Commentary

From sous to supervisor: 5 ways to grow your restaurant from the inside out

Fostering an environment of advancement and opportunity in your restaurant can draw in top talent from other similar businesses in the area and provide numerous competitive advantages.

June 27, 2017

By Paul Goetz, chief revenue officer, Upserve

I've always thought the best restaurant managers are those who have worked in the trenches as a server, cook, dishwasher, busser, etc. It's only by working these jobs that you really get a feel for your employees' perspectives. I recently talked to a restaurant owner about staffing challenges he faces, and he mentioned how starting out as a busboy changed his view of the staff he hires.

Hard work, determination, and a sense of ownership drove this owner to learn from the best pizza joints in the industry before buying one of the struggling businesses he used to deliver for. He's not the only one who started from the bottom — one in five job openings in all segments of the restaurant industry were filled by promotion in 2016, according to the National Restaurant Association's chief economist, Bruce Grindy.

Still, the association also found that employee turnover hovers at 61 percent in this industry, and my own research found these high churn rates across the board. A lack of opportunity is one of the most often-quoted reasons people leave restaurant jobs, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're leaving the industry.

Fostering an environment of advancement and opportunity in your restaurant can draw in top talent from other similar businesses in the area and provide numerous competitive advantages.

Why internal growth works

Promoting from within means you get to keep servers who bring in the guests while also keeping staff morale up as they work harder to be promoted higher. Top talent isn't going to be happy remaining stagnant — eventually, they'll move on to other opportunities if they're not provided at their current position. Seeing co-workers get promoted rather than leave lets everyone know there's a path for those who are willing to work for it.

Plus, internal growth benefits both the employees and the restaurant, as replacing an employee can be a financial burden.

Depending on what resources are available and how much staff is necessary, it can cost anywhere from $500 to $2,500 to recruit, hire, and train a new employee in the fast casual industry. Staff management is already difficult, and having to set aside resources for continual training quickly consumes a lot of time.

On top of the training losses, there's the effect on customer service when too many employees are inexperienced. Nine out of 10 diners choose a restaurant based on familiarity with a server over even the food quality, and your restaurant's reputation depends on being able to build a dependable team.

How to retain your best workers

Having a top performer with nowhere to promote her can quickly deflate even the best restaurant's growth. If you want to keep the staff you have, it's important to hire and train the right employees who want to grow with the restaurant. Implement these employee retention strategies to create a career path beyond increased pay and benefits:

1. Measure tenure
Turnover rate is important, but so is the average tenure of your staff. Understanding how long your employees stay with you — in all positions — can help you understand what's needed to keep people longer. For example, if you retain your average server for 24 months, design milestones for incentives around that (and beyond) to keep employees motivated to stay longer.

2. Conduct exit interviews
Some people are going to leave no matter what you do or how hard you try. When they do leave, leverage their reasons to learn something new about how to keep the rest of your staff. Ask what their reasons for leaving are and what they think you could have done differently to keep them. Communication is key here, and exit interviews aren't difficult if you're regularly meeting with employees.

3. Implement stay interviews
For the most part, everyone knows what an exit interview is, so implement stay interviews, as well, to check in with veteran staff and get a pulse on why they're happy with their jobs and stick around. Stay interviews give you an opportunity to proactively learn how you can sweeten the deal to entice these valuable employees to stay for their careers.

4. Identify stressors and eliminate them
The restaurant industry, especially fast casual, is a high-stress work environment. Employees who leave or are unhappy commonly complain about receiving minimal support with nobody in their corner. Identifying stressors within your restaurant and working to eliminate (or at least manage) them is your responsibility as an owner or a manager. Talk to your staff regularly about their pain points and how you can help.

5. Keep communications open. Be honest
When was the last time you asked your employees to weigh in on things like their schedules, career goals, and training desires? Are you too busy drilling today's specials and upselling quotas into their heads? The more open your lines of communication with your staff are, the more equipped you'll be to provide them with whatever's necessary to stay long term.

Create a roadmap for the success of not only your restaurant but also every employee on the team. Set the standard from the interview and orientation, and establish stepping-stone positions, such as shift leader and trainer, that help employees gain confidence while gradually taking on leadership duties. Providing this type of guidance develops promising candidates into dedicated employees for life.