By Jim Sullivan, CEO, Copyright Sullivision.com
1. Don’t ask new hires what worked, and what didn’t.
They’re
eager to be with you, so tap into that energetic feedback from new hires early
on. After your “official” orientation, a good way to improve turnover is
to overlook ever asking new employees for feedback on your recruiting system,
your orientation, your onboarding training program, your leadership skills or
your company goals. Find out what part of your recruiting process (or dumb
luck) brought good employees to you. Now repeat it in the marketplace.
What elements of your company’s recruiting or reputation were the most
compelling, what mattered least, and what had no impact? You can use this
feedback to redesign your job offers, eliminate the “dealbreakers” and reduce
the numbers of rejections.
2. Ignore
Tomorrow, Hire for Today.
“Next week”
is tomorrow in Modern Time. Clearly define and understand what skills and
knowledge your company needs today and in the future. Will you need fewer
servers per section, more server assistants? Take a hard look at how the
cultural gumbo of restaurant management (mixing generations, opinion, style and
technology) is changing the very nature of our jobs. How will the
preponderance of pre-prepped products affect the design, feel, and number of
bodies in the kitchen in the next three years? What about the effects of technology,
robotics, Big Data?
Turnover
thrives on bad training programs and poor communication. Now that Baby Boomers
have earned and aged into the Area Director/Senior VP ranks of our industry,
and Generation X managers are running units staffed with Gen Y/Z team
members–giving new insight to the term “Generation Gap”– shouldn’t we asking
some serious questions about the current relevance of our communication and
training materials? Are they aimed and designed for the right mindset? Are we
talking down a few generations in tone, style and format? Unlike the 1960’s,
the generation gap today means not a lifestyle difference but more of a
technology disconnect between the age groups. Relative to cyber-skills, we have
Digital Aliens training Digital Immigrants and Digital Natives. And while I
agree that we must evolve from hi-fi to wi-fi, I still know one thing for
certain: that no matter what, the restaurant business will always be more about
the anthropology than the technology.
3. Don’t let your employees know where they stand—good or bad.
What’s the
old saying? ”Never let either good work go un-praised (if you see it, say it)
or poor work go unnoticed (make it private and positive).”
4. Don’t change with the times. Wait for the times to change
you.
The meaning
of service is always changing since the customer is always changing. And,
therefore, the meaning of any restaurant job or position is always changing
because that customer (internal) is always-changing too. So make sure that you
stay in sync with but slightly ahead of your customers (both employees and
guests). Invest in the technology that keeps your team’s jobs easier and more
effective and also keeps abreast of customer lifestyles. As Norman Brinker
said: “Major in timing. If you get too far ahead of your customers, you’ll
confuse them. If you get too far behind them, you’ll lose them.”
5. Play by
the Rules. Lots
of them.
A sure way
to turnover more people is to over-burden them with rules and regulations. A
better philosophy? Strong culture, thin rulebook. And it’s helpful to also
recognize the difference between rules and principles. Rules tell your people
what they can do. Principles them what they cannot do. And as far
as rules go, the bottom line is that only one thing matters anyway and Norman
Brinker once again said it best: “Nothing is sacred other than that the guest
returns.”
