STAFF: How to Create a Restaurant Employee Manual
On-site training, flexible reward system, wise approach to recruitment – this all can help you enhance the quality of service. However, one thing that requires the most attention is your employee manual. It is more than just a set of job-related key points and rules. A restaurant employee handbook shares the company’s policy, values, and objectives with the team, helping to align the goals and ensure customer satisfaction.
DID YOU KNOWS…
NY Eliminates Sub-Min Wage; Restaurants Currently Exempt
New York has eliminated the subminimum wage, aka tip credit, for miscellaneous workers, although restaurants seem to be exempt from the measure. The difference between minimum wages and tipped wages will be cut in half by June 30, 2020 and the tipped wage will be eliminated entirely by end of the year. The legislation is meant to “end confusion and outright wage theft” of more than 70,000+ workers in the service industry; restaurant employees like busboys, servers, and kitchen staff are left off the list.
Breakfast Candy
General Mills and Hershey are teaming up to create breakfast candy. Products will include Hershey Kisses cereal that look and taste like the real thing, a Jolly-Rancher fruit cereal, and Reese’s Puffs Big Puffs. This isn’t the first time the two companies teamed up to make candy-inspired cereal.
Fake Pork Debuts
We already have fake hamburger and fake chicken and sausage, so it was just a matter of time before we got meatless pork. Impossible Foods unveiled its new porkless product pork at CES, and it will appear on limited menus at Burger King locations starting this month. Pork is widely recognized as the most commonly consumed meat in the world.
OUR ROBOT OVERLORDS REALLY LOVE PIZZA
Why it matters to you: A machine that reliably makes pizza is an inevitability.
If you are looking for documented proof of the future of our industry, this video is a stark notification of what’s next. This pizza-making robot can turn out up to 300 pies per hour and require minimal operator intervention. While most of you will never have a device like it in your restaurants, that doesn’t mean automation isn’t a viable part of your business future. With labor looking to explode in 2020, the example this machine sets is certainly one we can heed. The question is how will you accommodate automation as it becomes available to your business?
Let’s take an example from currently available technology like inventory management software that is connected to your POS system. By leveraging the information already available from the recorded transactions you make daily on your POS, you can fully automate your ordering system. From recommended order levels to reminders to check non-POS tracked items, such as napkins or cleaning supplies, these new systems can easily determine your correct orders without anyone on your team having to travel the entire restaurant to make those decisions.
So, while it’s not a robot doing a job you would normally place on a manager, software relieves you of the burden. This, in turn, frees you to better manage your business and support your staff in delivering service. Consequently, automation is a good thing when it enhances your ability to deliver to your guests. The question is when to embrace it and when to avoid it -- and that is entirely up to you!
[Source: Mashable]
CHRISTMAS REVIEW…BUT NO DANCING, JUST DATA
Why it matters to you: Restaurant operators appear to have had a very Merry Christmas.
When planning your business, there is no more powerful way to manage it than by reviewing your previous results. This is especially true when the revenue period you are examining are quirky like holidays or major events. This past December 24th and 25th showed significant growth over 2018, and it also appears that some of you were smart enough to leverage that growth. Traditionally, operators either close for the evening of the 24th and return on the 26th or open on Christmas Day evening to serve all those folks that are screaming to get away from their families. The numbers proof out that both of these things happened and more than last year.
If you are trying to determine if you should open at all for next year’s Christmas Holiday then these numbers might influence that decision. According to Toast POS, more of you stayed open than last year with 76% of you open on Christmas Eve (only 64% did the same last year) and 3% more of you opened on Christmas Day up to 19% from last year. Here’s the even better news those locations that did open were rewarded with enormous check average increases over 2018. The other benefit of opening on both the evening before and day of Christmas is that you sell even more gift cards. If for no other reason, this data is an invaluable aid to making an informed decision about opening for the holiday.
[Source: Toast POS]
