Restaurant employee turnover is among the highest in any industry. One of the best ways to combat staff churn is to have an engaged workforce - Research shows that disengaged workers leave at a rate 12x higher than motivated employees. One of the best ways to keep your staff attentive is to offer regular training, and a sure way to appeal to millennials is to keep those training methods up-to-date. Here are 5 tips for modernizing your restaurant employee learning program:
1. Go Mobile
Put the lessons in their hands. Don’t keep your training stuffed in the back room on an outdated PC or worse in a paper binder. Most everyone from Generation X on down to post-millennials expect to learn where they are and when they want - which is usually on the line or the floor.
2. Manifest Messaging
Restaurant staff are the definition of deskless employees. An eLearning system that has built-in messaging allows for communication between management and staff without the need for individual e-mail addresses, which is a drag on the IT department. Keep it simple and your employees will make use of the channels you’ve set up for them.
3. Microlearning
When your learning system is mobile, it’s best to have lessons that can be viewed in a jiffy while on the go. “Microlearning” modules typically run from 15 seconds to 3 minutes, showing plating procedure, grill technique, knife safety, or other quickly digestible content that your employee can view and then focus on their task.
4. Gather Data
Having access to reports that show your most viewed content can help you improve in a couple of ways. On one hand, it can show you which content is most popular, with your employees taking the time to watch over and over. On the other hand, the content may not be informative, so employees need to read it multiple times to understand it fully. When you gather data by views and worker, you can interview your staff to see what content is useful and what needs to be retooled to be helpful.
5. Performance Support
What if your employees didn’t have to leave the line to ask a question or find an answer? With modern learning technologies, mobile performance support comes to life. Your staff can get information right where they are, right when they need help. This keeps them engaged in their work and gives them the support of self-sufficiency, not feeling like they’re reliant on a manager or other staff member to get the job done.
With a well-run modern training system in place, you’ll see improvements in employee satisfaction and possibly even a lower turnover rate. Keep these five tips in mind when you set up or upgrade your learning program - your employees will thank you! Our latest ebook provides some great tips on employee training: Bring Summer Camp to the Kitchen: Employee Training Tips From the Great Outdoors
