By Joey
Walters
For
some employees, a career in the restaurant industry can truly become a
rags-to-riches story – even if those rags were used to wash dishes. After all,
many a superstar chef started out scrubbing pots on the low end of the kitchen
food chain with a dream of someday running his or her own restaurant. Whether
they are ultimately successful in turning that dream into reality, however,
depends much more on passion, hard work and a willingness to learn than it does
on a desire for financial fortune.
Thankfully,
the food service industry offers a multitude of career development, or “career
pathing,” opportunities for those willing to put in the time and effort required
for success. Human resources experts understand the importance of ensuring top
employees develop and advance within their respective organizations in order to
help their employers become respected leaders in their field. Restaurant
operators, in turn, must invest in their employees. Leaders must have the right
team to succeed, to build the next generation of talent by investing, listening
and developing their greatest asset: Employees.
Communication Critical
This
may be easier said than done in the restaurant industry, however with job
abandonment on the rise – one study showed one out of every three voluntary
terminations in quick-service restaurant establishments is a result of lack of
future advancement opportunities within the company (leaders must show their employees
the career opportunities that exist within their establishments. Organizations
with an official internal communication system for restaurant management
positions had 18-per-cent less turnover than organizations lacking an internal communication
system.
There
is a direct connection between customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction
and a key driver of that satisfaction comes through engagement. Career pathing is
one way to increase employee motivation and satisfaction. This process allows leaders
to engage their employees in challenging job opportunities or training
programs, in addition to creating a roadmap that shows employees how they can achieve
their career aspirations.
This
has increased employee retention dramatically in many companies, including
family-owned Earl’s, a Vancouver-based chain that has grown to over 50
restaurants in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Arizona and
Colorado. Earl’s has a designated website for hiring (www.earlswantsyou.com)
because of the overwhelming interest in working for the company. Earl’s looks
for great personality, passion for people and hospitality, and eagerness to
learn and grow. In turn, Earl’s offers a fun, sociable work environment and advancement
opportunities in the areas of the kitchen, service and leadership, along with
award-winning training and career-development programs.
Clear Progression
In
many ways, career pathing communicates the career progression available to all
employees – simple, measurable, realistic, and time-based performance goals
that align from the restaurant owner or managers down to the wait staff. A
career-pathing program can also help a food service business by reviewing talent
within each restaurant, developing advancement programs for top performers and knowing
who can take over senior roles should a vacancy become available.
In
order to implement an effective system, restaurant operators need to ensure all
career-pathing programs are aligned with how the company plans to grow and it
must be customized to fit the individual, values and culture of the company.
Other concerns involve identifying a measuring stick of what success would look
like in progressive jobs and evaluating an individual's position readiness by
using real-life projects.
Boxed Sidebar:
Benefits of Career Pathing
·
Engages,
motivates and retains employees
·
Makes employees
the strategic differentiator and competitive advantage
·
Creates a
strong leadership pipeline for all key roles
·
Builds a
culture of continuous learning
Joey Walters is managing director of HRPreneur
Inc., a consulting firm which designs customized HR solutions that fit with
your company’s values and culture and help retain top talent and increase ROI. For
more information, contact Joey at 647-534-4774 or by email at jwalters@hrpreneur.ca (www.HRPreneur.ca)
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