The bar and restaurant industry is ultimately a people industry. Without staff or customers, a venue would be pointless. The best advice that I can offer is this:
The quality of a venue is not just about the fixtures and fitting, it originates from the quality of your staff and how you invest in them – happy hens lay more eggs.
When you walk into an establishment it’s about the emotions that are attached to that very first visit. If staff are unfriendly and rude, a customer will have negative emotions associated with their experience. Warm, friendly and well-trained staff will give a customer a positive experience and they will be more likely to return.
The people that you employ have a direct impact on the personality of your venue, so you must aim to employ staff who fit the characteristics that you’re seeking.
Attitude is key
Regardless of how much experience an applicant has, their attitude must be a high priority. A happy and welcoming employee can be trained to your standards, but it’s very difficult to change a bad attitude and poor work ethic.
From the view point of the customer, what type of employee will have the most influence on them and encourage them to return. Experienced staff are incredibly important and I’m not saying that a bad attitude can’t be changed but it really is down to your own judgement.
Train hard, fight easy
Set yourself apart from your competitors and ensure that your staff are trained in the exact way that you want to demonstrate how unique you are. This is down to the finer points such as code of conduct, how you pour a pint, how you set a table, how you mix a cocktail etc.
As well as the technical skills required such as POS, ensure that all your staff have upselling and customer service training. Specialised training in these areas will result in happy customers and higher profits. A waiter or barmen, in their most basic form, are sales people and giving them the skills to be confident and upsell premium products means that everyone wins.
Ensure that you have a robust induction programme and make sure that your staff know that their role is to sell an experience, not just serve drinks or food. Outline the basic service standards that you expect and always, always makes sure that staff have read and understood your code of conduct. That way your expectations are completely transparent and no grey areas.
If you’re looking for any help and advice on recruitment and training, then we can help. Key Brand Associates offers tailormade training programmes for all areas of the hospitality industry. For more information, simply get in touch.