Why is Employee Engagement Important for Your Restaurant’s Bottom Line

Written by Justine Nightingale
Wednesday, May 10, 2023 at 08:00am CDT

Engaged employees are more productive and detail-oriented.

You already know that having engaged customers helps your restaurant grow. But did you know that employee engagement is essential for your restaurant’s bottom line, too?  

Engaged employees help create engaged customers, and in this article, we look at why employee engagement is important if you want to increase your revenue. 

When your employees are engaged, they can impact every facet of your restaurant. If they aren’t engaged, the same holds true. In fact, one study shows the following:

• Employee engagement increases productivity so much that businesses see more than 20% higher yearly profits.
• When teams are highly engaged, they have 41% fewer absentees.
• Do note, though, that when employees have low engagement, it can cost businesses $5000 on average for new hires.

So, let’s look at why employee engagement is so vital and how to achieve it. First, let’s define it.

What is Employee Engagement

This is a broad term that describes how your employees feel emotionally about your restaurant and their overall commitment to it. 

For example, an engaged employee goes above and beyond to take care of your customers. An employee that isn’t engaged may do just the bare minimum. 

It’s worth noting that employee engagement isn’t a measure of employee happiness. Instead, when considering employee engagement, you want to consider two things. 

1. How engaged is the employee with your restaurant? Do your employees feel like their values align with the values, mission, and vision of your restaurant? How do your employees feel about your business strategy? Do they think employees are valued and taken care of? 
2. What is the employee’s relationship with owners and management? Do they feel like they are treated fairly? Does your staff feel like a team? Do they feel like they are respected in the workplace? Do the goals of your staff and management align well?
   

All of these things work together to define the level of your restaurant’s employee engagement. Now let’s look at how you can improve employee engagement. 

Develop a Level of Trust

You’ve heard the old adage, “Trust goes both ways.” Well, you want to trust your employees, and they want to trust you. By developing your trust for them, you go a long way to improving employee engagement. (tweet this)

Trust is the foundation of great relationships, and this is true for engaged employees, too. Your team wants to know you trust them. When they feel this way, their creativity blossoms, and they are more involved in the workplace. 

Employees who feel trusted are also more loyal. This improves your bottom line because it’s easier to retain loyal employees and more cost-effective than onboarding new staff. 

Provide Growth Opportunities

Another way to engage your employees is to provide them with ways to grow. This doesn’t always mean advancement. 

It might mean extra training. For example, you might send your chef to a unique culinary class or seminar. This provides your employees the motivation to get better at their jobs and improve every day.  

Doing the same chores every day can get boring, but when you provide your team with additional growth and training opportunities, you give them something to look forward to.  

This, in turn, improves your bottom line because, after the opportunities, team members are better equipped to do their jobs as they grow professionally.  

When your employees are engaged, they provide better customer service.

Acknowledge Hard Work

One of the best ways to engage your team is to recognize them for their hard work. Let them know when they’ve gone above and beyond. (tweet this)

Do note that engaged employees are always the ones to do more without being asked. They want to exceed, and they will always anticipate the needs of your restaurant.  

To do this, they need to be motivated, and you motivate your staff by engaging them. Always give recognition when it’s due. Thank your team when you notice them doing something extra. Give them a pat on the back when they do a good job.  

Get creative and define a positive feedback strategy for your restaurant. This might be as simple as sending them a thank you email at the end of a busy shift.  

Or, it can be elaborate, and you can offer incentives such as bonuses and other rewards.  

You can always recognize your team members in front of their peers, as this kind of engagement can be helpful, too. Sometimes just a simple “good job” works wonders. 

Promote a Good Work-Life Balance

Restaurant work is hard work, and it can be hard to work everyone harder and harder each day. You may also find that your staff wants to pile on the extra hours.  

When this happens, though, you end up with exhausted staff that is ill-equipped to take care of your customers adequately. On the other hand, if you encourage your team to have a healthy work-life balance, you’ll find they are more engaged and have more energy to do their jobs well.  

Your team needs to have a life away from work so that they are engaged and productive when they do work. This is good for them and for your bottom line. 

Final Thoughts

These are just some of the ways you can enhance employee engagement.  

When your team members are engaged in their jobs, they pass down their employee satisfaction to your customers. So, when your employees are happy, they treat your customers better, and your restaurant thrives.  

In addition, engaged employees are more loyal, make fewer mistakes, have higher retention rates, and are more productive. All of these things make your bottom line shine! 

You can see the vital link between employee engagement and profitability. So, take the tips in this article and work them into your overall restaurant culture for great results. 

At Restaurant Engine, we create websites that help draw people in and increase sales. You can count on us to create a website that engages your website visitors through brand storytelling. Let us help you make the perfect site that draws customers in, improves customer engagement and your conversion rate, and enables you to grow your business! Ready to take the plunge and create a new website? Get your free website consultation today! 

Images: Louis Hansel and John Fornander on Unsplash