How to Motivate Restaurant Employees

The key to running a successful restaurant or bar is sales. While food and beverages play an important role, you can have the best food in the world, but with no one to sell it, you will not have a restaurant for very long. Many restaurant owners and managers understand that their servers are essentially salespeople that sell products. Finding ways to motivate your staff can be a challenge for most restaurant owners but is crucial for the success of the restaurant. You may find yourself asking, “What practical steps can a manager take to motivate employees to increase their effort? Well, here are some of the top ways on how to motivate restaurant employees and increase your sales.

Incentives

Perhaps one of the easiest ways to immediately see an improvement in sales is by providing incentives for your top performing employees. Setting sales goals can be simple and very effective for motivating employees. An example of a daily goal may be whoever sells the most of that nights special gets a bonus. Or weekly/monthly sales goals can work just as well. Money is often a great motivator because the reality is that everyone works to earn money.

Make them feel that they matter

Being a restaurant server can often feel like a very thankless job. From being mistreated by guests to getting yelled at by the chefs, servers often lack the acknowledgment that what they do does matter in the overall operation of the restaurant. Giving praise and compliments to hardworking employees can go a long way towards motivating them to keep up their good work. It can be very discouraging to work hard and have it continually go unnoticed, so keep that in mind the next time that you see your employees doing good work.

Guidelines, instead of strict rules

Of course, there are plenty of times where specific, spelled-out rules are necessary for the restaurant but some strict rules may limit the ability of your staff to reach their full potential. For example, instead of providing your staff with a script for dealing with each and every table, give them talking points. This allows them to take ownership and express themselves in the best way. This not only will motivate them but also allow them to be independent.

Effective Training

Training for new and existing employees must be effective and methodical to drive home the important aspects of working in your restaurant. The level of training that you provide and continue to provide to your employees shows that you are committed to seeing them develop and grow as crucial members of your staff. Effectively conveying the principles of success through your training programs will keep employees motivated towards the goal of being a part of a successful restaurant.

Employee monitoring system

Linking your POS system to an outsourced video analysis company can provide a wealth of benefits for your restaurant. Not only will you be able to specifically track each transaction but also you will be able to perform employee monitoring and their compliance with standard operating procedures. For example, correct input of sales transactions, consistent and timely customer service interactions and the ability to identify areas of high-risk to loss of revenue or unnecessary costs.

Glimpse provides audited reports that are accompanied by digital images to determine high-risk areas that could be costing your restaurant revenue. Video audits provide an excellent opportunity to identify your best employees and can be used as a valuable learning tool for those employees that are less accomplished. Identifying these factors can significantly improve the operation of your restaurant and will have a direct impact on your sales. To learn more about how Glimpse can help your restaurant, visit https://glimpsecorp.com/video-auditing/.