A Recipe for Long-term Employee Retention in Quick Service Restaurant
Beyond the buzz, the answer to frontline worker retention is to stop focusing on hourly worker retention and start focusing on hourly workers.
Hourly employee retention requires more than buzzwords like culture, empowerment, autonomy, and respect. Aneil Lala and Neal Wadhwa, founders of Legacy Capital Partners, say through data, decision-making, and decency, organizations can make genuine connections with their hourly workers, supporting career advancement and ultimately employee retention.
The monthly employee turnover rate at quick service restaurants (QSRs) is 144%, according to Business Insider. Some estimates are even higher. So what’s going to keep employees from jumping ship? Monitoring and managing compensation will always be necessary but insufficient to keep employees engaged.
Unfortunately, employers of hourly workers may not be focused on the real drivers of retention. A recent McKinsey & Co. and Cara Plus study unearthed a gap between what front-line employees want and what employers perceive they want. The report notes hourly workers are ambitious to move up the ladder, but two-thirds of the workers surveyed said they did not know how to do it. Furthermore, “73% cited a manager who supports their career progression as key to career advancement.”
Hourly Employee Retention
Employers of front-line workers have an enormous opportunity to better support workers’ ambition for advancement on the path to better retention. Words like culture, empowerment, autonomy, and respect are often brought into these discussions, but culture building is not a stand-alone activity. Instead of building a great culture in isolation, focus on building a great business and the culture will follow.
With the labor shortages coming out of the pandemic, building a great business in the QSR space will require a different approach. More specifically, an active form of leadership where owners, operators, and general managers are spending time with employees, not just with a presence but with a purpose.
Organizations should start by evaluating their operations against three key principles – Data, Decision-making, and Decency.
See More: Employee Retention and Engagement: Call for Continuous Learning
Data
Many restaurants have abundant data but outdated legacy systems that don’t allow managers to pull and synthesize their data for decision-making. Managers are left with little visibility and transparency around business metrics, employee performance, and customer service scores. Employees are being asked to meet standards for which they have no context, setting a tone of disenfranchisement from the moment employees walk through the door.
Advances in modern technology now make it possible to leverage data across multiple sources, enabling restaurants to develop weekly scorecards with KPIs for finance, operations, and customer service. Even more important, scorecards can be shared directly with managers and employees in real-time, providing meaningful insights both at the individual restaurant level and across a portfolio of stores.
Decision making
Armed with the right information, the concept of “empowerment” can be implemented through better decision-making. Good information helps leaders connect with employees at all levels—from entry to management—so every employee understands the “why” behind decisions and what is happening in the bigger picture.
Working off the same set of information, managers and employees feel empowered to act decisively, provide feedback and bring solutions. Leaders learn to trust and value employees’ contributions from the front lines. With regular reporting in place, the entire organization can see the measurable impact of their work and contributions. A store general manager, who typically takes direction from above, now has the tools to serve as the “acting CEO” of their business. A reinforced loop of empowered decision-making will trickle down, contributing to improved employee connection and loyalty.
Decency
Leaders cannot expect to get the best from their employees without actually knowing their employees.They must take the time to listen and make space to talk about difficult subjects actively. Frequent communication – via email, company-wide meetings, and one-on-one conversations — is essential. Walk the floor. Reward and meet with your top performers. Share your thoughts on the state of the business. Ask for feedback, and don’t forget to follow up.
With advancement top of mind for employees, leaders and managers must take the time to understand each employee’s needs and professional goals. For example, some employees are perfectly happy with their current responsibilities, while others are looking for a vertical or even lateral move to gain skills or support their goals outside work.
Data, Decision Making, and Decency In Action.
Taking the time to truly know employees can also lead to unexpected employee advancement opportunities. “I’ve worked most of my career in the restaurant industry and I don’t know anyone who has had a career path as unorthodox as mine,” shared Josh Blanche, Director of Business Development for Legacy Capital Partners.
“Most organizations don’t take the time to understand the needs and ambitions of the people they employ. On the flip side, when you build a culture beyond the typical survey – where leaders work shoulder to shoulder with employees – you get to know people beyond the numbers by talking with them, challenging them, and learning from them. Creative opportunities for advancement and job satisfaction begin to present themselves.”
When it comes to employee retention in QSR, there is much to be gained from “active leadership” – not just visible, but being present, observant, and thoughtful about the operation. Employees want more than a place to spend their time and collect a paycheck. They want – and deserve — to work in a company with values they can believe in. Compensation must always be considered, but don’t miss the opportunity to address other key drivers, like advancement, that will build long-lasting employee relationships and a strong business overall. And with the right combination of data, decision-making, and decency, opportunities to improve employee retention will continue to present themselves.
Which best practices have you followed to retain your hourly workers? Let us know on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. We’d love to hear from you!
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