Employee retention is the powerhouse behind a successful restaurant. We all know that hiring staff takes a significant amount of time, effort and resources and when staff leave sooner than expected it can be frustrating to need to invest in this all over again. As a result, this blog will explore 4 different strategies that you can utilize in your restaurant to improve your employee retention.
Employee retention in the restaurant industry is all about a company’s ability to keep employees and reduce turnover. Businesses often use staff retention rates to calculate how well they are retaining members of staff. This is worked out by subtracting the number of employees who have left from the number of employees you had at the beginning of a specific period. You will then need to divide the result by the number of employees you had at the beginning and then multiply it by 100 to obtain a percentage.
There are a number of advantages to restaurant employee retention, such as:
If your restaurant has a low staff retention rate, it’s important to create or amend your retention strategies to improve business performance. Here are a few strategies you could implement in your restaurant:
Giving staff the opportunity to provide anonymous feedback empowers them to add value to the company without fear of being judged. Surveys allow them to give their opinions on what is and isn’t working within your restaurant and how they believe you can improve. Even the smallest bit of feedback and changes can make a huge difference for retention in your restaurant.
You should also conduct exit interviews to find out why staff are leaving the company. They’re also more likely to be honest about their reasons for leaving and how they think you can improve, making it easier for you to make effective changes.
It’s no secret that many individuals working in hospitality suffer from burnout. With unpredictable schedules and excessive overtime being two of the biggest contributors of burnout it’s no surprise that many in hospitality suffer from it. In fact, 69% of shift workers report that they often experience their shifts being changed with little to no notice, and 98% report that they work overtime, with 75% saying they do so with very little notice.
As an employer you have a duty of care toward your staff, making it important that you understand their schedules and actively aim to reduce burnout within your restaurant. Work with employees to understand personal responsibilities that need to be balanced outside of work to ensure they have a strong work life balance paired with realistic work schedules.
When hard work is recognized, stress is reduced and overall happiness increases. Rewarding your staff through shoutouts, employee-of-the-month schemes, bonuses and rewards will help you create a stronger team that reduces employee turnover.
One of the biggest reasons people leave their jobs is for better pay and benefits. As a result, where possible, it’s a good idea to review staff pay and benefits packages to see if there's anything you can do to improve them and encourage them to stay in the business. Have a look at what other restaurants are offering. For example, do they offer discounts across different restaurants or your restaurant chains? Could you offer the same thing?
Improving your staff's packages will contribute toward increased employee retention, as they’ll feel as though their hard work is recognised and valued.
At Yumpingo our customer feedback platform allows you to gather insights into how smoothly business operations are running, customer experiences and food quality. This can help you understand team and individual performance. Combining this with staff feedback can give you great insight into staff sentiment and how they perceive your company. This allows you to make effective data-driven decisions that boost business operations and staff retention.
Book a free demo today to see how we can help you improve business operations and retain staff.