by Greg Staley, CEO of SynergySuite
Things continue to be tough in the restaurant industry. While we’ve made it through a global pandemic – and that should be celebrated! – we’re still facing simultaneous challenges, including record-high inflation, supply chain disruptions, product shortages, an ongoing labor shortage, and increased consumer demand. It may be tempting to hide under the covers until all these problems resolve, but your team is counting on your strong leadership.
Amongst these challenges, restaurant operators must optimize operations, boost employee confidence, and drive customer loyalty. Sounds like a piece of cake, right?
These eight tips will help you lead more effectively:
1. Use integrated restaurant technology. Leaders can’t make decisions in a vacuum, so consider data before making any decisions. For instance, information about your restaurant’s sales patterns will drive key decisions about staffing, ordering, meal prep, etc.
Outdated, disjointed technology – or antiquated manual systems – won’t provide a comprehensive, real-time view of your restaurant. Instead, rely on an integrated tech stack that centralizes your data and provides critical insights to make smarter, data-based decisions.
Integrated technology can also help improve safety. Using tech tools to conduct inspections and audits can elevate the process and help you identify (and fix) areas of concern.
Additionally, tech tools can save your restaurant money – essential in these difficult times. Predictive ordering technology, for example, can help you order the right quantities to minimize waste (and associated costs).
2. Review and refine processes. Good leaders are always trying to improve their processes. Objectively examine all areas of your operation to determine where things could be better, safer, or more efficient.
Are you implementing tech tools to help employees work more efficiently? Could your take-out and delivery offerings be streamlined? Could you make employee training more memorable? Identify (and fix) any safety risks, inefficiencies, and money wasters.
3. Optimize staffing. Labor is one of restaurants’ biggest line items. It’s a conundrum: if you’re overstaffed, you’re wasting money, but if you’re under staffed, your service may be slow, which can frustrate employees and guests. How can you ensure proper staffing for every shift?
Scheduling software can help determine the busiest (and slowest) shifts so you can staff accordingly – and keep labor costs under control. Perfecting your scheduling system also allows employees to get their preferred shifts and avoid the stress that comes during under staffed periods. Keeping employees happier can improve staff retention and loyalty.
4. Boost transparency. Employees want to feel like they’re an important part of the team. Transparency and honest communication can help with that effort.
When times are tough – as they’ve been for the past few years – many leaders instinctively try to shield their employees from difficult news. While these leaders have good intentions – trying to protect their staff – employees can feel worried if they’re not informed.
Alternatively, being transparent allows employees to feel more connected and engaged. Since communication is an integral part of leadership, hold regular team meetings. Your employees will respect your honesty and feel more engaged and connected to the company – and to you as their leader.
5. Plan ahead. While it’s impossible to plan for every eventuality (who could have predicted a global health pandemic??), use tech tools to plan ahead. Restaurant software helps ensure that you’re ordering the proper amount of ingredients, so you don’t run out of a crowd favorite midway through service. Look at historical sales patterns to determine best (and worst) sellers and plan your offerings accordingly.
Restaurant technology can help you plan labor, inventory, purchasing, menus, and more. Invest in tools that help you see data to make more informed decisions for the future.
6. Motivate your employees. US restaurants have 1 million fewer employees than they had pre-pandemic – a staggering
While labor shortages remain high, your current employees are shouldering a heavier burden than usual, which can lead to burnout. Employees are stressed, working extra shifts, taking on more responsibilities – and there’s no end in sight.
Treat your employees with kindness to boost retention and loyalty. Praise employees for their work, spotlight top performers in staff meetings, send notes of appreciation. Give bonuses. Incentivize your team for hitting specific goals. The seemingly small things can make a tremendous difference.
When you treat employees well, it becomes a key differentiator for your restaurant. As food businesses compete to attract talent, positive word-of-mouth reviews can help enormously.
7. Be nimble. Three years ago, we never imagined facing the challenges of a global pandemic, but our industry was resilient. We pivoted, offering more delivery and takeout options when dining in restaurants wasn’t feasible.
Now, we need to carry those lessons with us as we face our current challenges – and whatever comes next. When faced with product shortages, find suitable replacements. During times of supply chain disruptions, find new suppliers that can provide what you need. When staffing shortages make it impossible to stay open 7 days per week, adapt, offering reduced hours until you can hire more staff. The best, most effective leaders can manage whatever challenge comes next.
8. Improve your training and development programs. During the Great Resignation, many restaurant workers cited lack of career growth or training as a top reason for leaving the industry. Training shouldn’t be a one and done endeavor – it should be an ongoing process.
Employees don’t want to feel like they’re stalled in their current job, or that there’s not room for them to grow and advance in their career.
While today’s leaders have a million other hot items on their To Do lists, prioritize training and development. Provide information in multiple ways, including “bite sized” microlearning modules. Gamify refresher courses. Leverage employees’ cell phones to provide information right at their fingertips.
Allow employees to cross-train, learning about different roles within your restaurant. Provide mentors to inspire and motivate more novice employees.
And, whenever possible, promote from within. Provide top performers with opportunities to grow within your brand. Give them good reasons to stay.
Strong, effective leadership is essential at any time, but it’s especially critical during difficult times, like we’re currently facing. As our industry continues to struggle with major, simultaneous challenges, effective leaders set themselves apart. They leverage the best tools at their disposal, foster transparency, work hard to retain talent, plan ahead, and stay nimble to boost positive outcomes.
Greg Staley is the CEO of SynergySuite, a back-of-house restaurant management platform. Greg focuses on facilitating better visibility and increased profitability for restaurant chains through the use of intelligent, integrated back-of-house technology. For more information or to discuss SynergySuite’s solutions, please contact Greg at greg@synergysuite.com.
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