How to Reboot Your Restaurant's Training Program

There's grumbling in the hospitality industry about labor challenges and how difficult it is to manage "young" employees in restaurants today. There is a disconnect, a kind of lost-in-translation moment between how restauranteurs think about their businesses and how their employees think about employment. This post should help make sense of what's going on, whether you're in the "ok boomers" or "these damn Millennials!" camp. Ultimately, if restaurants are going to thrive in this new operating environment, we need to cultivate our employees and not alienate them.

The Background

During the tens and teens of the 2000s, our society experienced tremendous evolution driven by the birth of digital natives in the Millennial and Gen Z generations. Having been myself born in 1983, grooving along now in my 36th year as a person, I understand both sides of this friction. I remember the birth of the Internet, the unmistakable sound of AOL connecting through the phone, Nokias with Snake, and the satisfaction of the dramatic *whap* of a flip phone slamming closed. At the same time, I cannot imagine my life unmediated by technology. 

As the Millennial generation blossomed, the integration of technology into our daily lives became more engrained to the point where most people born after 1990 can't recall a world without the Internet. Now, if you're a Gen X or Boomer, take a moment with me to recognize your expectations of immediate access to actionable information. In other words, think about how much you use Google, Alexa, Siri, translation tools, etc., to instantly answer a question that comes to mind. 

The Problem

Restaurant employees expect to have a clear idea of how to do their job (i.e., a training program), what's on the menu, and information about the company they now work for. They also expect to be able to quickly get answers to questions that come up, just as they would in their everyday lives. When employees are not engaged, they underperform, misrepresent the restaurant brand, create negative service experiences, and eventually leave for something more engaging. Restaurant owners and managers have to create a new model for how we run restaurants.

Step 1: Shift your mindset

Times have changed, and we need to adjust the way we think about employee training in restaurants. Training isn't an activity to be checked off a list; rather, it is a tool for restaurants to improve retention, employee experiences, and, the guest experience.

Deloitte recently summarized the value of employee engagement and how we should approach training and communications in restaurants:

"... a staff of friendly, hospitable employees is the most important element needed for a positive experience at a restaurant.

Yet in their quest to improve the customer experience, many restaurant companies have underinvested in employee development and engagement programs. This imbalance can make it harder for restaurants to create the experience that customers want and generate the business results they need."

Step 2: Use a digital solution

Training has always been something that our industry has struggled with. I have experienced this first hand from the time I wrote my first staff training program in 2002 through today as I onboard new clients onto MISEbox. Managing a training program takes a lot of time that managers don't have, and digital solutions can help relieve that pressure.

Your restaurant likely uses technology solutions for lots of things, from reservations and scheduling to inventory management and analytics. There are a few options out there for training, and to be honest, most of them aren't good for restaurants. I know because I've used them in my consulting practice. That's why we built MISEbox.

The most significant difference is that we designed a system for restaurant operations. Other platforms are designed for generic corporate training and then marketed to restaurants, or they're intended for chains. Take a look at the features of the various options you have at your disposal and find the right fit for your goals and operating environment. Restaurants that would most likely be a good fit for MISEbox have frequently changing menus, employees that are eager to learn about food and beverage, or that are part of a restaurant group.

Step 3: Start Somewhere!

Whether you use a platform like MISEbox or not, when you're building a new training program or improving an existing one, the hardest part is knowing where to start. To reduce how overwhelming it can be to create or revise a restaurant training program, my recommendation is to start with the menu information you provide. When servers and bartenders have accurate and updated menu information, it makes it easy to be confident when answering guests' questions. As well, they can't suggestively sell dishes or drinks if they don't know what's on the menu! Happy guests and active selling are two of the easiest and most effective ways to increase sales.

Photo by: @shotoflouis (Louis Hansel)