Chances are good that your restaurant has felt some urgency to adopt new technology in the front and back of house in the past two years. But the focus on having the right combination of technology can make it easy to ignore some foundational human elements that, if not in place, may prevent you from getting the experience and efficiency you’re after. Specifically, is your team on board with the changes you’re making? Do they know what problems your technology is there to help solve or simplify? Do they understand how your new tools and systems work – and if not, can you provide clear training to support them? If you’re just beginning to review options, involve team members in the process of selecting new technology to help ensure they are invested in the result. Finally, to what degree can you rely on your tech vendor for training, repairs or basic support when something goes wrong? Making sure your employees can get guidance in using new tools and systems should be a key part of your investment. When you think about training your staff, do you consider primarily the on-the-job coaching you offer to help them do their job? If so, you could be missing a big part of what helps you build staff knowledge and retention at your restaurant. Using a combination of tech-based tools in your training program can help you build engagement, improve information retention, and minimize disruptions and gaps in institutional knowledge when long-time staff leave. As a recent Restaurant Technology News report explains, employing a combination of gamification, microlearning modules and videos can help reduce cognitive overload, help staff get up-to-speed quickly, and ensure the information sticks. If you’ve lost employees or have had to hire new people in recent months, you’re not alone. But the near-constant need to onboard new workers doesn’t have to require as much of a manager’s time as it used to. Technology can help you make onboarding and ongoing training more individualized and consistent. You can use it to create push notifications or reminders of lessons discussed during team meetings – or to provide a just-in-time alert if you need to communicate with your team immediately. Using tech in this way helps ensure that small learning moments are passed on to workers at regular intervals throughout the week or throughout the shift – not necessarily held back for the next team meeting or a shadowing session with a more seasoned employee. You can also save your managers’ time by logging training videos, checklists or other resources in an electronic library for later reference by staff as needed. When new staff members first learn their responsibilities on the job at your restaurant, is it an orderly process that builds their confidence from the start, or more like a baptism-by-fire experience that makes them regret taking the job? Incorporating technology in your training procedures can help ensure you’re providing an experience more like the former than the latter. As a result, it may improve your retention and save on costs associated with it, which can range from $1500-$5000 each year for every employee, according to Restaurant Technology News. Consider loading your training procedures onto an app. It can accommodate frequent updates, keep all important training knowledge in one place, and allow you to send alerts out to staff as soon as they are needed.
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