3 Tips to Improve Restaurant Workplace Culture
The workplace can be a hotbed for gossip and tension, and the restaurant industry knows this all too well. Poor morale in the workplace can lead to stress, productivity decline, even turnover. Luckily there are actions management can take to improve workplace culture, and today we’ll focus on our top 3.
- Show Respect
This seems obvious, but a lot of managers have work to do in this area. Showing respect is more than just being outwardly kind to your staff. It’s about treating them like humans rather than just a number on the payroll. For instance, take look at the work/life balance of your staff and consider how you can manage a schedule for them in which everyone gets one weekend off a month, or two days off a week. Respecting your employees’ time goes a long way in making sure your team is happy. While workers are on shift, give them free drinks and meals during work. Supply the break room with snacks. Be considerate of how you can help maximize the amount of time your staff has on their breaks by simplifying things as much as possible. If they’re having a particularly bad day with a cranky customer, commiserate with them. These are your people, not machines: Treat them as such.
- Actively Fight the Toxic Culture
Kitchens have a terrible reputation for toxicity. Staffers become jaded to it and just expect that this is what they’re going to endure so long as they stick with the restaurant industry, but these types of conditions are demoralizing. You can be the manager who puts his foot down and says no, we are not going to operate this way. It’s hard to make a shift like this if you’re currently facing a toxic environment, but it’s necessary if you want a happy staff. Don’t repeat the cycle of toxicity that restaurants are prone to. Engage your employees to help you make a change, so they know they’re going to be active parts of the solution.
- Acknowledge and Manage
Tension is going to happen. Fights will break out. Employees will argue with each other and customers. You won’t be able to completely cut out the stress that comes with working in the hospitality industry, but you can play a role in decreasing it. Make sure that the brunt of the tension is falling on the more senior members of the team who are more equipped to handle it. Recognize that lower-level employees shouldn’t have to endure the same stressors that management does. Leadership needs to take responsibility if something goes wrong—regardless of whose fault it is.
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