Employee Training Trends To Watch For in Restaurants

Training employees in the restaurant industry often leaves newcomers wanting more. The traditional methods of training seen in other sectors do not work as well for either customer facing staff or back of house employees, where often the answer to "How do I do that?" is "Just watch" or "Figure it out". Shadowing, while effective, is not the end all be all of training when it comes to new restaurant employees. Restaurants should watch for new training trends. Why? Below are 5 employee training trends you can implement, all of which add value to your business through increasing employee retention and employee quality. 

1. Mentorship programs. Restaurants often experience high levels of employee turnover. Experts suggest this may have to do with a lack of mentoring. In other industries, new employees bond with an experienced employee that can guide them in their training and show them tricks of the trade. In the restaurant industry, few programs like this exist, despite their proven effectiveness. Mentorship programs increase employee retention, and are an effective employee training mechanism when partnered with other training types.  
2. Adaptive training through eLearning. Training programs largely treat employees as a single homogeneous group, regardless of their experience levels or previous employment. Adaptive, targeted employee training allows employers to target employees with specific training modules that fill in the information they may be missing, without wasting valuable time teaching them things they already know. These training types are especially effective with new hires that possess previous restaurant experience. 
3. Focus on microlearning. While it is important for employees to be familiar with general safety standards, traditional training in focuses on having employees be familiar with all systems even if they are not relevant to that employee's job. However, recent research suggests that employees perform better when allowed to focus on smaller systems that they frequently work with, instead of introducing all training information all at once. When approached this way, employees retain information better. Training can be assigned for different systems over time, resulting in more knowledgeable employees. 
4. Gamification. While video games may catch some flak, games as a training mechanism are proven to be highly effective. Experts predict to see a lot of growth in training programs that utilize games inside training management programs. For example, games such as Diner Dash have the ability to teach employees important multi-tasking skills that are especially relevant to the restaurant industry. 
5. Improving job skills for future advancement. Studies show people work best when they are able to develop valuable work-life skills. Many individuals find motivation in advancing their careers, conquering challenges, and learning new skills. Increased motivation leads to higher quality employees and often translates to sales increases as well. Employee learning and development should be one of the things you offer to your employees. 

With recent technology advancements, these training trends are easy to implement. Modern learning software allows you to combine different elements of each of these trends to advance your workforce through the one thing new employees are increasingly familiar with -- technology. eLearning saves time and money, while increasing employee retention and improving overall knowledge of employees. Combining all of these aspects allow you to stand above the rest of your peers in the restaurant industry. Let us show you how you can make eLearning work for your restaurant!