By Indiana Lee, Contributor
Like all businesses, restaurants rely on their employees to be successful.
So, why is it that employee wellbeing is an afterthought for many restaurants? At the end of the day, you must treat your employees with the utmost respect if you want to keep them -- just like you do with your best customers.
The cost of turnover is enormous, but treating your restaurant’s staff like your best guests goes beyond just the cost of loss labor. Let’s explore.
Customers Care About the Way You Treat Employees
A recent study by Qualtrics revealed, “Nearly half of American consumers (47%) view an employee-centric operation as being more deserving of their trust.” You might be able to attract first-time visitors to your restaurant, but convincing them to return requires trust.
Start with the quality of your service and food. Market it well and make it a hallmark of your restaurant. But to really gain your guests’ trust, show how you care for and appreciate your employees. In the age of the Internet, news travels at the speed of light. Make sure those tales of your restaurant are about great food and service, and how you look after your team.
That’s a recipe for returning customers.
Your Employees Will Take Better Care of Customers
When you take good care of your employees, they’re generally happier and more satisfied in their job roles. Happy employees lead to more productivity. And when employees are more productive, their dedication to customer care grows too.
Simply put, when your employees are taken care of, they take better care of your guests, and your business reaps the benefits.
Attract & Retain Talented Restaurant Staff
One of the best ways to get talented candidates in the door is through recommendations or word of mouth. When you already have some of the most qualified employees, and they’re constantly talking about how amazing it is to work in your restaurant, that word will get around to other talented employees.
That said, if you want your current employees to be advocates for working in your restaurant, you have to treat them well.
Treating Your Employees Like Your Best Customer Looks Like…
With the benefits above in mind, you’re probably hot on treating your staff better. But what does that actually look like?
Go Above & Beyond with Compensation and Benefits
Indeed places the average base salary for restaurant staff at $14.16 while also making about $55 in tips each day they work. In addition, benefits like paid time off and a 401(k) are hard to come by, especially with smaller restaurants.
Honestly, this isn’t much to create a comfortable life with. If you can’t make life comfortable for your employees, they’ll eventually feel underappreciated, overworked, and burned out.
The solution is paying a thriving wage and offering a generous benefits package that includes:
Tuition reimbursement
Childcare reimbursement
Unlimited sick/personal days
Coverage for mental health treatment
Generous maternity and paternity leave
A 401(k) match or other retirement benefits
Wellness benefits like free gym memberships and access to a nutritionist
You might not be able to give your team all of that, but the more that you can provide for your team, the better.
Create a Safe & Healthy Workplace Environment
You’re always making sure your customers’ health and safety is a priority. Share the same concern for your employees. Make sure your work environment is the safest and healthiest place (both psychologically and physically) for them at all times. Without this focus, injuries and burnout are sure to happen.
Let’s analyze this a bit deeper.
Your job affects your mental health, and that, in turn, affects your work performance. For example, when an employee is under constant job-related stress, it can exacerbate mental health conditions like depression. Depression is known to reduce cognitive performance and the ability to complete physical tasks.
Restaurant employees need to be at their best cognitively and have the ability to do physical work to thrive. Help your employees manage their mental health conditions in the high-stress environment of restaurant work, and on-the-job injuries will decrease, and their capabilities will increase.
Make an effort to create a workplace environment that’s mentally and physically safe for employees. This could look like:
Letting disruptive employees go
Implementing regular safety training
Leading with empathy in every interaction with your employees
Listening to employees about what they need to feel appreciated
Holding employees who don’t adhere to health and safety policies accountable
Having meaningful conversations with employees about how to improve the workplace
Working to eradicate sexual harassment, whether at the hands of other employees or your customers
Let Them Live
As mentioned above, restaurant employees don’t get paid nearly as much as they deserve. That lack of pay leads to them taking on long hours and overtime every chance they get just to make ends meet.
But long hours and lots of overtime aren’t conducive to the healthy work-life balance restaurant employees so desperately need. So, aside from paying them better and providing benefits, you need to encourage them to make a life outside work.
Whatever they love to do, give them the time and financial peace of mind to pursue it.
Though many restaurant owners and managers neglect to treat their employees well, don’t be one of them. Your employees mean so much to the success of your business. Treat them that way by implementing the advice above.
