12 Tips to Boost Employee Happiness in Your Restaurant
Your employees may be performing well, but are they happy at work? In the fast-paced environment of a restaurant, employee happiness is vital and can largely benefit your business.
By putting measures in place and taking action to boost employee happiness, you’ll experience a better work environment and more motivated staff.👩🍳
We’ve compiled 12 tips on improving the happiness of your restaurant staff to help you create a productive and positive workplace! 🍴
Why is employee happiness important?
Employee happiness is important in the workplace as happy workers generally feel more motivated and are willing to succeed.
Source: Indeed
A positive work environment where employees feel valued and respected will improve happiness and productivity. This can lead to improved work relationships, increased performance and staff loyalty.
Ensuring employee well-being is vital, and by following our 12 tips, you’ll find yourself in a much happier workplace. 😊
Let’s take a look at our 12 top tips:
1. Provide Training
To boost employee happiness, provide training to ensure everyone feels confident and up to date. No matter how experienced new staff are, providing recurring training is important. This allows employees to voice questions or sharpen their skills in specific areas.
Share your restaurant and company culture with them, how to use the different equipment and everything else they need to know. 🧠 Productive training will create a more positive atmosphere amongst all your employees, which is crucial to employee happiness
79% of U.S. workers say company culture is an important job satisfaction factor, and training will ensure everyone feels equally involved, creating mutual respect. You and your staff may also have off-site training to motivate them and enhance satisfaction.
2. Find Room For Growth
Employees are usually always keen to learn or have more prominent roles in your business. So, prioritize promoting internally to allow employees to grow with the business.
Offer staff the chance to try other job roles within the company to keep them happy and engaged. Healthy and engaged employees, in concert with a strong workplace culture, are the secret sauce for business success.
For example, a server may want to try cooking to boost and improve their skills, and by offering them a chance to enhance their knowledge in the field, they’ll enjoy a new experience. This will increase job satisfaction and improve employee retention.
3. Celebrate Work Anniversaries💸🗓
Restaurants typically have low retention rates, which can have a negative impact on your business and decrease the motivation of existing staff.
You can employ measures to improve that, like giving a bonus or a rate increase to employees that have stayed for a year or longer. This will increase staff motivation as they’ll feel more appreciated.
If you can’t afford a pay increase or bonus, other ways to celebrate their efforts include more time off or a flexible schedule. Not only will this increase staff morale, but they’ll also experience a more positive work-life balance.
4. Reward Good Performance⭐️
One way to motivate employees is by acknowledging them for their excellent performance to ensure they feel appreciated for their hard work.
If your employees are rewarded for their efforts, they’ll be more likely to continue to work to a high standard.
Reward your staff who are “Employee of the Month,” “Perfect Attendance,” etc., to help boost their morale and motivate them to work better. You don’t need to provide costly incentives because what’s important is that you make them feel that you’re sincere and thankful for them.
5. Give Benefits😇
Show your staff you value them to increase employee morale, motivation and happiness. A way to do this is providing them with benefits. You’ll find that your team will appreciate the benefits you offer, and as a result, loyalty will increase, and their motivation will thrive.
Provide health care, paid time off, and more! When you do that, they will know that you care about them and will be more likely to stick around.
6. Make Sure They Have Great Working Conditions👨🏽🍳
You should ensure that your restaurant is not only great for your guests but also your staff.
To avoid unhappier counterparts, ensure proper kitchen ventilation to reduce health hazards and keep the environment as efficient as possible. This will also allow your employees to work better and more comfortably, increasing work performance and employee happiness.
To ensure your staff are comfortable, provide a place for them to rest when they get tired. 😴
Another way to put your staff’s comfort first is by considering providing them with food so they don’t work on an empty stomach, as this can decrease their work performance.
7. Offer Compliments and Constructive Criticism👏🏽
When an employee does well, or you notice top talent, compliment them and appreciate their hard work. By remaining constructive and motivating, you’ll create a positive work environment, and your staff’s confidence will increase as they receive praise.
If an employee makes a mistake or something goes wrong, try to remain as constructive as possible with your criticism. If you notice an issue, offer advice on preventing it from happening again.
Remain as calm as possible to maintain a positive working environment and atmosphere.
8. Create a Policy for Shifts And Overtime📆
Ensure your staff gets the rest they need to keep their morale and energy levels high. This way, they won’t get sick or have regular days off, and it will help them work to a better standard.
By allowing them to take time away from work, they’ll return feeling rejuvenated and able to work to the best of their ability.
Create and implement a policy about fixed shifts and overtime to ensure all staff have equal opportunities to take the rest they need. Provide compensation to employees who work overtime to avoid resentment or low morale.
9. Supply The Tools and Equipment They Need🍽
We know buying modern tools and equipment can be costly, but it’s a necessary investment in a fast-paced work environment like a restaurant.
Here are sample tools that you must have:
- POS System
- Kitchen equipment
- Cleaning equipment 🧹
- Scheduling software
- Team communication software
- Employee engagement software (optional)
Without vital equipment, the quality of work and service can degrade, harming your restaurant’s reputation and employee motivation.
Having the right tools and equipment can also motivate your staff to work harder, as they’ll be able to achieve top-class results, improving the satisfaction of employees and guests. 👍
10. Pre-taste New Menu Items🥙
It’s essential to ask other people’s opinions about your food offerings. And who is better to ask than your staff? They are the ones who will serve that food to your guests, so tasting them would help your staff make better descriptions and recommendations, increasing their confidence.
If you have new offerings on your menu, let your employees try them out. Their suggestions may also help you improve the dish to perfection. It’s a win-win!
11. Have Team-Building Activities 👩🏾🤝👨🏽👩🏾🤝👨🏽
Your employees will work better together if they are comfortable with their workmates. If positive relationships are formed, your employees will be happier and more motivated. To help with that, you can organize team-building activities to break the ice and help your employees work together.Make sure that the activities will help build trust and allow them to enjoy their workmates’ company. These activities will also help you pick up on different people’s skills. For example, one staff member may be a confident leader, and you can incorporate this into their work. 12. Ask for Employee Feedback ✅
You won’t guarantee that what you’re doing is effective unless you ask for the opinion of your staff. Conduct a survey of what your employees like and ask for suggestions for improvement to avoid unhappy employees.
You can also talk to them one by one about it. In this way, you can improve employee engagement, retention rates and overall employee satisfaction.
Final Thoughts
Employees are the backbone of your restaurant, so you have to treat them with care and respect. Make sure you prioritize employee happiness, and you’ll notice a more productive, efficient and motivated workforce.
Follow these tips and boost the happiness of your restaurant employees.
Are your employees happy? Share your thoughts with us!
- 12 Tips to Boost Employee Happiness in Your Restaurant
- Why Is Employee Happiness Important?
- 1. Provide Training
- 2. Find Room For Growth
- 3. Celebrate Work Anniversaries
- 4. Reward Good Performance
- 5. Give Benefits
- 6. Make Sure They Have Great Working Conditions
- 7. Offer Compliments And Constructive Criticism
- 8. Create A Policy For Shifts And Overtime
- 9. Supply The Tools And Equipment They Need
- 10. Pre-Taste New Menu Items
- 11. Have Team-Building Activities
- 12. Ask For Employee Feedback
- Final Thoughts
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