A CA senator has proposed strict rules on employee’s schedules. The new bill states that employee schedules must be posted seven days in advance of the shift. Also, the schedule must be made for a minimum of 21 days. Any changes within seven days would require a“modification” pay of $50 per day. The penalty for failing to comply can be as high as $4,000.

Why? Senator Leyva from Chino, CA, is convinced a person would struggle to pay their bills when they don’t know when they are working. The University of California at Berkeley is backing up such legislation reporting that studies show racial and ethnic inequality when the practice of changing schedules is allowed.

Our take: If we keep legislating this industry, there will be fewer restaurants for people to work in. Add this to the minimum wage increases, and the cost of doing business in California gets further prohibitive!

Crush the holiday competition this year by focusing on what’s most important — your guests

With the holidays upon us and restaurants gearing up for that big end-of-year sales push, how can operators grab their share of diners? Lots of chains offer LTOs or double loyalty points to increase foot traffic. Other concepts offer seasonal specials or deals on gift cards. With your competition jockeying for your customers, how can you stand out and grab your fair share?

As with most strategies in the restaurant business, a “back to basics” approach usually reaps the greatest rewards. One of the most essential strategies for success is great customer service. As consultants, we travel across the US and around the world each year, dining in every kind of establishment from fast food to fine dining, sampling every cuisine available. Without a doubt, the biggest driver of a great guest experience is the front-of-house team that consistently delivers warm and engaging hospitality.

As another year draws to a close, we wanted to share some great customer service examples from one of our most admired restaurant chains, the Hillstone Group. Founded in 1976, the company operates 15 separate concepts in a dozen states. Each location offers a menu of around 30 items, all of which are consistently well-executed. While the food is stellar, we regard the Hillstone service model as “the gold standard” in the restaurant industry.

After visiting more than a dozen Hillstone locations across the country, we’ve compiled a list of outstanding customer service techniques that the company employs to turn guests into raving fans:

Take a Team Approach: While each table is assigned a lead server, several waitstaff will touch that table during the guests’ visit. Front-of-house staff are trained to circulate throughout the dining room, looking for empty plates and glasses to whisk away before the guest even notices. Similarly, servers run finished dishes from the kitchen as quickly as possible, even if that food is going to a table delegated to another team member. This coordinated approach places the emphasis on serving the guest and removes the “that’s not my table” mentality from the equation.

The Eyes Have It: We’ve all dined in busy establishments and felt frustrated when it’s hard to catch the eye of your harried server — or any server — when you need more water or another fork when yours hits the floor. Not so at a Hillstone restaurant. Servers and runners are trained to make eye contact with guests as they travel through the dining room. This technique focuses the staff on guests’ needs in an immediate and personal way.

Little Touches, Big Impact: Many restaurants serve their martinis in a chilled glass. But at Hillstone, you’ll get a new chilled glass when you’re half-finished with your drink. This small gesture creates a huge guest impact and enormous goodwill. At Hillstone restaurants that serve water from glass bottles, under-counter reach-ins are strategically placed in the dining room, so the servers always have access to a cold bottle of water for any table. These seemingly small gestures have been carefully crafted to elicit an emotional response from the guest. From a brand standpoint, putting so much effort into something as small as a chilled glass or cold water demonstrates Hillstone’s commitment to making the guest feel welcome and important.

It’s Personal(ity): While the restaurant industry is keenly aware of the nationwide labor shortages, Hillstone maintains strict hiring standards for their servers to obtain the personnel required to execute their customer service program. First and foremost, they hire for personality and attitude before experience. The company knows they can train their recruits on the procedures needed to be successful. Hillstone would rather hire people with less server experience so they can develop them from the ground up and spend less time breaking bad habits.

Train to Meet Expectations: In the Hillstone model, a thorough and detailed front-of-house training program is a given. Servers and runners go through extensive instruction based on specific goals and processes — nothing is ambiguous, and new team members know exactly what the company expects and how to achieve it. While the investment is significant, it’s another way that Hillstone demonstrates its commitment to be the best when it comes to customer service.

How can you adopt a more customer-focused service model? A good place to start is to check your online reviews and any customer feedback you’ve gathered or have been given. Do customers comment on food not coming out hot from the kitchen? Develop a strategy for solving the issue, then train your team on the new procedure. To solve the cold food problem, you can try heating your plates in an oven beneath a stovetop or in a cheese melter. If servers are constantly running back to the kitchen for additional condiments regularly requested by guests, redesign your tablescape to make these items available.

Finally, look for opportunities to genuinely surprise and delight your guests. Maybe that means surprising each table with a sample of a new menu item or creating a Welcome Kit for each new guest that contains the manager’s business card and a bounce-back coupon. Give your team the strategies, tools, and training they need to succeed, and you’ll soon be setting new standards for customer service.

We all know a warm smile and courtesy go a long way in the hospitality industry. There’s no underestimating the power of person-centric service. But in today’s day and age, customer service is so much more than training your staff best practices. In the restaurant space, guest satisfaction is dependent on a multitude of things, from the speed of service to quality and taste of food. 

You can have the friendliest and most skilled staff on hand, but if the systems you have in place aren’t up to date with consumer expectations and preferences, you won’t score high on the customer satisfaction scale. Luckily, technology for the restaurant industry exists to help operators increase efficiency and visibility. Let’s look at how modern restaurant tech can assist you with elevating the customer experience.

Mobile-ordering and delivery: Convenience is at their fingertips, literally, when people are able to order food online. You can build an app like Dominos or Burger King, and if that’s not in your budget, you can sign up for third-party delivery services like UberEats, DoorDash, and GrubHub. Make sure to have an area in your restaurant that indicates where to pick up phone and mobile orders, too.

Kiosks: Self-ordering in-storae via kiosks can significantly speed up the ordering process. According to recent research from Tillster, more than 65% of customers said they would visit a restaurant more often if self-service kiosks were available. The benefits not only include shorter wait times but heightened order accuracy, reduced labor costs, more upselling opportunity and of course, improvement of the guest experience. Moe’s Southwest Grill is planning to open all-digital, kiosk only locations in Pittsburgh and Charlottesville, Virginia. Denver restaurant chain, Birdcall, exclusively uses kiosks for ordering at their locations. If kiosks don’t fit your budget, you can offer tablets for table-side ordering—guests will still enjoy a self-service experience.

Loyalty Programs: Sure, punch cards are still around, offering things like one free drink on your 10th purchase. But in 2019 it’s time to time to turn to technology to elevate your loyalty programs and get more people engaged with a great loyalty program to boost customer retention and guest satisfaction. Companies like Upserve, CandyBar and Fivestars offer automated loyalty programs that either connect to a customer’s credit card or phone number, helping to create a more seamless process in rewarding your loyal guests.

Technology will always have a hard time competing with great human customer-service, but when used strategically in conjunction with a well-trained staff, it can greatly enhance your guests’ experience.

 

Convenience is huge in the foodservice industry. Think about how many restaurants you know that offer online ordering and delivery. 34% of consumers utilize , options more often than a year ago, according to a recent survey conducted by Technomic and the National Restaurant Association. The same study also found that 39% of consumers say they use drive-thru more than they did a year ago. Clearly, to-go dining accounts for a substantial portion of off-premise sales.

But say you’ve got that covered—you’ve partnered with a third-party delivery service, and you even have a drive-thru window. However, you’re still looking for ways to increase off-premise sales. It may make sense for your restaurant to expand into catering. Offering catering to your patrons gives them yet another avenue of convenience, whether they need large meals for office luncheons, holiday parties, birthdays, or other special occasions. David Meiselman, CMO of ezCater stated that catering makes up 18% of sales on average at restaurants that offer it. Did you know that KFC and Chic-fil-A offering catering? The sandwich chain Potbelly has rolled out delivery and catering in all its locations. But how feasible is it to integrate a catering program into your sales strategy? What about the costs and logistics? Here are some things to consider:

• Choose your format: Figure out whether you want to offer full-service catering, carryout, drop-off, or all.
• Simplify your catering menu: You don’t want to allow your guests to order anything en masse from your menu. Limit your catering menu to a few items, including your best sellers and sides, to allow for quicker and more efficient cooking and prep time.
• Calculated pricing: When thinking about how to price your catering items, consider the fees associated with catering and factor them in. These costs may include transportation, packaging, and other expenses as it relates specifically to your catering operation. It’s a good idea to see what your competition is charging, too.
• Get your kitchen ready: Make sure your kitchen has adequate space and equipment to accommodate large orders. This includes counter space, refrigerators, cookware, ovens, burners, and more.
• Don’t forget to market: You won’t get a catering order if you don’t market it! Make it known on your website, emails, printed menus, Yelp, social media profiles, banners, and signage that you offer catering.

It’s a strategic move to transition into catering, but not necessarily an easy one. However, when done correctly, it’s a decision you’ll be glad you made. If you’d like professional advice on how to implement restaurant catering into your operation, please contact Synergy.

Planning for a successful first quarter and new year doesn’t start on January 1st. And if your doors aren’t even open yet and your restaurant is just a concept on paper, then you know that successful planning may take months or even years. Recently, Synergy’s co-founder Dean Small, was invited to speak on the CareerDay Blueprint podcast on how to create a successful restaurant. He shares his insights from his thirty plus year career as a restaurant consultant, including common mistakes new restaurant owners make, the importance of restaurant training and how to get restaurant funding. We’d like to share with you some of the interview. To listen to the entire segment, please go here.

Note: The interview below has been edited for clarity and brevity.

Dean Small: Having system standards and organizational infrastructure allows operators to maximize their productivity and their efficiencies, and reduce their labor costs, which are really big needs in the industry today.

Ashley Twible: Oh, I’m sure, I think you hit probably every major area, where some people just starting out struggle with. So tell me about some common ways that people use to find funding in order to open a restaurant. I think that’s one of the primary questions most people have is, “How do you pay for it?”

Dean: Well, if you’re not a seasoned restaurateur, and have experience it certainly becomes a little more challenging and you have to basically go to the old-school approaches using your own personal resources, maybe SBA. But even with SBA or banking you really need a good concept book and financial model to in order to get you funding.

Other ways is, you know, there’s obviously friends and family, there are banks, there’s trying to find a partner, investor but anybody who’s going to loan you money is going to want to see a rock solid—not even a big business plan—but more of a concept strategy and a financial model. What they want to know is, “What’s in in for me? When am I going to get my money back? When is my return on investment and what’s my upside?” So understanding that that’s what the investor’s looking for, you need to be ready to address those issues, otherwise it’s going to be challenging for them to write those big checks.

Ashley: And I think, would you agree, that probably it takes a bit a of time for a restaurant to start turning a profit?

Dean: Well it depends if it’s properly structured, it can start being profitable in the very early stages like like five to six months, you know, if not sooner. If it’s properly designed. Obviously, you need some run way if you want to get to that level. If you don’t incubate it the right way, it can take it significantly longer and in some cases never because you never get the model right. At the end of the day, the restaurant business any other business–there’s a financial model and you need to be able to put so much money into the bottom line in order to make it a viable concept. And if you can’t accomplish that then there never be an ROI. So that’s how you have to think about it. It’s not just serving great food, it’s really about how do you turn that great food and beverage and hospitality into a winning financial strategy.

Ashley: Well six months with good foundation and good structure and good guidance, I think, is relatively encouraging. I was anticipating a bit longer, actually, for some ROIs. So Dean, can you tell us some things to keep an eye out for when you’re choosing a physical location?

Dean: First off, you need to determine who is your target market. You want to find a location that really addresses who you’re targeting with the understanding that people like to basically choose restaurants that are within a three to five mile radius of where they live or where they work. So, that’s one piece. The other piece is you have to again understand your financial model because you don’t want to have your rent more than seven percent or eight percent of your projected gross sales. So if you think that you’re going to have a concept that’s only going to be doing about a million dollars a year in sales, then you need to have a rent factor of around sixty, seventy thousand dollars so that your financial model works. You shouldn’t be looking at real estate opportunities will not fit within the financial model of the business.

Ashley: Tell us some of the most common mistake you’ve see owners making when opening a new restaurant.

Dean: They don’t get professional help they, they let their egos in the way. They think they know a lot because they’ve eaten at a bunch of restaurants. They don’t really understand the business portion of the business in terms of how to make money. They get real estate that are much bigger than their needs are and then they get upside down on the rent really quickly.

To listen to the complete interview with Dean Small and hear more of his tips for a successful restaurant, please click here.

Chicago-area Sam Vlahos knows the secret to steady growth — it lies in his ability to be nimble and constantly improve

Sam Vlahos is no newbie to the restaurant business — he grew up in the industry while helping his father operate Johnathan’s Steakhouse in Lombard, Illinois. Sam and his sister Patricia have carried the family legacy onward with their two suburban Chicago-area restaurants, Pierce Tavern in Downers Grove and Fuller House in Hinsdale. Both establishments have grown quickly into highly successful upscale pub concepts within their respective neighborhoods.

Both Pierce Tavern and Fuller House share similar brand and operational characteristics. Each concept was named for the gentlemen who established these communities in the 19th century. From a menu perspective, the restaurants showcase elevated American cuisine with items like brisket grilled cheese, buffalo shrimp with blue cheese crumbles, and wood-fired pizza. Their approach to polished pub food and ambiance have made both locations wildly popular destinations for suburban dwellers who used to live or currently work in downtown Chicago.

Creating two new restaurant concepts that successfully compete with large chains is no small feat. What’s the secret? According to Sam, it’s all about community. “Our biggest competitive edge comes from our dedication to the communities we serve,” he explains. “We’re very active in giving back through community charity nights, school donations, and promotions that coincide with community events.” Beyond donations, Sam’s efforts to connect with the community lie at the center of the guest experience that he and his staff crafts on a daily basis. “We work hard to make guests truly feel like they are part of our place; that this is their hangout. This is our true success — to keep our customers coming back, some of them three or more times a week.”

Brand loyalty on this scale is enviable in the cutthroat restaurant business that pits the Goliaths of the industry against the David’s like Sam’s operations. One of Sam’s biggest advantages over the big guys lies in his ability to be nimble. According to Sam, “my chefs, my managers, and I look at food costs and availability of key ingredients every day. If an item isn’t available or is cost-prohibitive to serve, we’ll make menu changes on the fly. We print our menus in house so we can help manage food costs instantly.” But what about guest expectations? “Whenever we have to make a menu change, we’re very transparent with our guests about it,” says Sam. “For instance, over the summer the cost of green beans went through the roof. We serve a very popular fried green bean appetizer, but we were forced to take it off the menu for a bit. When customers asked about it, we explained that the price had gone up and we weren’t able to carry that item for an affordable price. We never want to just say that we’re out of something — to us, it’s important to have an open dialogue with our guests, so they understand why we make certain menu decisions.”

Being able to have these kinds of conversations with his customers begins with Sam and his managers maintaining an open dialogue with team members. “We spend a lot of time and effort making sure our teams at both restaurants understand what’s happening at all times,”

Sam explains. “Part of that effort involves technology. We use an app called 7 Shifts for scheduling and its messaging feature. If we have a menu change, we can communicate it to everyone on the team instantly. We also do pre-shift meetings before each lunch and dinner shift without fail, so everyone knows what’s going on.”

“We treat our training program seriously and have carefully honed it over the last year or two.”

– sam vlahos

Another area to which Sam is dedicated is team member training, an effort that reaps real rewards. Sam’s approach to training aligns with his approach to guest service — make everyone feel like a part of the place. “On their first day, each new team member receives a welcome email, packet of training materials, and a gift bag that includes their uniform. We want everyone to feel a part of the team right away,” says Sam. “We treat our training program seriously and have carefully honed it over the last year or two. For example, our servers have to pass a final test where they wait on me and our managers, and we purposefully throw them a few loops, especially around menu items that contain allergens. We have a lot of families that dine with us, and allergies are a really big deal for our customers.” Besides ensuring a great guest experience, this rigorous training program has helped Sam retain front-of-house staff.

Sam’s dedication to all aspects of his operations boils down to delivering one thing — amazing hospitality. “We are lucky enough to have customers who come in several times a week, but we don’t take that for granted. We want them to have a ‘first-time’ guest experience every time they come in,” declared Sam. “We spend our marketing budget inside our four walls by comping desserts and drinks to exceed guest expectations. Servers are trained to get to know our regulars as well as make recommendations and create a great table presence for new guests.”

Sam’s establishments have been met with outstanding reviews and financial success. To maintain his momentum, he is future-proofing his restaurants by embracing change. “We’re constantly keeping up with customer requests and the larger trends impacting our businesses,” says Sam. “When things like poké and kale started to catch on, we worked them into our menus. Even when we thought we were too small to get into the delivery game, we got on board with DoorDash and some of the other third-party apps. We’ve expanded our to-go packaging options when we found that our delivery customers were ordering whole meals for several people. We’re constantly learning and changing what we do to stay ahead.”

True to his work, Sam is now tackling the world of catering. “We’ve been working on a catering menu that scheduled to go live in the next couple of months, says Sam. “We’re excited about potential sales from catering, but we don’t want to rush it. We have one shot, and we’re determined to get it right.”

Operating out of a ghost kitchen can save thousands in operating costs, but without marketing, your customers may not know you’re there

The spiraling costs of opening a brick-and-mortar restaurant has served as the catalyst for a number of foodservice trends, including food trucks, food halls, and container restaurants. Food entrepreneurs are now looking at ghost kitchens as the next step in this evolution. Ghost kitchens — rentable kitchen space for professional food production — provide a place for restaurants to prepare their menu items for pick-up by third-party delivery services like GrubHub and DoorDash. For cash-strapped restaurant concepts and small operators looking to expand their market reach, ghost kitchens offer the opportunity to set up shop without the expense of a full-blown restaurant to build and staff.

Despite the allure of drastically reduced facility and labor costs, ghost kitchens are not a cure-all for the single-unit operator. “Ghost kitchens are an amazing alternative for well-known restaurant brands since they have already established a high level of name recognition,” said Monica Challingsworth, catering and off-premise sales consultant for Synergy. “They typically incorporate a high level of marketing spend in their operating costs, so they’re less reliant on foot traffic for promotional purposes. For the small operator, ghost kitchens are a really challenging business model when trying to build brand exposure.”

Do the lower costs of the ghost kitchen model make it easier to break into the competitive restaurant landscape? Not according to Challingsworth. “When you’re operating without the visibility of a  physical location, all you have is your own marketing efforts and the third-party delivery services. You can’t completely rely on delivery companies to be your only promotional channel because the bigger brands are paying to have their restaurant featured at the top of the list of customer choices. Yes, you’re spending less on a location, but you must significantly increase your marketing and social media spend to gain any kind of market share,” says Challingsworth.

Ghost kitchens can provide expanded capacity and efficiency for operators with significant catering and third-party order volume.  As a former Catering Director for both Seasons 52 and Lemonade, Ms. Challingsworth says, “ghost kitchens are a great addition to a restaurant chain that does high-volume catering or delivery since it takes the food production and packaging responsibilities out of the hands of the restaurant locations. But you still must have a catering salesforce pounding the pavement to promote your services. Just having a production facility is not enough to ensure success.”

Despite the challenges of operating in a ghost kitchen, specific food concepts can benefit from this operating model. “Concepts who specialize in pre-packed ice cream or individually packaged frozen goods are great candidates for using ghost kitchens that specialize in frozen packaging and delivery, typically a big headache for a restaurant,” according to Ms. Challingsworth.

For single-unit operators considering a ghost kitchen to enter a new market without the brick-and-mortar costs, Ms. Challingsworth offers the following advice. “If you want to bump your restaurant higher on the third-party delivery lists, offer free delivery. Their algorithms favor restaurants who don’t charge delivery fees. You can slightly increase your menu prices to compensate but be careful not to price yourself out of the market. Your biggest consideration is your marketing spend and promotional efforts. Yes, you save money on operating costs, but you can’t cut corners on marketing. There really is no free lunch.”

 

Dental, medical, paid time off, 401K…these are the usual benefits you might see listed on a job ad. However, as more and more companies compete for top talent, extra incentives are increasing. Many employers are now offering their staff additional perks such as tuition reimbursement, flexible work schedules, on-site gyms, and free meals, to name a few.

Corporate perks are not only a way to attract good candidates, but it can define your company culture—its values and what it stands for. Many companies want to create a nurturing work environment that balances work and life while promoting positivity and productivity. One specific element that employers like to incorporate into their company culture is health and wellness.

Don’t just take our word for it—studies have shown a correlation between employee wellness and productivity. Research suggests that employers save on average $3.48 in reduced health care costs and $5.82 in lower absenteeism costs for every dollar spent on employee wellness. A study of nearly 20,000 surveyed participants revealed that “…employees who rarely eat fruits, vegetables and other low-fat foods at work were 93 percent more likely to have a higher loss in productivity. Additionally, those who did not believe their workplace environment would support them in becoming physically and emotionally healthier were more likely to have a drop in productivity levels.”

There are various ways in which companies incorporate healthy eating at their offices. Some employers may simply stock the office kitchen with healthier food options like fruits and vegetables. Others may go as far as implementing a full-fledged cafeteria with chef-manned stations serving an array of healthy dining options. Some new trends we’ve seen include automated specialty food kiosks like Leanbox and Smartbox that offer fresh meals, fruit, and water on-demand. Let’s say your company doesn’t have the space for a kitchen or even a vending machine. “Virtual cafeterias” are another benefit you can offer workers. EAT Club is a service that allows employees to choose their favorite lunch from a curated menu developed by award-winning chefs. After choosing, the meals are delivered to the office all at once.

Whichever route you choose for meal perks, it’s important to remember to include a variety of healthy choices, options for those with allergies and dietary restrictions (I.e., gluten-free and non-dairy), as well as vegan and vegetarian choices. If you’re unsure where to begin, please contact Synergy so we can assess the best and most efficient option for your organization.

Over the last few years, the restaurant industry has experienced a broad range of significant changes that have made it very difficult for so many mature brands to achieve a level of meaningful profitability.

• The restaurant landscape has become very competitive and over-saturated.
• Many mature brands fail to innovate and have become fatigued.
• Once-loyal guests have gravitated to more innovative brands that meet their dining needs and fit their lifestyle.

In addition, rents continue to soar, staffing continues to be a real challenge, and continued pressure from minimum wage increases and numerous delivery options have made it extremely difficult to achieve a reasonable ROI or operating profit. Finally, many mature brands have lost or watered down their company culture, which is impacting their morale and the ability to attract best-in-class talent.

Many of the guests that frequented your restaurant 10 to 20 years ago have new dining needs, and their food and beverage expectations have evolved to demand a more contemporary experience. If your restaurant décor hasn’t been refreshed in over ten years, there is a good possibility the restaurant is looking a bit outdated. This could be having an impact on your guest frequency and top-line revenue.

While updating your décor is important, the bigger issue is your menu and your innovation engine. Are your food and beverage creativity and plate presentations keeping up with the changing dining trends? The reality is if your guests are not taking pictures of your food for their Instagram feeds or talking about your food and beverage on social media, that’s a problem.

If you agree with my basic assumptions, then you need an innovation strategy to pivot so you can refresh your food and beverage while updating some of your key décor needs. When it comes to menu innovation, the Synergy Team can truly help your drive frequency and top line sales with practical solutions that deliver results based on your budget. Give us a call; it will be one of the best decisions you make for the sustainability of your restaurant brand.

Do you feel like you’re constantly on the look-out for new hires at your restaurant? You’re not alone. It’s been reported that the restaurant and accommodations industry had as 74.9 percent turnover rate in 2018. This is nothing new for the hospitality industry, particularly since many restaurants, for example, hire teenagers who usually see the jobs as something short-term. Further, seasonal hiring is very common in the industry as well, lending to such low job retention rates. According to the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration, the average cost of employee turnover is $5,864 per person.

So let’s cut to the chase. We know it’s costly to constantly be replacing workers.

So what are ways you can reduce employee turnover?

Low Pay: This is probably one of the top reasons restaurant workers leave–they simply aren’t making enough. This is particularly the case in states where tipped workers do not have to receive a standard minimum wage per the Fair Labor Standards Act. At this point, we can see how stress can mount for workers whose main pay actually comes from tips. So what can be done here? It’s worth taking a look at what other restaurants in your area are paying their workers to gauge how much you may need to raise your pay. Some businesses even forgo tipping altogether in lieu of higher base pay.

Poor Management: Have you noticed workers reluctant to follow restaurant protocol? Have you witnessed, or even been in, arguments with other staff? This is a clear sign of poor management. Are your physical work conditions sub-par? All of this can certainly lead to employee dissatisfaction. A great way to uncover problem areas is to conduct exit interviews or get into the habit of getting staff together for regular meetings where all feedback is welcome.

Uninspiring Workplace Culture: Do your staff members wake up looking forward to coming into work? You might find this to be a little laughable but a place with good workplace culture (and management) can mean all the difference, and can indeed be a place one feels excited being at. It starts from the top. As mentioned above, poor management needs to be fixed. But above that, examine what exactly is it that you sets your restaurant apart from the rest? Do you offer any employee perks? At Starbucks, employees are actually called “partners” and are entitled to full-tuition coverage to Arizona State University, medical benefits (for those working over 20 hours a week), 30 percent off food and coffee, and more.

Now that doesn’t mean that must to implement all these ideas–we know budgets vary widely. There are other economical ways you can incentivize employees. Recognition is key for any worker in any industry. Throw in the cherry on top to that kudos by awarding great employees fun prizes (movie tickets, amusement park passes, gift cards etc). Here are more great ideas on employee recognition via Toast.

For more information and tips on how to reduce employee turnover, check out these articles from Gallup and QSR Magazine .