The beginning of a New Year is always an opportunity to question ourselves as to what went well last year and what improvements or changes are needed.
By now, new budgets have been developed. Maybe even Strategic Planning has taken place. You’ve analyzed the strengths of the restaurant and perhaps most challenging of all, its weaknesses.
So it’s off to the races. But not so fast! What’s your Strategic Plan for your employees? Aren’t your employees your most valuable asset?
I frequently hear from restaurants whose number one problem is retaining and attracting employees. Yet, they never seem to have a solid plan for retaining good employees and attracting recruits.
Let’s start by discussing some ideas about a Strategic Plan for retaining current employees. Here are two strategies that I have found successful: Confidential Employee Surveys and Employee Evaluations. Let’s first discuss a Confidential Employee Survey.
Employees have great ideas. Usually Managers and Owners fall short and just never ask. Or they might cordially ask, “How is it going”. But are they really getting honest, candid answers? The answer is NO. Employees will not “be honest” unless they can remain anonymous with their suggestions and opinions.
Employees need to have a safe environment to deliver feedback through a confidential survey. After the survey is compiled, owners and mangers have to be willing to “look into the mirror” and see what the employees see and be mature enough to make the necessary changes to move forward. Sometimes the news is grand and sometimes it’s like a kick in the teeth. But by taking employee’s input, and by applying small, yet meaningful changes, you instantly receive the employee’s attention and productivity and retention soar.
Now let’s discuss the second idea to retain employees, Employee Evaluations. In my many discussions with management, I always ask them how often they conduct Employee Evaluations. Answers usually vary from “we’re working on that” to “what am I recommending”.
The number one reason an employee works for your business is to feel their efforts are of importance. So why not give them constant feedback and coaching? There is nothing an employee despises more than having an annual evaluation where a manager brings up an incident from 8 months ago. The employee is helpless to correct and feels beat up after it is all over.
Employees MUST be evaluated formally after 30, 60, and 90 days on the job. Then they need to be evaluated every 6 months. One effective method is to have the employee fill out their evaluation scoring their own performance. Then submit it to their supervisor prior to the evaluation. Using that approach, the supervisor can compare their own observations with the employee’s perceived performance, prior to the meeting.
Your employees ARE your most valuable assets. And how you treat your employees will be reflected in how they treat your customers.
Resolve in 2012 to make Confidential Employee Surveys and Employee Evaluations a part of your overall Strategic Employee Plan and watch your business grow.
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