The US restaurant industry is expanding at a massive rate and the existence of multiple restaurants in nearly every community gives restaurant staff additional opportunities to leave their current workplace in search of upward growth. The desire for career growth has significantly contributed to the high restaurant staff attrition rate in the US, around seventy-three percent to be exact!
Perceived low salaries and lack of job security are also some of the major contributors to the high restaurant staff attrition rates in USA.
According to a report, since 2015, Forty-eight percent of the employees have not received any salary hike which adds to the discontent.
In order to prevent the high attrition rate, you need to keep your restaurant staff happy and motivated. If your restaurant staff isn’t satisfied with the management it would ultimately force them to look for better opportunities.
It is important to keep your restaurant staff satisfied and this article will help you do that efficiently!
Quick Steps To Solve The Problem Of High Restaurant Staff Attrition
Excellent restaurant staff is hard to find, and it is even harder to retain them in today’s competitive restaurant market of the US.
It is crucial to keep your restaurant staff euphoric and motivated to ensure their loyalty towards your restaurant.
Here are some quick tips that will help boost your staff’s morale and make them stay longer.
1. Acknowledge Your Restaurant Staff
Not acknowledging your staff’s hard work leaves them demotivated. This would affect their work and force them to leave.
Let your restaurant staff know that you appreciate them and the hard work they put in. Reward positive behavior and great customer service with an “Employee of the Month” recognition and incentives such as a small bonus, gift cards, paid time off or a prime parking space.
Surveys conducted by Sirota Consulting have revealed that in the US, fifty-one percent of employees were satisfied with the recognition they received after a job well done. This was a great motivator and extended their service period.
2. Give Your Staff Proper Training
Investing in your restaurant staff makes them feel valued. Every employee wants to learn and grow; therefore provide them with proper training. When you pay for your servers, bartenders, hosts, and chefs to improve their skills, it makes your staff more efficient by providing them with adequate knowledge which makes them loyal towards their job.
Give them time to become familiar with your restaurant, your style of business and your requirements.
Training your restaurant staff gives them a sense of purpose and shows them that you want them there for long and you don’t see them as easily replaceable, which employees appreciate. Provide a consistent orientation process and give your new hires all the information they’ll need.
3. Reward Longevity
The restaurant owners in the US are losing their sleep due to high employee attrition rate. As mentioned earlier, the employee turnover rate has surpassed a whopping seventy percent. With stats like these, it becomes imperative for the restaurant owners to reward the restaurant staff for their continued service as this is a great way to avoid constantly losing employees.
You can offer a cash price or a day or extra paid leaves to your restaurant staff as an appreciation for their continued services. Encourage your restaurant staff to stay with you by giving them either raises or one-time bonuses.
Rewarding your employees might sound like a hefty plan, but it surely isn’t. Hiring new employees requires more investment of both your time and resources; therefore spend more on retaining your loyal employees than investing in the new ones!
4. Create A Fun Working Environment
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, this idiom rightly fits for the restaurant industry. Taking the work seriously is crucial but you should give your restaurant staff an opportunity to let loose and have fun.
You can have a separate break room with video games; this would let them unwind in between their shifts and also let them interact with their peers. This is also an excellent way to show your employees that you care for their happiness.
You can also organize monthly team outings, take your employees for a paintball tournament or for bowling, this is a great team building exercise and will help strengthen the bond between your restaurant staff.
5. Take The Staff’s Feedback
Sometimes it is difficult for the restaurant staff to open up to the higher management and discuss their matters; therefore it is crucial to take their feedback and encourage them to talk.
Employees love when they are heard, they want someone to listen to their dilemma. Ask the tough questions about workplace issues, low morale or tension between workers.
You can set up a feedback box at your restaurant where people can drop in suggestions or feedbacks anonymously.
Also, give them a say when taking employee specific decisions like when scheduling the shifts. If possible, allow them to request shift trades on their own and coordinate their working hours among themselves as well.
Taking feedback from your employees and including them while taking crucial decisions makes them feel valued and much appreciated.
6. Offer Meals To Your Staff
You should offer free meals to your restaurant staff, after all, they are the ones working hard to cook and deliver the best food to your customers.
You can offer a free meal once a week or every day if that fits in your budget.
No one likes working empty stomach especially the ones who look at food all day long. A little thing like offering a one-time meal to your employees can make a difference in their attitude towards you and the restaurant.
The restaurant industry is one of the toughest industries to work in. There are odd working hours and no fixed weekend offs, the least you can do is appreciate the ones working hard towards running your restaurant business successfully.
Keeping the restaurant staff happy and content is more important than ever in the USA’s tough restaurant industry, and we hope these tips would help you reduce your restaurant staff attrition rate.
