Restaurants have always dealt with employee turnover and retention issues. But in recent years, these labor challenges have intensified. For many owners and operators, these challenges may even stand in the way of operational efficiency.
Jordan Boesch understands these challenges all too well. The founder and CEO of 7shifts watched as his father grappled with turnover and retention issues daily in the family’s Quiznos franchise. In fact, Boesch launched his groundbreaking tech company from the back room of the sandwich shop in 2014.
7shifts is an all-in-one restaurant team management platform that streamlines restaurant communications, scheduling, payroll management, and more. Boesch learned during his time at the sandwich shop that the best way to fix the industry’s labor challenges is to improve the employee experience.
It turns out that better communication may just be the secret ingredient.
We wanted to know exactly how better communication can translate into improved operations so we caught up with Boesch for a quick chat. Boesch noted that a lot of the operational challenges that restaurants face today start with labor issues.
With 57% of restaurants identifying “hiring and retention…[as] their biggest challenge,” says Boesch, “they are looking into how they can attract great candidates and improve retention.”
Many are finding that more effective, centralized restaurant communications are actually a big part of the equation. But how exactly?
Boesch explains that it begins with restaurant operators who open up the lines of communication to employees, as well as among employees. Boesch notes that “the best operators are regularly taking the pulse of their own organizations — seeing what things are working and what aren’t.”
As we’ll discuss below, owners and operators who take an active role in both creating and using open lines of communication can help improve relationships among employees, improve the employee experience, and create an altogether more efficient operation.
Kitchens and dining rooms that communicate well work better together. This means more efficient front-of-house and back-of-house operations. But it also translates into better relationships among employees.
“If you peel back the onion,” Boesch says, “one of the biggest driving forces for why people stay at a workplace is their coworkers.”
This is why platforms like the 7shifts Employee Engagement Software include internal messaging features. Team members can communicate instantly with one another over a shared app to:
7shifts reports that 90% of clients using these features saw improved internal communication, and that for 13% of these restaurants, this translated directly into improved retention.
Another reason people stay with restaurants is because they see an opportunity to learn and grow. This is why, says Boesch, “Cross-training is especially important.” Cross-training gives your team members a chance to experience a variety of roles. And 7shifts includes a feature for sharing training videos on-platform that can streamline this process.
But effective cross-training also requires buy-in from all team members. Cross-training depends on the willingness of seasoned team members to share their knowledge and experience with newer team members.
This is why it’s so important to create an environment where staff communications flow freely among team members in every part of your operation. Internal restaurant communications tools make it easier for team members to approach each other, ask questions, and build mentoring relationships.
Not only can cross-training improve retention and morale, but it can also help each team member become more versatile. This adds to the value that every team member brings to your operation. The end result is a more dynamic staff, where team members can step into a variety of roles as needed.
Boesch tells us that “flexibility is the number-one thing that employees value.”
Restaurant managers who face hiring challenges are finding that today’s job candidates expect a better work-life balance. Creating an inflexible work schedule is one of the easiest ways to lose good employees, says Boesch.
Of course, shift scheduling is logistically challenging. While most employers would like to provide workplace flexibility, it’s not always clear exactly how to do this while still meeting staffing demands. In short, there are a lot of moving parts.
This is where technology-mediated restaurant communications become absolutely essential. Platforms like 7shifts integrate functions for scheduling and payroll management with real-time employee communication features where team members can:
These employee communication features provide one central location for the types of exchanges that used to take place entirely at random through one-on-one text messaging and phone calls. This makes it a lot easier to create flexible, employee-friendly scheduling without the logistical headaches.
There are few things that are more disruptive to your operation than bad workplace culture, says Boesch. However, creating an open line of communication between employees and management can go a long way toward creating a positive environment.
Boesch advises restaurant owners to “build a culture of feedback.”
This is why 7shifts includes an employee feedback system. The purpose of this feature is to give employees a chance to share their insights, their concerns, and their successes. Boesch advises that “whether you’re using 7shifts or not, you need to get feedback. Ask how their shift went. It starts there.”
When you give employees a forum to provide honest feedback, you make your team feel heard. But just as importantly, you’re gaining valuable insight into the employee experience. Use that insight to create improvements and raise employee morale. The result will be greater retention and an all-around more enjoyable work environment.
The big lesson from our conversation with Boesch is that the key to improving operations is improving the employee experience. Effective and clear restaurant communications can drive improvements on both fronts. And thanks to new and exciting technologies, we now have the tools to integrate communication with essential operational processes like shift scheduling and payroll management.
So how can you integrate these advanced restaurant communications tools with your current system? Reach out to our team of expert consultants and we’ll walk you through your options.