5 Restaurant Best Practices For Training Staff

Looking to strengthen your restaurant business? Many businesses do not offer training for new hires. That’s mistake number one.Even those with experience probably don’t know the ins and outs of your restaurant without adequate guidance.

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And yet, new employees are tossed into the mix every single day without direction. Is it any wonder why they fail to measure up to the standards of the manager?
Offering training will set you apart from the competition. Offering excellent training? That will set your team up for excellence. When your team performs well, your business as a whole will flourish.
So, what should you be aware of when training your staff? Read on.

1. Identify What Your New Team Members Need To Know

Before you begin sharing with your new team members what they need to do to succeed in their role, it’s important to define each role, the tasks that need to be completed, procedures your employees will need to become familiar with, company culture, and so on.
This is the planning phase, and it’s essential to creating a successful training program. Your new team members will appreciate the fact that you took the time to identify what they need to know. Training can drag on and on and become aimless when you don’t take the time to plan what your employees should gain from it. Once you’ve determined this, you can proceed to train.

2. Get Your New Hires To Observe Or Assist With Experienced Team Members

First, your new hires should simply be introduced to their responsibilities. Once they’ve gained a firm understanding of what their job is, they should have the opportunity to observe someone else perform the tasks they will soon be doing. Next, they should begin taking on tasks connected to their role, with help and feedback from a more experienced team member. Finally, they can graduate from hand-holding and begin taking on tasks without assistance.

3. Encourage Open Communication

Open communication is a vital part of the learning process. Adopt the philosophy, “No question is a bad question.” Making mistakes early is rarely as costly or problematic as making them later. Encourage questions.
New servers should be able to talk to other servers. Additions to the kitchen staff should be able to talk to other kitchen staff. And, if they need the help of a manager, they should also be empowered to seek the help they need.

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4. Monitor Your New Hires

Check in with your trainees to see if they are performing every task as expected. Though constant monitoring can make people nervous, it also makes it easier for them to become self-aware and identify mistakes or steps they failed to take as they are making said blunders.
Many times, the issues will self-correct themselves under supervision. If not, you can always remind a new hire how things are to be done, and help them get on the same page.

5. Ask For Feedback

Getting feedback from your trainees is a critical step many trainers forget to do. Now that your new hires have gone through your entire training program, how equipped do they feel to handle their new role and responsibilities? Do they understand the culture of your business? Do they have someone they can talk to if they have any questions?
Asking for feedback will help you make improvements to your training program. This will make it easier for you to train future hires and get them up and running fast. As result, your training costs will also go down.

Conclusion

Training takes time, energy, and resources. But the investment is worth it if your training program is well-structured. It can also help with retaining employees, since they will feel more competent and even confident in their roles.
You can end up doing more harm than good when you don’t have a proper training program for new hires. If you have yet to develop one, now is as good a time as any.
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