If you are in the restaurant business, you must know that its service quality primarily depends on its staff. The customers nowadays don’t just expect quick and efficient service or hygienic handling of their food, they expect something more than that. Therefore, as a restaurateur, you must go the extra mile to build a distinctive brand identity in a competitive restaurant space, especially in a country like the UAE, where the restaurant industry market size stood at $13.2 billion in 2018.
Now, the next question that should come to your mind is – how can I improve the service quality of my restaurant? One of the best ways to answer the question is efficient staff training. A well-trained staff saves a restaurant both time and money, which eventually leads to higher profitability. Therefore, you must ensure that your entire staff is provided continuous training so that they remain exceptional in a highly competitive industry.
You can’t overlook the importance of restaurant staff training as the restaurant staff is only as good as the training they receive. This blog post will discuss how staff training is critical for improving a restaurant’s business performance in the UAE.
Importance Of Staff Training In A Restaurant In The UAE
The following are some of the key reasons that will help you appreciate the importance of the time and energy you must devote to training your staff and how it streamlines restaurant operations, bolstering the overall restaurant performance.
1. Safe Food Handling
Restaurant staff must know appropriate food handling practices to ensure food safety. For instance, trained staff would know to wash hands before cooking or how and where to store perishable food items to avoid spoilage. Such staff that understands the value of food safety will help your restaurant meet all food safety codes and evade events that can potentially stain the restaurant’s reputation.
Food safety is a critical aspect of food security in the UAE. The Federal Law No. 10 of 2015 directs standards and regulations to maintain the quality and safety of food and ensure the protection of consumers. The law levies severe penalties on restaurants that fail to adhere to the set standards and endanger food safety.
2. Excellent Customer Service
Your staff must master the art of customer service to ensure that customers return and recommend your restaurant to their friends and family. Most customers go to a restaurant because they enjoy the ambience there, which is largely due to the staff of the restaurant. For instance, a well-trained waiter goes out of the way to offer extraordinary service to a customer, making the customer retain fond memories about the restaurant. Hence, excellent customer service is the ingredient for the highest level of customer satisfaction.
Customer service forms the backbone of the restaurant business in the UAE, which is a very tough market because you have to deal with the competition and also face demanding customers. The customers in the UAE have the freedom to file a complaint 24/7, which means you need to satisfy the customers in the best possible way to ensure that they don’t land your restaurant in trouble.
3. Staff Retention
In most cases of employee dissatisfaction, the main reason is that they are allocated responsibilities for which they don’t possess the right skills and knowledge. Thus, either assign the roles based on their existing skillset or train them for the new responsibilities, which is one of the ways to increase staff retention.
Also, if you take time out for your staff and train them, they feel respected and cared for. In short, the staff feels valued, and their loyalty amplifies, reducing your restaurant’s turnover rate. It is always preferable to have an excellent core team of loyal employees to build the foundation of a successful long-term business.
4. Smooth Operations
Well-coordinated operations, right from the purchase of food ingredients to serving food to the customers, are an asset to any restaurant business. So, it is essential to train your workforce so that they know their responsibilities in the day-to-day operations with absolute accuracy resulting in a harmonious relationship among the staff and a strong team spirit. In a restaurant that operates smoothly, the customers receive their food timely, the chefs cook appetizing food, and the waiters speak to the customers courteously. In short, the restaurant functions flawlessly.
5. Unfailing Quality Standards
Quality control is an integral part of a restaurant, and good staff training covers that aspect of the business. Basically, the training jogs their memory to remind them about your restaurant’s principles, procedures, and policies so that they continue to fulfil their duties according to the standards without any fail. For instance, a well-trained cook is always mindful of food safety practices while a waiter consistently serves the customers politely. Sustenance of such high standards ensures that the customers return to your restaurant again and again.
6. Effective Upselling
Well-trained staff know the ingredients that go into the food and the dishes that go into your restaurant’s menu very well. So, they are able to sell or even upsell various food items effectively. Further, the staff should also be trained to use integrated CRM tools and POS software for accessing customer data so that their suggestions are more specific and accurate.
The restaurant staff plays a crucial role in the overall operations of your restaurant. So, when you can take the time to train them appropriately, you will actually be investing in your restaurant’s overall health and longevity. It is imperative to train your staff with care as it is a sure way to deliver the best possible customer experience, which will eventually boost the restaurant business even in a competitive space like the UAE.
