From the NRA Show: The Business Case for Training

A good training department improves retention and sales.

By Maya Norris, Managing Editor -- Chain Leader, 5/18/2008 2:42:00 PM

Training is just as integral to a restaurant chain as operations, real estate and menu development, according to Gail Lyman, director of training and development for First Hospitality Group. During the educational session “Get a Great Training Department” on Saturday at the National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show, she discussed the components of a good training department and how it can reduce turnover, increase sales and boost the bottom line.
 
“Every one of your departments is stealing a piece of the pie, but training absolutely deserves a piece of the pie, too,” Lyman said.
 
Human Capital
 
A training department can help recruit and retain the workers the restaurant industry will need to fill the 2.2 million jobs it will add by 2014, she said.
 
As baby boomers retire and Millennials join the work force, restaurants must invest in training this new generation of workers who seek to improve their skills and career development. “What’s in it for me? They want to know, what are you going to give me? How are you going to teach me?”  Lyman said. “They expect to learn. It’s not a luxury.”
 
According to a Gallup Poll study, workers also look for jobs with great managers, which training can address. “The No. 1 reason why people leave their job is their boss,” Lyman said. “So what are we doing to provide our managers with the opportunity to become great managers? … So we have to teach people how to be a good boss”
 
Setting Up
 
According to Lyman, a good training department covers at least four basic areas: initial training, ongoing training, management development and opening new locations.
 
Initial training should not only include teaching employees the basic duties of their jobs, but the company should take the opportunity to make them feel valued from the get-go. “These people are excited to start their new job,” she said. “And you just capitalize on it and get your productivity out of them right away vs. many times when we give them a poor impression, immediately their enthusiasm drops and then we spend all of this money later on trying to get it back up and trying to get them productive again.”
 
Once an employee has completed initial training, ongoing training can help them improve in areas they may be having trouble with such as customer service or using the POS system. Ongoing training can also be used to teach employees about rolling out new items, compliance issues such as safety or harassment, new skills like upselling and the culture of the company.
 
Restaurant companies should also offer management development as part of their training program. It should include corporate universities that teach them managerial skills such as how to motivate employees, communication, leadership, career development, time management and coaching.
 
A training program also needs to address opening new locations, emphasizing consistency of the brand across the system and generating excitement among employees at the store that is about to open.
 
The Bottom Line
 
Once a training program is set up and executed properly, Lyman said that restaurants can improve productivity, product quality, service, standardization and accuracy while reducing mistakes and waste. “And, of course, in the end make more money and open locations,” she said.