OPERATIONS
Labor takes center stage at the National Restaurant Association Show
Alicia Kelso Executive Editor
Several attendees talked about the importance of culture to improve employee retention, citing the pandemic as a catalyst on how the industry approaches its workforce
“The pandemic created a spark in the hospitality industry that made us realize how important it is to invest in your culture. When you do that, turnover plummets. Employees have a lot of power right now. They’re not going to put up with a crappy workplace environment,” said Anthony Lambatos, founder of Mibe (Make it Better Everyday). His company was started in 2020 to help hospitality industry leaders achieve “heart-led leadership and a strong company culture” through business coaching, workshops and more. The objective is to create a place where workers want to be and stay. “Culture is not equal to perks and benefits. Workers now want to be doing jobs where they feel they have a purpose and add value and with people they love, trust and respect, and that’s where our training is focused,” Lambatos said.“Our philosophy is if you serve your people, they’ll better serve your customers.” Indeed, if there is a sub-theme to pull from the giant labor theme, it’s training. This is what the National Restaurant Association’s ServSuccess is focused on to improve employee retention. The program was launched in 2019 to ensure restaurant professionals have clear career paths by offering certification, online training and assessments. “There is no bigger challenge in our industry than retention,” Rebecca Berry, senior sales manager, career and workforce with the association, said during a session. She cited training as the biggest opportunity to solve for this issue, noting that 87% of millennials say training is critical to their job, while 93% of employees state they would stay at a company longer if their careers were invested in.
Several themes emerged at this year’s National Restaurant Association Show, many of which weren’t all that surprising – for example, robots, invisible technology and plant-based offerings. But the recurring theme that tied much of this together was labor. Most conversations with exhibitors and operators and general attendees came back to labor in some way, shape or form. Perhaps that also shouldn’t be surprising. The industry has been through the ringer on labor throughout the past few years, experiencing an all- time-high quit rate, union organizing, recruitment challenges and then some. The environment has compromised operating hours and has left big chunks of money on the table for many establishments. The hospitality industry’s churn rate is double the national average at 5.4%, while 79% of operators are still struggling to hire. That said, mindsets seem to be changing.
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