How to Motivate Restaurant Employees

Keeping your employees happy can lead to less stress and more productivity, and it's better for everyone’s overall mood, too. If you’re a manager or an owner of a restaurant, you're probably always looking for new ways to motivate your employees. We've got you covered! There are a lot of different easy things you can do to keep your employees satisfied with their jobs and motivated to do great work.

Method 1
Method 1 of 10:
Acknowledge the good things they do.

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    Make them feel proud of something good they’ve done. You can call them out in a team meeting, give them an employee of the month award, or even offer a cash bonus for hard work.[1]
    • You could acknowledge them for something like working a lot of overtime, coming in early, or making the most sales.

Method 2
Method 2 of 10:
Offer bonuses for staying with the restaurant.

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    Restaurants usually have a fairly high turnover rate. You can counteract this by offering cash bonuses for milestones, like 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years.[2]
    • The amount of the bonus is up to you, but try to make it something worthwhile. A week’s worth of pay is a great way to say thank you for staying with the restaurant.

Method 3
Method 3 of 10:
Give time off for hitting goals.

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    Reaching a sales goal should be rewarded. If your employees do well, give them the gift of some extra paid time off or a few shifts they don’t need to work in the next few weeks.[3]
    • Sometimes, a little relaxation is all an employee needs to get back into the swing of things.

Method 4
Method 4 of 10:
Stock the break room with food and activities.

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    Help your employees unwind while they’re at work. Give them fun games, snacks, and drinks to keep them motivated throughout their shifts.[4]
    • If you want to go for a healthier option, opt for fresh fruit instead of candy and chips.

Method 5
Method 5 of 10:
Let employees switch shifts on their own.

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    Don’t micromanage their shift changes. Instead, give your employees the freedom to change shifts if they need to. As long as someone works the shift, it shouldn’t matter who it is.[5]
    • Your employees will appreciate you a lot if you give them this freedom.
    • There are tons of apps and web pages you can use to keep track of employee shifts, like Connecteam and mHelpDesk.

Method 6
Method 6 of 10:
Offer free meals once a week.

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    They’re working at a restaurant, so why not feed them? Give them a shift meal at least once a week so they can stay full and happy during work.[6]
    • If you can offer a free meal every shift, that’s even better!

Method 7
Method 7 of 10:
Share responsibilities (even the unpleasant ones).

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    No one wants to clean the bathrooms, but it has to be done. Keep a roving schedule of the more annoying responsibilities and make sure everyone takes a turn doing them.[7]
    • This includes you! If your employees see their boss or manager scrubbing a toilet once a week, they’re more likely to respect the job when it’s their turn.

Method 8
Method 8 of 10:
Ask for employee input.

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    Let your employees feel like they have a say in daily operations. You can host team meetings to ask for feedback or send out an anonymous survey asking for input.[8] [9]
    • An important aspect of getting input is actually taking it into consideration. If the requests are reasonable, make it a point to honor them.

Method 9
Method 9 of 10:
Be flexible when you need to be.

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    Your employees might need time off or less shifts occasionally. Try to be as flexible as you can, especially if there are extenuating circumstances, like a death in the family or illness.[10]
    • If anything like this happens, reach out to your employee to see how they’re doing. Remember that they’re human too, and going through a tough time is hard on everyone.

Method 10
Method 10 of 10:
Let your employees have some fun.

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    When you work hard, you can play hard, too. Organize an employee game night or happy hour to connect with your employees and reward them for doing a great job.[11]
    • You can try doing something like this once a month or whenever your employees hit a sales goal.

Community Q&A

  • Question
    How do I keep my restaurant employees happy?
    Harish Chandran, PhD
    Harish Chandran, PhD
    Machine Learning Engineer & PhD in Computer Science, Duke University
    Harish Chandran is the Engineering Site Lead and Senior Staff Research Engineer at DeepMind, where he leads the engineering efforts to integrate AI research results into Google products. Harish received his PhD in Computer Science from Duke University in 2012. He has experience in DNA self-assembly, evolutionary algorithms, computational neuroscience, complexity theory, computer architecture, and super-computing.
    Harish Chandran, PhD
    Harish Chandran, PhD
    Machine Learning Engineer & PhD in Computer Science, Duke University
    Expert Answer
    It helps if you communicate with them and let them talk about things that are working and things that aren't so they feel heard.

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References

  1. ↑ https://scholarworks.umass.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1031&context=gradconf_hospitality
  2. ↑ https://www.qsrmagazine.com/exclusives/why-good-employees-quit-restaurants
  3. ↑ https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/forget-cash-here-are-better-ways-to-motivate-employees
  4. ↑ https://smallbiztrends.com/2014/09/employee-benefit-that-costs-little-delivers-big.html
  5. ↑ http://fnbreport.ph/features/how-to-motivate-your-restaurant-staff-romeom-20181113/
  6. ↑ https://www.restaurant.org/articles/operations/keep-restaurant-employees-motivated
  7. ↑ https://www.restaurant.org/articles/operations/keep-restaurant-employees-motivated
  8. ↑ Harish Chandran, PhD. Senior Manager. Expert Interview. 5 June 2019.
  9. ↑ https://www.qsrmagazine.com/exclusives/why-good-employees-quit-restaurants
  1. ↑ https://www.restaurant.org/articles/operations/keep-restaurant-employees-motivated
  2. ↑ https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/forget-cash-here-are-better-ways-to-motivate-employees

About This Article

Harish Chandran, PhD
Co-authored by:
Harish Chandran, PhD
Machine Learning Engineer & PhD in Computer Science, Duke University
This article was co-authored by Harish Chandran, PhD and by wikiHow staff writer, Hannah Madden. Harish Chandran is the Engineering Site Lead and Senior Staff Research Engineer at DeepMind, where he leads the engineering efforts to integrate AI research results into Google products. Harish received his PhD in Computer Science from Duke University in 2012. He has experience in DNA self-assembly, evolutionary algorithms, computational neuroscience, complexity theory, computer architecture, and super-computing. This article has been viewed 5,308 times.
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Co-authors: 5
Updated: August 25, 2021
Views: 5,308
Categories: Workplace Management Skills