The restaurant or bar manager’s job is often a lonely one. Transient and seasonal staff are common place, personnel turnover is high and the pressure to deliver is relentless.
We work with bars and restaurants around the world and we’ve found that many of them face the same problem. The day-to-day management of staff, and the sheer volume of admin that comes with it, detracts the managers from what they do best: managing the bar or restaurant and growing the business.
We like putting round pegs into round holes. It makes the most sense and leads to the highest levels of efficiency and productivity.
Here are five simple ways for you to get more out of your staff…
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Keep them motivated
A great way to manage the ever-changing nature of your workforce is to keep their motivation high and energy levels up. Weekly incentives are a great way to foster healthy competition. This could be anything from acknowledging who sells the most specials, to who upsells the most drinks. Reward them weekly with a free dinner or a gift voucher to keep them driving forwards.
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Capture the energy
Restaurants and bars in particular benefit from staff with high levels of energy and a vibrancy about them. Smiling, happy staff are much greater value and lead to improved customer experience. Managers should lead by example but also think of the environment you provide for your staff. Why not try having a bowl of fresh fruit in your break room? Healthy employees make better employees and with many working long hours some slow-release energy will be beneficial to everyone.
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Praise them
Praising your staff is vital in keeping them motivated. This becomes even more important when you have a high turnaround of staff. Nothing kills motivation more than berating a new starter during their first week. Praise a job well done to keep motivation levels high.
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Empower your staff
Trust your staff and give them power. Why spend hours of your time each week creating rotas and schedules for your staff when it can be down in the click of a button and then managed by the staff themselves through an app or a web-based portal? Giving power to your staff will revolutionise your business.
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Forward-thinking solutions
The workplace is changing. More and more businesses are adopting the latest technology to improve everything from the way they communicate with their staff and customers to how they forecast and budget. There are even ways to do all of this from one platform.
Motivation is the first step to getting more from your staff. The next is being able to free up your time so you can manage your team instead of having to manage your admin. We specialise in helping people like you and businesses like yours have more time, be more productive and, ultimately, save money.
We’d love to help you and are delighted to offer you a free trial of our workforce management software. Just enter your details below and we’ll be in touch.
