Employee turnover is a major issue affecting every industry in the US, but the foodservice industry is feeling it the most. In fact, according to a report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the foodservice industry faces a quit rate of 5.8% as of April 2022, the highest of all industries and compared to an average quit rate of 3.0%.
“Restaurants usually experience up to a 100% turnover rate annually. We’re currently seeing 140% to 167% turnover now.”
Joe Monastero
COO of the Texas Restaurant Association - the Austin Business Journal
Despite this, the foodservice industry workforce is projected to grow by 400,000 jobs by the end of 2022.
With this influx of new hires comes the challenge for quick service restaurants to not only train new employees, but to retain them as well.
Many QSR brands are discovering that Digital Kitchen Communications don't just support employee training and retention goals, but can bridge communication barriers, reinforce safety tips, recognize a job well done, or simply provide information and inspiration to your teams.
In short, Digital Kitchen Communications means using digital screens in the back-of-house areas of your restaurants that serve as a visual aid for your employees. These screens can display a range of customized static, animated or video content that is easy to manage and easy to update.
Below are several ways implementing Digital Kitchen Communications can help onboard and retain new employees while improving your business results.
FOR QSR
$5,864 - average turnover cost per employee
$821 - average cost to train a new employee
Source: Center for Hospitality Research – Cornell
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Digital Kitchen Communications can help alleviate the costs of training by providing new hires with an ever-present audio & visual reinforcement of policies and procedures. With Digital Signage, training can go beyond print and take the form of videos or graphics to more effectively communicate important training information. And with the ability to easily update content, there’s no need to worry about outdated or irrelevant materials.
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The loss of an employee also means the loss of institutional knowledge. It becomes difficult to rely on senior members to train new team members when turnover is high. Workplace Digital Signage streamlines the training and onboarding processes of new hires and reinforces the basic practices that come with time and experience.
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Digital signage allows you to continuously share and refresh words of motivation and encouragement, special thoughts for the day or week, offering thanks and appreciation to the team, or getting teams excited with special incentives for meeting team goals. With the ability to easily update content, the messages you share can also easily be updated to acknowledge and celebrate holidays, special events or seasons.
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Individual employee recognition is extremely important. The use of digital signage gives you the ability to easily and quickly give employee shout-outs with a few keystrokes. Highlighting employee achievements and team goals shows your staff that you acknowledge and appreciate their efforts, and it reinforces how vital those efforts are to the overall success of your business.
“Persistent language barriers can affect the meaning of the training content, diminish the user experience and negatively impact company morale.”
Annemieke Scott
Director of Marketing for Translation and Localization Services, Acclaro
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Digital Signage is a great way to help bridge language barriers. Use signage to display your content in multiple languages. Update as needed to adapt to your team's specific needs. Showing translations of common words or phrases used around the workplace can also effectively reduce confusion and questions.
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Digital Signage content can display different content for different shifts. Rotate content throughout the week or across various day parts. What you communicate to your morning shift will differ for your night crew; kitchen communications can help ensure that employees are getting the most relevant information for their team.
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Use Kitchen Communications to create a sense of community. Highlight non-work related information like birthdays, wedding anniversaries, birth announcements, graduations or other milestones. What matters to your employees should matter to you. Building stronger personal relationships between employees can strengthen your team's communal bonds.
You can see now how using Digital Kitchen Communications can boost morale, reinforce training and improve communication in your restaurant. Digital Signage is an affordable solution to help boost your bottom line by increasing productivity, streamlining the training process and as a result, reducing costs caused by errors and downtime.
Your Digital Signage content strategy can take time to fully develop and refine, so the sooner you implement and test, the sooner you’ll begin to yield positive business results.
