“Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change.”
– Stephen Hawking
Learning to work with changes
If you’ve ever dealt with unhappy employees, high turnover, poor guest feedback, increased expenses, and overall unproductivity, it might be time to go back to school. But don’t worry, you won’t need a backpack and sack lunch.
Restaurants are continually changing. New employees, new menu items, new customers, new technology, and above all, new challenges. From one day to the next we might see dozens of these changes.
One of the most important skills we have to manage and continually improve upon in the restaurant industry is adaptability. We have to be able to react to changes, learn from them, and use that knowledge to solve problems.
So how do we keep up with all these changes? How do we prepare ourselves for the myriad of new challenges we’ll face every? The answer is continuing education – the process of learning new skills and knowledge on an ongoing basis.
One time is never enough
We all go through some kind of initial training when we’re hired for our respective position. We take a snapshot of our surroundings and learn what’s needed to find success in our role.
As managers, we learn about the daily operations, how to do payroll and scheduling, hours of operations, the menu, and so on. Employees learn steps of service, their daily side-work, menu descriptions, a floor plan, and any other relevant responsibilities.
That one-time initial training and onboarding we all start with can’t prepare us for all the changes we’ll face a month, week, or even day down the road. With continuing education, we’re always prepared and even a step ahead of the shifting landscape we call restaurant operations.
So what are the benefits of continuing education?
- Increase employee retention.
Employee turnover is costly. The average cost of losing a minimum wage employee is about $2,000 (source). You also risk damage to your reputation when staff is constantly in flux. Other employees end up struggling to make up for that position and consider leaving themselves. You’re not just losing an employee, you’re dealing with recruiting costs, onboarding costs, productivity loss, customer service errors, and many other training costs. Turnover is curently through the roof at about 75% (source).
When you take the time to properly train and invest in your employee’s ongoing learning you’re sending the message – “I value you, and care about your professional growth”.
It could be a certification, or simply for more confidence. Investing in your employee’s success is investing in yours.
- Present oportunities for promotion.
If you find yourself short on a specific role, it’s better to train, educate, and promote from within the business. The time and money it takes to seek out, interview, and select new employees are better spent teaching your current staff how to grow into those positions. You’ll build loyalty and employees will reward you with hard work.
- Ensure proper food handling.
There are many things to learn in regards to proper food handling. It’s important to occasionally check in with your staff to make sure you’re following the guidelines. Allergy protocols are crucial for providing a safe environment for your guests.
- Create excellent customer service.
Providing amazing customer service is not something we’re born with. It takes time and dedication to learn and perfect. Providing your staff with continuing education based around things like, how to greet a guest, how to take an order, and steps of service is critical in determining the outcome of your restaurants success.
Diners ask a lot of questions. Server menu knowledge can make or break a guest’s experience. Having a well-trained staff who are up to speed with the daily changes can turn things around in moments of chaos. Preparation is essential.
- Generate more profit.
Running a profitable restaurant is a process. We make our money one menu item at a time.
Knowledgable servers can up-sell a guest on a better bottle of wine or that extra dessert course. Check averages make all the difference. Proper continuing education is proven to increase your sales.
- Smooth operations.
Mistakes are bound to happen. But when we take the time to properly educate our staff we limit the number of mistakes that happen during service. When your staff understands and is trained up on kitchen procedures, dining room procedures, reservation handling, cleaning guidelines, and overall operations, things just click into place throughout service and fewer problems arise.
- Consistent quality.
Consistency is important to your guests. Especially when they’ve had a great experience and decide to return. If the weekend bartender doesn’t know the new cocktails, then the drink someone had on Tuesday won’t be the same on Saturday. The same applies to the BOH (back of house). Keeping everyone in the loop with continuing education will limit the number of comps, send-backs, and re-fires.
- Happier staff.
Nobody likes a dead-end job. Continuing education keeps the work environment stimulating, engaging, and challenging, which boosts the morale of employees. I’m sure we’ve all had that server that looks like they’d rather be reading a rotary engine manual than serving tables. A happy staff has a direct impact on the guest experience. So show your employees you care about their growth by offering opportunities to learn.
- Contribute to overall company growth.
One of the greatest benefits of continuing education isn’t seen immediately. Over time the collective efforts of ongoing learning manifest in a company and culture that promotes overall growth. When individuals learn together they form bonds and support each other.
- Keep costs down.
Mistakes in a restaurant are usually costly, whether it’s a returned dish that wasn’t explained well to the guest, a customer that would have returned if not for a bad experience, or wasted resources, keeping costs down is a must for profitability.
- Remain relevant.
Learning will lead to discovery and innovation. Your product will see the results of better technique and ingredients. Research and development behind the bar and in the kitchen is a learning experience. Give your staff the tools they need to learn new things and they’ll surprise you.
So how do we implement this amazing solution in our restaurant?
- Start with a clear objective:
Maybe you’d like to improve employee retention. Maybe you’d like to generate more profit. Write down what it is that you want to accomplish so that it can be referred to in the future.
- Create a clear curriculum
understanding what it is you want to teach is the first step. A good place to start is menu knowledge. Menu knowledge touches many aspects of a restaurant’s daily operations and is important for both FOH and BOH.
Menu knowledge includes learning about popular items, descriptions, modifications that can be accommodated in the kitchen, allergies, vegan options, available spirits, cocktails, 86’d items, specials, and more.
- Gather your materials
Give your current training material a once-over. Maybe it’s an employee handbook, your menu descriptions, or a wine list. You’re looking for completeness, accuracy, and whether it’s up to date.
Determine what’s missing and what needs improvement and list everything you’ll need to meet your objectives.
- Decide on your format(s)
Usually, a mix of E-learning and on-the-job training works best for restaurants.
That Menu App’s mobile app allows managers to easily store and update all item descriptions, recipes, prices, and more. Employees can access the material on their mobile devices from anywhere at any time. That Menu App makes it easy to manage training material, keeping everything up to date and immediately accessible. With continuing education features like custom challenges, training paths, auto-generated assignments, and study tools like flashcards, That Menu App is a clear choice for any restaurant looking for an affordable e-learning platform.
In addition to e-learning solutions, one of the best times to teach in a restaurant setting is pre-shift – the time right before the restaurant opens or shift begins.
- Lead the way
Gather your employees around for 15 to 20 minutes each shift and use that opportunity to teach and inspire. Those few minutes allow for focused learning. Bite-sized lessons that are consistent are more effective than trying to cram tons of information into one long sitting.
Taste through new dishes, discuss and take notes on a new bottle of wine, talk about policy changes or congratulate an outstanding individual. Consider your audience and try to keep it not only educational but also entertaining. Currently only about 46% of restaurants offer a mentor program (source). Use your leadership to guide employees to greater success.
- Give actionable takeaways
At the end of pre-shift, you can recommend using what was just learned during the upcoming service. When we put our new knowledge immediately into practice we’re 3xs more liking to retain it.
We have a unique opportunity as restaurant owners and managers to make ourselves available for feedback and questions. Provide employees with the support and resources they need to continue to learn on their own time.