How to retain top employees in your restaurant

While having advanced automation systems, tools, and processes to streamline operations is beneficial, the core of making good food is always the people.
Working with key people offers a more friendly approach, mainly because they serve human beings, too. Unlike machines and software, employees also can respond quickly to concerns and problems, helping to recession-proof your restaurant.
1. The turnover rate in restaurants is high
The restaurant industry has always struggled with high turnover rates. A combination of different factors, such as little to no career growth, rude customers in a fast-paced environment, lack of salary increases, and more.
Some employees may see the restaurant industry as a stepping stone before they land their dream job, finish their studies, and get out of financial hardships. Only a fraction of people working in the industry is passionate about the food and service industry.
If you’ve found essential people to help your restaurant operations, keep them happy and satisfied with their work. Here are important tips and tricks to retain the best employees in your restaurant.
2. Keep salary competitive and offer bonuses
Most employees work to earn a living — the same is true in restaurants. As much as people won’t likely stay in the industry for long, keep their salary competitive and offer bonuses whenever needed.
Offer customers a vision that they can stay in the restaurant industry because they can earn a decent living and have salary increases based on performance.
Earning a competitive salary is always one of the best ways to keep employees happy to stay working for the restaurant.
3. Provide benefits and encourage employees to use them
In line with a competitive salary, restaurants must provide benefits and incentives. Many employees now seek great incentives, such as health insurance, free COVID-19 testing, mental health support, and more.
Working in a restaurant can be challenging because they have to multi-task and deal with customers, all while keeping a happy face. These benefits and incentives are no less than what they deserve from working in restaurants.
While many restaurants may already offer these benefits, they make it challenging for employees to take advantage of them because of tight schedules, labor shortages, and more. Encouraging employees to use these benefits can also help improve retention.
4. Build a strong company culture
Employee morale keeps employees happy working for the organization. Whether noble causes, corporate social responsibility, or prestige come with working in the restaurant, they can help retain employees.
However, only these causes can do so much. A lot of employees highly consider the culture of communication and feedback. This makes them feel heard and valued as restaurant employees, no matter their position or designation.
Some restaurants may do this as a resolution but don’t push through with it. Restaurant owners must head this initiative and ensure its implementation.
5. Encourage mentorship
Mentorship or coaching shouldn’t only happen when employees make mistakes. It should serve as an evaluation of their performance and appreciation for a job well done, especially after a busy season during Christmas or Thanksgiving.
Many restaurants can miss out on genuine mentorship, keeping employees in the dark about their job. Ultimately, they quit because they may not feel valued, their hard work isn’t seen, or a mix of other factors like burnout, long hours, and more.
Mentorship improves employees’ satisfaction with their job and gives them a vision of working in the restaurant in the following months or years. It makes them feel appreciated, which ends up with them staying longer.
Improve automation with a QR code menu
Even if restaurants did all these tips and tricks to improve employee retention, there are still plenty of things that can go wrong, and they may end up with staff shortages.
Be on your toes and improve automation through a QR code menu simultaneously. This way, you can always address the challenges in the industry and adapt to challenges as quickly as possible.