hospitality industry employee turnover

The hospitality industry and employee turnover are almost synonymous, but do not take offense. Servers are your biggest problem. They are high maintenance, though most if not all would declare the contrary. They complain the moment they get a poor tip, when someone asks for a hot tea, and you will especially hear a mouthful about them quitting when they get an uncontrollable child.

Keep this in mind. Most servers go into waiting tables as a side job in order to get into a stable job, with benefits. No one wants to stay a server for the rest of his or her lives. The problem is not with this fact; the problem is that management is the only ones who seem to fail to recognize that servers do not want to work in a restaurant their whole lives.

So, if you are management take a deep breath and relax. Realize their desires and then help them pursue their dream. I know it sounds oxymoronic however, follow my train of thought. You are getting bent out of shape because you have such a high turnover rate in servers therefore, you are taking it out on the servers giving them a hard time for wanting to go out of town, take another job etc, which makes them have a bad attitude towards you because they feel like you are trying to hold them back from pursuing the dream they had when they initially came to work for you.

When you get on their side and encourage them, not to quit but to pursue their dream, you will not only win a better employee who will possess a better attitude but you will no longer have to worry about the high turnover ratio because servers talk to servers. In this unofficial cult of wait staff they talk about managers and how much they cannot stand them. Yet, when you get on their good side you will be equally praised and more servers will want to come work for you.

This plan will take some time however, if you instill these principles in your managers you will not only have loyal servers working for you with better attitudes which will translate into better service, better tips and more frequent customers but when those servers leave into their more permanent jobs, which they will all do eventually anyways, then they will continue to talk about you to their employees, and bosses which will market your restaurant.

I am telling you in the words of Dane Cook, “This thing is a vicious circle,” that can either pad your pockets or bite you in the…face. ☺