How to Integrate New Employees into Your Restaurant Team

Your new server seems bright enough and she’s got more experience than most of the people on your team, so why not fly through training and get her out on the floor? Well, maybe because she’ll walk out the door if you do.

Why? Because the more employees know, the less stress they feel. And according to a recent Gallup poll, 80 percent of us say we feel stress on the job, while 40 percent admit we need help managing this stress. Add that fact to the stress that naturally comes from a new job and you’ll see why many new employees don’t stick.

Here’s how to increase the odds and create a more productive team while you’re at it…

Invest the time. It’s tempting to ask one person to “show ‘em the ropes,” but the more detailed your training plan is the more successful it will be. Assign different people different orientation tasks. Have your star server share his or her selling techniques, ask the chef to describe how he creates specialty dishes, and encourage the host to introduce regulars. Not only will new hires benefit from an array of perspectives, they’ll also get to know their team members.
Go beyond the basics. Yes, your team members need to know how to perform their jobs, but they also need to know why they should care about your company. Explain your concept, tell them your own philosophy, and show them testimonials, awards and letters you’ve received. Enthusiastic employees make the best salespeople!
Motivate them. Before you can effectively train anyone, you need to convince them why they want to learn the information. If you’re turning new servers into salespeople, be sure that your training is centered on the benefits – greater tips! – they’ll receive.
Assign a buddy. For the first few shifts, have your team member follow around one of your star employees. It’s the best way to have hands-on training without the stress of failing in front of a customer.

For more team-building ideas for your restaurant, check out All For the One: 52 Ways to Build a Winning Team.

Use Mystery Applicants to Improve Restaurant Hiring

Hiring the best should be first and foremost on everyone’s mind for the good of your operation. So train your managers with the best techniques for recruiting and interviewing quality employees. Then, test their skills by hiring “Mystery Applicants” to help you see where the problems are.

You’re probably familiar with the idea of a “Mystery Shopper” program to evaluate customer service. A “Mystery Applicant” is basically the same idea. Setting up interviewees to evaluate the interviewing skills of other managers will help you identify the weak spots in your operation’s hiring chain. Shifty? Well, maybe… but keep in mind that you’re evaluating interviewers to identify where there’s a need for further training — not to get someone in trouble. And, by all means, tell your hirers that you may eventually send a Mystery Applicant their way just to see that they’ve retained and are using their training.

Begin by soliciting the help of people about the same age and personality type as your typical employee. Consider contacting a temporary agency — be sure to describe in detail what you’re trying to do! Some restaurateurs have even contacted talent agencies for Mystery Applicants — aspiring actors will obviously be great at pretending to be someone they’re not!

Excerpted from Turn the Tables on Turnover: 52 Ways to Find, Hire, and Keep the Best Hospitality Employees. Click here to read more from this innovative, results-oriented restaurant management book.

Be the Restaurant Employer of Choice

The labor pool generally falls into four categories:

The Transients. On their way to some other career, they’ve stopped off in the industry for a relatively short time. The traditional college student comes to mind.

The I-Don’t-Know’s. They’re in the industry because they simply don’t know what they want to be when they grow up. And they’re trying it out.

The I-Shouldn’t-Be-Here’s. With no innate skills for food or service, they tend to give the service industry a bad name.

The Dedicated. They’re in the industry to stay, but still change jobs on a regular basis, always looking for that leg up, an opportunity to grow and develop or make more money.

Obviously, it would be beneficial to attract the Dedicated and the I-don’t-knows, provided you can convince the latter that this is the industry to be in and that yours is the operation to work for.

With that in mind, think of your recruiting plan as a marketing plan. Not selling the traditional products you’re used to selling, but selling yourself and your business. Your aim is to be the employer of choice.

Excerpted from Staff Up! Assembling a Team that Sticks and Clicks. Click here to read more ideas from this restaurant management handbook.

Performance Appraisals for Restaurant Employees

It’s not uncommon for performance appraisals to be the subject of poor reviews themselves. Bring your appraisal process up to speed. The first step is to incorporate issues at the forefront of the hospitality industry as well as your operation.

Food safety: Your employees surely understand the importance of food safety in the kitchen, but what about sanitation in the front of the house? When establishing performance standards, consider holding bartenders accountable for the shelf lives of drink mixes and garnishes. And all servers should check the cleanliness of glassware before setting it in front of guests.

Teamwork: Devise a measurement to incorporate team dynamics into your performance appraisal. Perhaps you could have co-workers rate each other, then add up the scores. You’ll know in a hurry who’s pitching in and who isn’t.

Your pick. Look back at last year and analyze what took place. Were there common-thread issues that could be addressed during the appraisal process? Example: If an open back door too often compromises the security of your restaurant, you might want to review the security diligence of your employees.

Employee-Friendly Policies

When establishing policy in your operation, think “employee-friendly” rather than “law of the land.”

Sick policy. Consider your employees’ needs and family responsibilities. Sick days may be needed to care for sick children or aging parents.

Eating on the job. Consider starting a 15-minute “family meal time,” during which employees sit down and eat together. Serve inexpensive dishes (lasagna, for instance) rather than allow ordering from the menu.

Personal phone calls. Doctors or sitters may need to be called or consulted. Again, think of employees’ lives outside the walls of your restaurant.

Tardiness. Listen to the reasons for late arrivals, and judge each on a case-by-case basis. Deal with repeated tardiness as needed.

Behavioral Interviewing

Behaviors are formed over time through repetition. If an individual has done something in the past, they’re more likely to repeat it in the future.

Take, for example, a person who returns change at a store’s register after getting back too much. He or she is likely to be honest again when a similar situation presents itself in your restaurant — like, on the rare occasion; you leave cash on the desk in the office and forget to lock the door.

Exploring past behaviors requires a little digging. You’ll get a flat “yes” when you ask: “Do you consider yourself to be an honest person? The follow-up question is what puts the applicant on the spot and gives you important behavioral insights.

You simply ask about a specific time and place when honesty was demonstrated or put to the test. Example: “Tell me about a time when you demonstrated your honesty.”

Excerpted from the popular and easy to read handbook Staff Up: Assembling a Team That Sticks and Clicks. Click here to read more.