A lot has changed in the workforce over the years. People are talking more about the importance of mental health and are seeking jobs that support their overall well being. Employees are looking for places that can offer them more than a minimum wage job with no benefits, but the truth is that offering the sun and moon to employees is just not practical or economical for restaurants. So how can restaurants meet the needs of their employees and also stay in their budget? Greatly increasing everyone’s pay may not be something your restaurant can do, so depending on how much your restaurant brings in will determine how you move forward in accommodating your employees, but there is always a way to ensure you are giving them your best so they feel seen and taken care of.
Make Employees Job Easier and More Enjoyable
This is a cost effective way to help your employees feel seen without costing you an arm and a leg. Simplify operations through whatever means possible. You can utilize technology like labor scheduling or inventory counting to help make the day to day job seem less daunting. We talked about this recently, but investing in self-order kiosks can help lighten the load and allow employees to focus on other areas that need to be tended to so they do not feel stretched in every direction. Kitchen display systems are another great way to keep the workflow moving efficiently in your kitchen, which trickles to the front of house being able to also work more efficiently.
Staying Engaged and Connected
Keeping employees engaged is important to helping them feel seen. Knowing when their birthdays are and celebrating even the smallest things with one another is a great way to keep everyone connected. If you have an employee chat, sending an encouraging message at the start of the week to set the tone or just checking in during evaluations and getting their feedback on how work is going. Make sure employees know that communication is open, so if they ever have a problem or question about something, they feel comfortable sharing that information.
Offer Incentives
Incentives can be as big or small as your company sees fit. If you have the capacity to offer to pay part, or all, of an employee’s school tuition if they work a certain number of hours or are there for X amount of time, then by all means! That shows you are willing to invest in their future and this will definitely help retain employees. Other incentives that employees appreciate are paid time off for vacation and/or some sick days that allow them room to go see a doctor when they need to or to take their children to the doctor. When employees don’t have sick days, they either come to work sick so they don’t miss a paycheck and spread the illness around or take the day off, and this can have a lot of negative feelings toward the situation since they are losing pay and feel like they need to be at work. If all of those seem out of the question, maybe having a reward system in place for people who have not missed a shift in a certain number of weeks. You can reward them with a gift card, have employee of the month and let them choose their schedule for the following month, or give them a shoutout on your social media to recognize their good work! There are so many ways to incentivize your employees, so look into options and find one that aligns with your restaurant.
As you plan how you can better serve your customers, don’t forget to plan to cater to your employees as well. If your employees feel taken care of, that will likely overflow into the workspace, making your customers feel seen and cared for as well. Don’t throw the idea of catering to your employees out the window because you can’t do the latest and greatest, but instead, use what you have to make the most of showing them how much you value their work and them as people!
