The Perils of Understaffing Your Restaurant

The Perils of Understaffing Your Restaurant

Understaffing your restaurant carries with it huge risks whether it came about intentionally or not. From the front of the house to the back, every employee has a specific job to do in order to keep your small business running smoothly. So, when key players aren’t in place, everyone suffers—even your customers.

First, let’s touch on an obvious risk: Lack of floor coverage. When you’re understaffed and lacking enough qualified servers to take on sections of the restaurant, it just means the staff you do have in place is going to have to work that much harder. It’s great if you’ve got a rockstar roster of employees willing to take on the challenge this presents, but that doesn’t necessarily mean your guests will be happy. Your servers can’t be everywhere at once, and prompt service and individual attention tend to fall by the wayside when servers are tasked with doing double duty. Understaffing your restaurant eventually leads to dissatisfied customers who are less likely to return to your establishment. And with the prominence of online reviews today, all it takes is one disgruntled customer to post something negative and create a downward spiral for your establishment. In fact, according to a recent report by TouchBistro, 68% of people choose a restaurant based entirely on positive online reviews.

We talked about how understaffing your restaurant affects your guests. But what about your employees? Burnout is frequent in the restaurant industry even without the added stress of understaffing; when you add that to the mix, it’s a recipe for disaster. A lack of employee coverage can almost guarantee your servers, cooks, dishwashers, and hostesses will all feel the pain. Even the most seasoned worker isn’t immune to the fatigue of being overworked.

Which leads us to our next point: Employee satisfaction and retention (or lack thereof). Your staff expects to work hard, but they also expect a certain amount of flexibility from you as a manager. It’s a two-way street. The restaurant industry is flexible by nature, and it’s for that reason that many highly skilled employees choose to work in it in the first place. When you’re understaffed and asking various members of the team to pick up the slack, that flexibility they initially sought vanishes. Suddenly they can’t take off to go to the doctor or spend time with their families, which could potentially lead to your best staff seeking out employment elsewhere.

Understaffing your restaurant can be a downward spiral that quickly builds speed and puts your restaurant in peril. But if you address it before it becomes an avalanche of workplace worry, you can avoid the trap altogether. Make sure you have a solid team of well-qualified employees working in every part of your establishment, and work quickly to hire replacements when the need arises. Pay attention, too: Always have an eye on staff morale, and be cognizant of burnout. It’s easy to get distracted by the stressors that come with owning a small business, but your employees are the heart of your establishment; keep them happy and they’ll keep your customers happy (which in turn will keep you happy, too).

Need to ramp up your staff, but not sure if you’ve got the cash on hand to do so? Get in touch with a dedicated loan consultant at ARF Financial and find out which of our many convenient restaurant loan options will work best for you. Our online application is quick and easy, requires minimal documentation, and loan approvals are granted within 24 to 48 hours. Plus. it’s free and your credit won’t be impacted. APPLY NOW!