Four Ways to Reduce Burnout and Improve Employee Retention

The high turnover common in the restaurant industry has only accelerated in the last nine months. During the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic, many restaurant brands saw business dip, and had to lay off or reduce hours for their employees. Long-time food and hospitality employees left the industry, choosing to look for positions that had more consistent hours or less potential for COVID exposure.

Then demand began to rise again, and customers began dining out more and ordering more take out. Unfortunately, this exacerbated a labor shortage being felt across many industries. The people who had stayed in foodservice were faced with understaffed shifts, training new employees, impatient customers, new safety protocols and supply chain problems, and the new employees are overwhelmed and confused. Both groups are experiencing burnout and turnover is climbing.

Operators aren’t going to be able to solve customer impatience or bring back long-time restaurant workers, but there are…