When you own a restaurant franchise, part of your job is to create a welcoming atmosphere—not just for customers, but for employees, too. Employees who feel stressed or frustrated with their work culture aren’t going to provide the best customer service and will be prone to errors and other things that might negatively impact their bottom line.
As the franchise operator, you might be tempted to simply blame the employee for a negative attitude, but a more responsible approach is to ask yourself, “what is the root cause of low morale?” As a family-owned company, Rosati’s knows firsthand the challenge of creating a welcoming work environment for everyone. Like many families, Italian families are large, close, and argue with each other all the time. A restaurant isn’t much different. Everyone must feel welcomed and valued in order to make the whole business—and customer experience—a positive and successful one.
Here are some tips to help foster a positive work culture in the restaurant industry:
- Determine your values as a company. This goes beyond broad, universally desired concepts like “respect,” “integrity,” and “customer service.” Think more deeply about these concepts—what does “respect” look like to you, for example, and what kind of policies do you need to ensure that this concept is offered and applied to everyone?
- Offer a competitive wage. Today’s employees are much better versed in the dynamics of the job market, are more aware of their own worth, and veteran service industry employees have likely been treated poorly or underpaid in jobs before. Plus, they have bills to pay and things are expensive. Keep all of this in mind when structuring your wage and benefits offerings, and know that investing in staff to maintain an exceptional customer experience is a core value of Rosati’s.
- Focus on creating small details that let your employees and customers know they’re valued. Offer to help fund an employee night out, or match the tip jar for one evening. Hire in a way that allows you to be flexible with time off (within reason, of course). Find out ways you can offer small incentives to employees, and also figure out the little things employees can do to incentivize repeat customers. Things like using a customer’s name repeatedly during a sale or dine-in experience, throwing in an extra order of mozzarella sticks for repeat or large-order customers, and having an in-house bar where customers can have a drink and socialize while they wait for an order are all winning ideas in this space.
Interested in building your own great restaurant culture with authentic Old World Italian recipes? Learn more about opening a Rosati’s franchise today!