Every manager, owner or director of a restaurant knows that the secret ingredient of success is its people. Training them properly early on will save you time and money, and may even improve employee retention in the long run. That's why full onboarding is so crucial.
In this article, we'll look at exactly how a restaurant employee onboarding checklist can help you run your business more efficiently, keep customers happy,YStreamline the entire onboarding experience for you and your new hires.
Let's start.
The Importance of Creating a Restaurant Training Checklist
Aside from some of the obvious reasons a checklist can be useful (to standardize and track your new hires' training), let's look at how these checklists can improve employee retention, give a better name to the brand and improve the overall onboarding process.
Helps standardize processes.
An onboarding and training checklist means you canstandardizeYour onboarding process, but what exactly does that mean? This means that you will be able to:
- Save time and money in the onboarding process
- Provide ongoing training to all your employees
- Reduce errors and oversights
- Increase accountability throughout the onboarding process
- Understand and improve your performance
Having a checklist means that the process is reviewed and each new hire receives the same information, submits the same documents, and progresses as expected.
Average New Hire ExpectedComplete 54 different onboarding activities– proof that standardizing the process can really save you a lot of headaches.
Improves tracking and documentation.
Similar to the benefit above, when you have a standard for what the process looks like, you can also keep better track of what each new hire is doing and what documents still need to be completed.
In the restaurant industry, you're not only dealing with customers, but also with food safety and other regulations, which means that organized paperwork is not a nice thing but a must to keep your restaurant up and running.
If you have a checklist, you can see at a glance which documents are still required and which have been submitted. The traceability of the entire process and its documentation also makes life easier for your human resources team, control and general management of the workforce.
Increase employee retention
Employee onboarding experiences are powerful early indicators of their long-term relationship with a company. Companies with effective incorporation can do thisImprove customer retention by 82%and productivity by 70%.
With a current study showing only that12% of employeesagreed that his company did a great job onboarding. A checklist is a must. This allows you to offer all of your new hires the same training and onboarding, ensuring a great experience from start to finish.
Allow onboarding to take the required time
One of the main benefits of a checklist is that you can break down the process and have each new hire fully absorb the information they receive. At the end of the day, with the checklist at your side, there's no need to rush and check all the boxes at once.
Andkatie cass, Sales Marketing Director beiWine Bar St George Inn & Bin 39, in St. Augustine, Florida, told us:
“We operate a unique property with our rooms spread across six buildings and let our team learn one area at a time. This is not to overwhelm you with information for the first few days, as our team has many different roles and it takes about a month to feel fully comfortable in the role."
Improve customer satisfaction
Ultimately, good training and induction means good work and competent employees. In the hospitality industry, customers need to be lastingly impressed for a restaurant to be successful, so a strong foundation for your staff is crucial. The quality of your onboarding process can ultimately determine the quality of the customer experience.
Your service standards and parameters are defined during the onboarding process; these are critical to the service your customers receive. A clear and complete checklist will help you provide excellent service to every customer.
Now let's see what exactly should be presentAnda checklist to be effective and really get all those benefits.
The Ultimate Checklist for Onboarding New Restaurant Employees
A checklist contains a lot of information, from explaining internal processes and required paperwork to specific job requirements and the overall company culture. Let's dive into each of these aspects so you can make your ultimate checklist a reality.
Review the employee's request again
It's important to begin the onboarding process by considering each individual and their prior work experience, as well as their passion and why they wanted to work for you in the first place. Remember to familiarize yourself with your new hire's experience, training, and education so you know where to start.
Let them take care of the incorporation paperwork
As part of the onboarding process, there are some important documents that new hiring managers need. Salary, tax, benefit and other forms must be completed on the first day. A useful thing to add to the employee handbook, which we'll talk about later, is a step-by-step guide or walkthrough on how to fill out and submit these documents so everything is right the first time.
Share the objectives and values of the company.
Once you have completed the incorporation paperwork, you need to file your company. This includes the restaurant's mission statement and future goals, as well as company policies. This ensures that everyone is on the same page and that new employees start interacting with the restaurant and restaurant managers beyond the paycheck.
Review the employee manual and training manual.
The employee handbook is a key document that every restaurant and business should have. In it you explain all the little details of what working in the restaurant entails. Things like employee policies, dress codes, paid time off, sick policies, pay and appointment policies, and more. This is a document that employees should always refer to when they need a refresher, and it should be regularly updated and redistributed to reflect the latest changes and policies.
Describe the job requirements, expectations, and opportunities for growth.
From day one, employees want to know what is expected of them and what opportunities for growth are in the company. Be sure to read up on how boosts and promotions work. This is not only great for showing transparency in your company, but it also helps employees feel valued and that their hard work is rewarded. It is also important here to indicate how their work is evaluated, who their line managers are and who they can turn to if they have any problems or problems at work.
Officially introduce the new team member.
It may seem obvious, but taking the time to formally introduce your new employee to all employees is crucial to making them feel welcome. Like almost any other business, the success of a restaurant depends on how well a team can work together. Therefore, it is also important to create this bond right away to bring the whole team together.
Match the new hire with a mentor
Matching a new employee with a mentor or an experienced employee is one of the most efficient ways to get them up to speed. Plus, it helps people retain and onboard new employees faster. The mentor may be the one who gives the new employee a full tour of the restaurant facility and shows them around during the internship phase.
“I usually match up the team member with a senior team member or myself to give them a tour of the property and then have them shadow them for a few days as experienced team members. According to the person, we will follow her for as long as necessary until she feels comfortable in her role."
-katie cass, Sales Marketing Director beiWine Bar St George Inn & Bin 39.
Complete a "practice turn"
Walk through the steps involved in each shift from start to finish; from clocking in at the start of your sighting to going through all the tasks assigned to you, completing tasks, and clocking out. This can set your people up for success as they complete the first week of shade, giving them plenty of time to establish consistent habits and understand routines.
Spend time on hygiene guidelines
The restaurant industry is not just about employees and customers, there is an added factor of food safety and hygiene as well, so it is important that you follow all applicable hygiene guidelines. Finally, failing to properly onboard and train your new employees at the proper sanitation facilities can lead to health and safety risks or even closure of an operation due to non-compliance with regulatory standards.
Respond to all programming problems
Scheduling is the area your new hire is likely to have the most questions about. Thoroughly explain scheduling processes and what a typical new employee's schedule will look like. Although the employee handbook provides scheduling guidelines and explains general procedures, you should thoroughly review these processes with your new employees. Clarity from the beginning is essential to avoid problems in the future.
Set up quick and easy payments on day 1
See how employee payments are made, including tips, and make sure your new employee is set up to start receiving their salary immediately. Employees who can receive tips and other payments right away have more incentive from the start.
There are many ways that employees can be paid these days, however, some ways may become outdated soon. For example,Cash is slowly fadingand digital banking is becoming the most popular payment method. Make sure you choose a payment method that is beneficial not only for your employees but also for your company.
Due to the current economic situation, it is even more important that you can offer your employees financial freedom and stability. For example, Inflation kills the 20% tip However, there are ways you can support your servers with better and faster payouts without incurring any costs. To see howZweigIt can help you pay your employees better and make payroll a smooth process for your restaurant managers.
After the first shift, ask for feedback
After your new hire is fully on board, ask for feedback. Please rate how helpful the process was for them and if they still have questions. This can help improve your onboarding process for the next hire, allowing you to continually innovate and improve your operations.
Make your onboarding process easy and watch customer loyalty grow
An onboarding process is made up of many small steps that together make a big difference in the success of your business and your ability to retain employees. HR teams and restaurant managers can greatly benefit from a checklist to make the process easier for them and their new hires. Give your clients the service they deserve from day one and help retain more employees with a comprehensive onboarding checklist.
You want to know more?See how automation is shaping the restaurant industry and what you can do about it.