Employee Turnover: Creating A Good Environment For Your Staff
Being short staffed is not an uncommon situation in the service industry. Often it can feel like your bar or restaurant is always a man down, and when you finally do fill that slot someone else ups and leaves. With new reports coming out telling us that finding staff is only going to get more difficult amongst them next generation of workers and it’s becoming more and more important that we hang onto and appreciate those whom we already have.
A good working environment is vital for your employees, if they don’t feel happy and comfortable they’ll leave without even allowing you to try and convince them to stay. The exit of one employee can sometimes indicate a deeper problem, and if others start following them out the door you might struggle to keep your head -and business- above water.
How do I ensure that my employees like working in my location? Here are some things for you to think about when trying to create the right work environment for your staff.
Involve Them in Your Decisions
Changing menu items, reorganizing restaurant furniture, or simply buying new drinks trays, if you’re making changes in your location ask for your staff’s input. Not only could this provide you with valuable insights into their view of their workplace, but you could also receive a winning suggestion.
Listen and Fix
Listen intently to your employees concerns. It’s their hard work that keeps your location running and if there’s something that’s hindering their work then it’s your job to fix it. Whether it be equipment or employees that they have complaints about take in their concerns and find a solution to the problem and communicate it back to them.
Be On Their Team
There’s nothing worse than a manager who always sides with the customer and, in the process, puts you down in your job. You don’t have to side with them to the customers face but when discussing the event with your employee explain your actions to them and explain theirs too. Show them how they could improve themselves next time, especially if they were in the wrong.
Staff Competitions
Competitions are an excellent way to introduce some friendly competitiveness between your employees, and these can also help your location! These competitions can come in many forms but will always come with a worthy reward at the end for the winners efforts.
Don’t Make Empty Promises Don’t Disappoint
If you’re going to do any of the above, competitions, promising to fix things, etcetera, then make sure that you follow through. Don’t say you’re going to do things and then not do them. Not keeping your promises, or saying you’ll take on employees advice and then ignoring it, is one of the surest way to disappoint your employees and have them lose trust in you.
Thank Them and Encourage Them
Appreciation is one of the most underused concepts in all work environments, and a little appreciation can go a long way to ensuring that you’re employees are happy working in your establishment. Make sure you recognise when a shift has been trying and thank your staff for their hard work. Also, if they’re taking on a ten table section for the first time, or it’s their first Saturday night behind the bar, tell them you have faith in their ability and that you have them covered if they need it. Give them the confidence to succeed, and when they do be sure you’re there to tell them what a great job they’ve done.
The underlying factors here are you -the manager- and communication, communication, communication. Your crew will always be behind you, so make sure you’re steering the ship in the right direction. Also, if you’re not on the same level as your staff you’re going to miss crucial things that could be making their work experience a bad one. Make sure you’re seeing things from their point of view before you make changes that will affect their work environment. More importantly make sure they know that you’re there to help them with their success.
