Dealing With the Labor Shortage

If you’ve been out dining this year, you’ve likely noticed a “Help Wanted” or “Now Hiring” sign at the restaurant or cafeteria upon your arrival. Restaurants are facing an unprecedented labor shortage, with both resignations and job openings hitting record numbers. From kitchen staff to front-of-house employees, food service organizations are adapting new service models to stay afloat while understaffed. In an industry that already had high turnover, food service managers need to find creative ways to attract and retain staff and increase operational costs while delivering exceptional customer experiences.

As an example, Applebee’s offered free appetizers to all interviewees who showed up during a hiring spree. Other organizations are offering increased benefits, extra pay, and other perks to draw job seekers back. Following are a few strategies to help you deal with the labor shortage in food service.

Make Work More Desirable

Creating a great environment will help retain and attract talent. Get a pulse on employee satisfaction by running surveys and reaching out to them directly. Ensuring that your staff feel well-trained, well-compensated, and happy to come to work on a daily basis is critical. Based on the feedback you receive, you may want to implement additional training programs, add resources, new equipment or technology that make their jobs easier, or even revamp the way you conduct business.

Implement Referral Programs

Your staff and patrons can become your biggest advocates for driving restaurant visits and recruitment. Referral programs and bonuses are great incentives for team members and will also motivate them to bring new members aboard to share in the culture. If your employees are unwilling or reluctant to refer their current workplace to someone else this might help you identify possible weaknesses in your management team.

Supplement With Technology

Even traditional table service restaurants have turned to alternate methods of getting their food and beverages in front of guests to help continue to generate revenue. You can keep serving food without additional serving staff on the floor by implementing digital ordering, offloading pick-up responsibilities to delivery teams, offering pick-up only, or by using existing staff. You can also improve dining experiences and shorten the time between tables by adding mobile tablets to your serving staff’s hands, a technology that has proven to deliver better customer service, reduce errors, and get orders to the kitchen more quickly. If your restaurant concept allows it, self-serve kiosks are also a great way to continue service in front-of-house while not necessarily needing a staff member. Kiosks can drive average check sizes and allow you to service guests 24/7 without a cashier or service to place orders and process payments.

Adapt or Change Your Hiring Practices

Your traditional approach to hiring may need to be revisited given the current circumstances, so be open-minded. Hosting a hiring fair, updating and modifying your job descriptions, using different platforms to advertise your hiring, and using a staffing agency can all be helpful tools when it comes to hiring.

We’re hopeful that labor shortage will end soon, but now is the time to take action.

If you’d like to talk about how technology can help you supplement your employee shortages – through tablets, kiosks, and digital ordering. Reach out to us today.