Employee Training

Front of House Employee Training

Most table service restaurants have had to layoff or furlough FOH staff and may be rebuilding largely from scratch, with commensurate training costs. Safe service training for FOH/HOH involves behavior change, and will have to move from a one-time event to an ongoing process. Best practice behaviors will have to be consistently reinforced via training and coaching, often over time.

Start with identifying the behaviors, knowledge/skills, and information required to execute consistently, and most profitably, and establish processes and procedures accordingly.

Consider tapping into new eLearning employee training tools. Well-developed eLearning uses cognitive science and gamification to deliver engagement and ultimately sustained behavior change. Reinforce upselling with your staff, particularly if your menu has been reengineered with high-margin products or includes new suggestions for pairing sides, alcohol, groceries, meal kits.

Identify and train around opportunities to reduce expenses, for example, how to improve order accuracy and reduce refunds. Develop and deliver ongoing training and supportive tools, such as checklists and templates, and reinforcement methods to develop and modify employee behaviors as needed.

SPECIAL SUPPORT FOR TAKEOUT & DELIVERY TEAMS There are many moving parts and potential points of failure related to takeout and delivery. To optimize, operators may benefit by designating a job role for this purpose, and training multiple employees for this role.

As your staff is trained on best practices, set a goal of 100% employee compliance with safety practices. This will help improve and/or protect brand reputation.

You’ll need to manage, monitor, coach and reinforce these practices every day to drive long term behavior changes.