Restaurant training is the system any given food establishment has in place that outlines the rules, regulations, expectations, and workflow that every employee must follow.

There are many aspects that go into a great restaurant training program. These include mastering product knowledge, teaching servers to sell, food handling, smoother operations, facility care, compliance, safety procedures, and even team building and teamwork. There’s a lot that goes into a great restaurant training program.  

You may assume training is only for newly hired employees, however, the best restaurants implement continual training for all employees. Continual or ongoing training helps staff feel needed and challenged. This leads to an increase in loyalty as well as productivity.

With challenges in the labor market right now, hiring and then retaining good staff is necessary to ensure business growth. Implementing a quality restaurant staff training program is one of the top drivers when it comes to staff retention. A trained staff not only means happy customers—it also results in higher employee morale. Investing time into training communicates with your staff members that they’re valued, that you expect them to be around awhile, and ensures that everyone is on the same page. 

Oftentimes when there’s not a set training plan, clear communication of expectations is absent and said expectations end up going unmet. This can lead to unfulfilled staff and a high turnover rate. When great training programs are set, consistent, and individualized your restaurant staff will better understand their roles and how to effectively execute them. 

A successful restaurant thrives on a repeatable, standardized restaurant training program. The more the system is practiced and perfected, the more enjoyable the employee and customer experience becomes. Restaurants are fast-paced environments. Orders must be taken quickly. Customers want their food promptly. And when it’s time to pay, they don’t want to wait around.

Running a restaurant successfully can be a daunting task. There are so many working arms involved that it takes a specific system and structure to achieve a great customer experience. This is the basic idea of deploying a training program.

Your restaurant training, and system in general, must be created in a way that, when properly executed, leads to everything running like a well-oiled machine. The rewards of an efficient training system include satisfied customers, favorable reviews, a positive work environment, increased revenue, and an increase in your wait staff’s tips. However, failure to execute the system outlined in your training could potentially manifest disastrous results.

The potential consequences are seemingly endless for a restaurant staff that doesn’t receive the proper training. However, the most common negative results include:  

Creating a restaurant training manual will be a completely different process from one organization to the next. However, the outline generally remains the same, with different specifics depending on your brand.  

The workflow of a restaurant might not seem like something that needs to be automated or streamlined, but more and more restaurant owners are learning the benefits of streamlining back of the house workflows. Whether they use CMW Tracker or some other workflow software, this can really increase the efficiency with which the restaurant operates. 

The best way to attract people to your restaurant is to have efficient, quality service, from the front of the house to the back of the house. If you provide your customers with well-prepared, quality food, and they don’t have to wait forever to get it, they are more likely to want to come back.

In order to offer this enhanced service, you need a very precise workflow that all involved understand and know how to follow. Software that is used to keep proper inventory, monitor equipment, and ensure that there are always enough employees on hand for the job will help to streamline profits and allow you to offer that five-star service that keeps people coming back.

Your food offerings are likely what is going to bring people through your doors and it is imperative that you have a menu that you can offer, no questions asked. There is nothing worse than someone coming to your restaurant for a specific dish, only to be told that the restaurant is out of a key ingredient.

This is why a good, well-streamlined inventory process is so important. You need to make sure you know what you need, how much you need and make sure that you always have that amount on hand. It is also important to reduce waste, which is why knowing precise quantities of needed ingredients is also important. Waste is unnecessarily lost profit.

Your employees are a key part of your workflow process and they need to be taken into account. Streamlining service should not come at the expense of the people providing said services. Employees, whether front or back of the house, can provide insight into a given process that can help you better develop your process to be more effective without overtaxing your workers. 

One way to really improve the workflow of your kitchen is to make sure it is properly equipped and that your equipment is in good order, you have the right stuff, and that the back of the house is well-organized for efficiency. You can use workflow software to manage inventory, whether it is foodstuffs or tools.

Part of this will involve creating a list of equipment needed or used and documenting the maintenance schedule each of these tools will need. You may also need to keep a separate pool of money dedicated to replacing anything that is in disrepair or breaks. It can really hurt your business if a major piece of equipment goes out and you don’t have the money to fix or replace it.

Consider the layout of the back as well. How you choose to store products and tools can really slow down the process of getting the food from the kitchen to the customer’s table. You want to make sure that tools are within reach of where they are needed. You also need to make sure that things are stored safely as an injury is not only bad for business, it can also lead to real delays in serving customers that may be waiting for their food.

Great service equals happy customers, which leads to great reviews, and in turn more sales. A well trained staff is looking much more important now, right? Understanding the need for training puts you on the right track, however actually training your staff is easier said than done. It’s vital to the success of any restaurant that the training is well-thought-out, easy to follow, repeatable, and as straightforward as possible. Your restaurant training could be the single most important component regarding your staff.

In the competitive world of the restaurant industry, optimizing your workflow is essential for success. From ensuring smooth operations to delivering exceptional customer experiences, every aspect of your restaurant's processes plays a pivotal role. If you're looking to enhance the efficiency of your restaurant and take it to new heights, you've come to the right place. In this blog, we will provide you with comprehensive strategies and insights on restaurant process improvement. 

By following the steps outlined below, you will gain valuable guidance on identifying key areas for improvement, streamlining front-of-house and back-of-house operations, optimizing staff training and communication, leveraging technology solutions, and fostering a culture of continuous improvement.