If you ask a restaurant owner what is essential for a perfect dining experience, you can guarantee that service will be at the top of their list. Sure, food is important, and the recipes are what can keep a crowd addicted to the menu. But excellent service will ensure that the same crowd comes back time and time again.
So how do you hire top-quality waiters and waitresses? Demonstrate what good service is by keeping your employees fed and happy.
If your servers are hungry, they're not happy to be there
You are asking your waitstaff to be around food throughout their entire shift. Not only that, but they'll be asked some difficult questions, and they may even get the run-around by difficult customers. Surrounding your employees with food while running on an empty stomach like putting a thirsty boatman in the middle of the ocean. Plain and simple: Your staff may start to resent their shifts.
There are different methods to offering your employees meals from your restaurant. You can offer a discount, a sectioned part of the menu, or you can go straight to the free meals -- it's up to you on how you'd like to reward the hard work of your servers.
Empower your employees with tested knowledge of the menu
There are many benefits to offering meals to your employees, and they don't all revolve around boosting morale. Let's get back to that high-quality service your customers love. What's better than asking your server their opinion on a certain dish, and lo and behold, they give you an honest opinion? How are your servers going to understand the flavors of the menu without trying the dishes out themselves?
If you visit a bike shop, you don't want to talk with someone who has never ridden a bike before. If you visit a salon, you prefer the stylist whose hair is perfect. If you visit a restaurant, you want to talk with someone who can point out the items on the menu that best line up with what your preferences are. Empower your servers by allowing them to test out the menu.
Discounted meals means more visits from an employees friends and family
When you work at a place that you love, you'll spend time recommending it to your friends, family, and coworkers. If a server can enjoy discounted meals in their off-hours, that means they have a familiar place to go where they can bring their network of folks. You've successfully created a safe place for your employees while also welcoming your restaurant up to new business.
For more tips on how to keep your servers, and ultimately your customers, happy, check out our site.
