To improve staff retention is almost as equally important as effective recruitment. Once you have found the right staff you need for your venue, it’s only common sense that you want to ensure they stay for a beneficial amount of time.
Treat your staff well
This might seem like an obvious sentiment, but all too often it can be forgotten in an industry with an expected large turnover rate.
Provide training to your new starters and current employees. We are in the middle of an economy and society where employees want to progress and grow in the companies they work for - reasonable time frames need to be considered of course. Training sessions, tasting sessions and opportunities for progression are valuable tools that are completely at your disposal to improve staff retention.
Keep to your recruitment promises
I’m not trying to re-discover fire or teach you how to breathe, but all too often a lot of businesses will promise a lot in their recruitment drives and deliver on very little of those promises. You never want to make your staff members feel disillusioned with your company, but if you deliver on few of the promises or benefits you initially pledged whilst you were recruiting, you will not only lose those members of staff who feel “cheated”, but it could directly affect your reputation in the future.
Recognise Different Working Styles
Not every employee will care for your business in the same ways as each other. Some employees will work as if they themselves have a personal investment in the business, whilst others won’t behave in this manner. It’s important to remember that neither of these scenarios is a negative for your company, but it does mean that an often common mistake of “Take ownership of the company” perhaps will not have the desired effects. One person will do this automatically and another will only do this if there is some sort of monetary compensation. Which leads me to my next point.
Equal rewards sometimes don’t pay off
Rewarding staff equally might seem like a concrete idea that’s been proven to keep morale levels high, but it can often have the opposite effect when you’re wanting to improve staff retention. If you have a member of staff who is performing well, then reward them individually, don’t reward your entire team based on the profits or performance levels that one person has inspired. You’ll keep your lesser performing individuals happy, but you’ll alienate and de-motivate your “star player” whose efforts got you there in the first place. Never be afraid to individually reward staff members fairly, especially when they are deserving of it.
Cut the driftwood
Retaining staff that are poor performers and do not contribute in a positive way is something that companies often find themselves doing. It can be a case of “we can’t find anyone else”, therefore the poor performer remains on your team through default and costs you finances and resources that could be better spent somewhere else and also team morale - no-one likes picking up the slack left by underachievers.
When you improve staff retention, it not only benefits your company, but it also benefits your staff. They know they are working in a positive company, and as such will act upon that. One of my favourite quotes is “Take care of your employees and they’ll take care of the rest”, and it couldn’t be more relevant. All businesses need customers, all businesses need staff to tend to those customers. It’s a win-win situation.
Want to improve your skills as a bartender? Follow this link!
Looking for skilled bartenders to join your team? Click here!