How can a restaurant increase productivity?
Tasty food is important, but it’s not everything in a restaurant. At the end of the day, it’s the people that make a business great. The people that manage, prepare and serve that food. Ensuring employees are always productive can be a challenging task, especially when you can’t be present in the restaurant. There are a few tips that great restaurant managers can use to increase productivity and profitability.
-
The right timing is key
Your staff will make or break your restaurant. Great restaurant managers look to hire a motivated and eager workforce. Having these kinds of people in your business will propel your productivity. From there, labour management and timing comes into play. Analyze your busiest times and aim to strike a balance. You’ll most likely need a bigger roster in at Sunday brunch than a Tuesday morning. With too few employees in at busy times, you’ll stretch your workforce. Staff will become frustrated and anxious. schedule the precise number of employees you need to manage rush periods. Your restaurant will become more efficient and customers will be kept happy.
2. The right timing is key
Your staff are on the front lines, they are a primary source for all the problems you miss. Great restaurant managers realize that employees offer a lot of insight and value. Maybe your chef has ideas to improve the kitchen layout or your waiter thinks tables are too far apart. You may get plenty of practical ideas by taking time to ask your employees. Showing you actually care about their opinion goes a long way. Your employees will feel a strong sense of commitment to your establishment. Increased staff retention and motivation all add to productivity.
-
Employee training is vital
Employee training is a real investment. Putting thought and structure into the training within your restaurant reaps long term benefits. Well trained staff bring energy and life to any business, improving your reputation and keeping your business safe. There are 3 main ways to train restaurant staff. The most common methods are ‘on the job training’ and ‘traditional classroom training’. Frankly, both these methods are outdated and put you at risk. With on the job training, there is minimal structure or consistency. Staff pick up knowledge and skills as situations develop. While this method is simple, it tends to leave significant gaps. More importantly, there is no records of training kept, a big red flag for any restaurant inspector. Classroom Training is a thing of the past. It’s very costly, leaves a lot of downtime and is poorly suited to most restaurant employees who have irregular schedules. You might also find it difficult to keep records.
Online staff training is the best option. Employees can sign up for courses and complete them whenever they have time. From a manager’s point of view, an online training platform offers tracking and reporting. You can find out with a few clicks which employees have completed training and which need a reminder. The HiUp platform was built in co-operation with the RAI (Restaurant Association of Ireland). You can save yourself time, money and stress in 3 clicks. From a manager’s point of view, it’s a dream come true. Restaurant server training courses, food safety, GDPR and much more are all available online.
