Five Ways You Can Reduce Employee Turnover
One of the main problems that restaurant owners and managers face is the high employee turnover rate that comes with industry. According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics the average restaurant employee turnover rate is around 70 percent.
Here are 5 tips to help your restaurant combat the high turnover rate:
1. Offer professional development opportunities
Often, young, high-performing employees leave restaurant jobs due to lack of professional development opportunities, which can lead to a steady rate of employee turnover.
Set your business apart and challenge public perceptions that jobs in the restaurant industry are dead-end. By offering opportunities for development and advancement you give your employees the experience and skills they need to grow in your business. Online Resources such as Skillshare, Lynda, and Typsy offer a learning platform to help your employees grow their skill set.
2. Reward employee loyalty
It’s no secret that when your employees are happy they will stick around. One way to reward employees is to celebrate milestones like birthdays and work anniversaries. Gift cards and added vacation time or personal days are all good expressions of gratitude as well, and can reduce the employee turnover.
3. Schedule team building activities
On average people spend upwards of 90,000 hours of their lifetime at work. The co-workers that employees spend time with everyday can make or break a work environment. Relationships between your employees need to be healthy and should include effective communication methods to help your business run as smoothly as possible.
Scheduling team building activities can help build relationships and reduce employee turnover from bad peer relations. These activities can be as formal or informal as you would like from a happy hour celebration after a long, busy week or a recurring event like a spin class, an escape room, or even a monthly round of paintball.
4. Free shift or gift meals
The restaurant business is based around a fast-paced industry and oftentimes employees don’t get a chance to take a break in their shift to eat. By offering a shift meal as a staff perk, you can make sure your employees get something to eat after a long and hard shift.
If this costs your restaurant too much, consider implementing a gift meal program that allows staff to use a meal at their discretion and allows you to show your employees you care about their wellbeing.
5. Offer a transportation stipend
The average American typically spends more than 100 hours commuting every year and, depending on where your restaurant is located, transportation can be an issue for many of your employees, contributing to a high rate of restaurant employee turnover. If your business is popular, in a downtown area with only street parking or located in a large city, parking can be a huge problem for employees.
By offering a transportation stipend, you can encourage employees to take buses or subway systems if available. Also, living off tipped wages can be difficult and may be hard to manage with ever-changing gas prices. By offering the stipend you can encourage employees to stay at your restaurant for longer periods of time.
Position your restaurant for success
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the job outlook for food and beverage service workers is projected to grow 14% over the next 7 years. By putting the right training, loyalty, and growth opportunities in place in your restaurant can help you manage your labor force and decrease your restaurant employee turnover rate.
Contact NCC today and discover how we can help you find the right solutions for your restaurant management needs.
