Turnover rates in the hospitality industry are notoriously high.

In 2014, the Bureau of Labour Statistics’ Job Openings and Labour Turnover program reported that the restaurant sector had a 66.3% turnover rate.

This high number can be the result of many factors such as people taking extended time off to travel, pursuing other opportunities or not getting enough compensation. However, most people leave a business because owners and managers put profits ahead of their employees.

When members of your team don’t feel like they are being heard, they feel stuck and undervalued.

High turnover rates and constantly training new employees is incredibly expensive!

If you have great members on your team that you want to keep, make sure to keep reading below!

At Baro, we’ve aligned our business to focus on our team members and guests with the belief that financial success will follow. Here are three things you can do to listen to your team, improve the customer experience and keep great employees!

Partner Shifts

Every quarter members of your ownership group and management team should take on a shift within the business to better understand the everyday tasks faced by team members within your company. The owner/manager should shadow someone for the shift to better understand the position and open a line of communication for suggestions and recommendations.

Each Owner/Manager should choose a different position within the restaurant and rotate every quarter. If a manager works as a Bar Back one quarter, they should shadow a Line Cook the following quarter to diversify their understanding.

Partner shifts are perfect for improving the employee experience by understand how you as an Owner/Manager can make your team members’ positions more efficient and enjoyable.

Below is a quick video of a partner shift at Baro:

Employee Advisory Board (EAB)

Employee Advisory Boards are made up of elected members from each department of your business that meet once a month to discuss what’s going well and areas of improvement within the business.

This honest, open line of communication is crucial in hearing the concerns of your team members so that you can proactively address any issues in the early stages before they escalate and result in great team members pursuing other options.

If you’d like to download a step-by-step guide to building an employee advisory board for your business, click here.

Part of keeping great team members is hearing what they have to say and acting on it!

Partner/Owner Promise

Whether your business has sole ownership or is run by a partner group, the Partner/Owner Promise is a guarantee to your team members at all levels that they can contact you to speak about their concerns in the business.

At Baro, we have a poster in our team room explaining what the promise is about with the contact information of every partner. This reassures our team members that we are listening if they ever feel like the conversation between their direct report isn’t being received properly.

The common thread between all 3 of these initiatives is that there needs to be open communication between owners, management and front line team members. Frustrations build when people feel like their voices aren’t being heard. QSRonline listed poor communication as 1 of the 5 reasons restaurants have high turnover rates.

Providing various lines of communication and encouraging team members to express their opinions helps contribute in the longevity of the business and helps restaurants keep team members.

These initiatives are not only applicable at restaurants and other hospitality businesses, but can be implemented in any industry. No matter how dedicated the team member is to your business, there is always room for improvement and you need to keep your ears open!

At Baro, we see our team members as our biggest assets. Visit us to see the difference in service and to talk to one of our managers about our initiatives!