performance. Become a role model for your team to gain their respect. Supportive teamwork in a restaurant makes day-to-day tasks run smoother. The whole performance of your restaurant is dependent on your staff’s performance. To invest your time in the right manner and create a harmonious group:
- Hire wisely
- Establish effective communication
- Outline expectations
- Clarify Details about roles
- Never micromanage
- Encourage feedback
Use the latest technology to train your staff
The use of righteous technology can transform many industries, and the restaurant business is no exception. In order to make your restaurant a success, you need to make sure it is equipped with all the latest technology. However, using such technology isn’t enough to ensure staff efficiency. To make the best use of it use Picktime, a cloud-based restaurants scheduling software. With the Picktime booking system, you can meet your customer’s demand 24×7 and give you control over cost savings. Using Picktime you’ll get a customizable business page, a unique URL, and a book now widget for your business. There are no extra installations required and you’ll get 24×7 email support at multiple locations.
You can have online table bookings, automatic SMS & email reminders, staff & service management, reports of upcoming, canceled, and recurring bookings and an online booking calendar just sync your calendar (Outlook/Apple/Google) with the Picktime calendar. Not only this you can integrate with your favorite apps for other requirements – PayPal, Square, Stripe, Google Meet, Skype, Zoom, CRMs, Wix, Weebly, Mailchimp, Constant Contact, and many others just at your fingertips. Sign up for free today to know more about the plans and features!
Your restaurant staff is a fundamental part of streamlining the restaurant operations. Hence, you need to have a comprehensive restaurant staffing guide to train your team consistently so that they can best reflect your restaurant’s personality and values.