Motivate Your Employees and Increase Morale

Being a restaurant manager is hard enough when your staff is fired up and running on all cylinders. But what about those times when morale is a little down, or business has slacked off? How can a restaurant manager motivate their employees to rally? Here's three quick techniques you can put in to practice that will help you become the restaurant manager everyone wants to work for.

Tips to Motivate Your Employees

Don't be afraid to "get a little dirty".
Get out of the office. Be "hands on". Bus a few tables. Hop on the line every now and then. Check in with the dishwashers and help run a few racks. Just because you're the restaurant manager, that doesn't give you a free pass to hide in the office all day. You'd be surprised how many times I've bussed an empty table rather than tracking down the server or busser responsible for that duty, only to find three or four other employees immediately offer to help or take over. The ripple effect also causes host/hostesses to wipe glass and brass, bartenders to polish glasses, etc.

Don't be afraid to work alongside your employees. They will respect you for it and work harder for you if they see you "in the trenches" with them.

Recognize your employees.
You are the restaurant manager and your employees work for you. How much do you appreciate the job they do? If a guest comments that they had a wonderful time to you on their way out the door, pay attention to who the server was and let them know what the customer had to say. Did the food runner help clean up a server spill? Thank them for doing so.

Your employees do little things every day that are above or outside of their normal job descriptions. Thoughtful acknowledgment of their actions from the restaurant manager will go a long ways towards motivating them to keep pitching in.

Ask questions.
Don't be afraid to ask your employees questions and encourage feedback and input. Just because you are the restaurant manager doesn't automatically crown you "king know-it-all". Depending on how long you've been a restaurant manager, it's probably been a while since you waited tables for eight-hours straight, or spent an entire evening in the dish pit. Keep in touch with your employees and solicit feedback on how their jobs are going. 
Ask them for input on how to improve operations. Yes, you're likely to get a an extensive wish list of expensive items that are not in the budget. But you're also likely to get a few gems that you haven't thought of. Maybe the coffee maker would be better "over there". If you strike upon a good idea with an employee, enlist their resources to implement it. If Suzy suggested a more efficient place for the coffee maker, give her ownership of the operation. You'll be surprised how well employees respond if given "ownership" over their situation.

These are just a few techniques that you, the restaurant manager, can use to motivate employees. Try putting these in practice for a week and see what results your employees respond with.

How do you motivate your employees - we'd love to hear from you below.

9 Business Facts All Restaurant Staff Should Know

Does your staff know how your restaurant business actually works?

They probably weren't taught this at school or in their last job. Without guidance, they'll make up their own reasons to explain your insistence on efficiency or extra sales effort...and they may not get it right.

Regular briefing on business fundamentals can grow them into real "business partners" - there are huge benefits if you take the time.

Start with these:

Profit = Sales minus Expenses. If expenses are higher than sales, we can only stay open as long as someone finds extra cash to make up the difference. If it runs out, the business will close.

There are 2 types of Expense: Fixed and Variable. The ingredients for making a pizza or cocktail are variable costs - mostly raw materials and labor. Rent and insurance are examples of fixed costs. The profit made on the pizza or cocktail first have to pay for the Fixed Costs.

Food and Liquor Stock is just like Cash. Most businesses keep a week's supply of food in stock, and several weeks of liquor. More than this and the boss should be getting worried - it's easy to be overstocked.

Boosting Sales is usually more profitable than Cutting Costs. But most people find it easier to cut rather than grow, so it needs smart leadership to handle them both. When you find someone who loves to sell, look after them!

There are only 100 cents in a Dollar. Take 100 coins and ask staff to divide them up for rent, wages and all the other business expenses. What did they get wrong - any surprises?

Staff is usually the biggest expense in hospitality. That's why the boss watches the roster closely, and why productivity is so important. And why wage rises are a challenge, unless there's a matching rise in productivity.

Extras or 'On-costs' add 30% or more to the total cost of staff. Examples are workers compensation, leave, uniforms, training and staff meals. For every $100 per week you're paid, add at least another $30.

New equipment is paid for by profits. There's nowhere else to get the money, unless we borrow it (then it has to be repaid). The best equipment has a fast 'return on investment' - it pays for itself quickly by saving labor and ingredients, or creating more sales.

The cost of small items can be surprisingly high. Work out the exact cost of a strawberry, an olive, a scroop of ground coffee, a teaspoon or a napkin. How many are lost or wasted each week?