How to prevent restaurant overstaffing?

Restaurant business is notorious for its high staff turnover rates.  In fact, it is very common for a restaurant to lose several employees along the way.

Therefore, many restaurateurs, in order to ensure that their restaurant runs smoothly, are often tempted to hire more people than necessary which as a result increases the labor costs and reduces overall profits.

Such overstaffing can be prevented by following the below strategies.

Cross-Training Staff

Cross-training of restaurant staff can play a vital role in preventing unhealthy labor costs. By teaching staff new skills and preparing them to handle other jobs that need filling can help in reducing the number of workers required to a minimum.

Doing cross-training not only helps the restaurant achieve more efficiency in its working but also boosts the employee’s confidence and makes them more invested in their jobs.

Creating Efficient Restaurant Management Systems

By automating maximum restaurant operations tasks, the restaurant can ease the burden on its staff and create healthy and less stressful work environment.

For instance, using software Zeffu, that automates the entire back office operations from restaurant purchasing, vendor management to accounts, can greatly help the restaurant create more efficient workflow.

Such automation can ultimately help the employees save a lot of time which they can use to focus on higher value tasks such as proving excellent customer service, running quality checks etc.

Promoting Open Communication Culture

Since employees are a vital part of restaurant business, therefore it is very important to listen to their suggestions and make them feel valued.

One of the main reason of high staff turnover is due to poor communication between upper management and employees. This can only be prevented when there is a professional open meeting culture in a restaurant.

When employees feel appreciated, their loyalty to the restaurant increases and it reduces the need of over hiring by restaurant owner.