Team members are the key to any successful restaurant. They’re the ones who greet customers, take orders, prepare food, and clean up. A strong people strategy that aims to extend your employee lifecycle is essential for any QSR looking to improve their performance in 2023. Here are some ways to do just that.

The Restaurant Industry is Ever-changing, and So Should Your QSR People Strategy

Quick service restaurants (QSRs) need to stay ahead of the curve, and people analytics that are constantly adapted and refined provide QSRs with a competitive edge that can make or break their success. Understanding what drives your employees’ engagement should be at the forefront of all your HR strategies. 

From empowering them to understand their role in the business goals and being equipped to innovate within the workplace to cultivating a culture that promotes growth, QSR managers need to stay at the cutting edge of people management trends. At the end of the day, all employees need is recognition, purpose, and progress if they are to remain committed to helping your business succeed.

Understand Your Customers’ Needs and Wants

Understanding what customers need and want is essential when creating a successful people strategy for fast food restaurants. Knowing their preferences, why they choose your product, and how to improve the customer experience are essential elements in creating a strategy that will drive loyalty, retention, and growth for your business. 

By placing customers at the center of your strategy and gaining insight into what they desire from your brand or product, you can build a tailored approach that meets their needs and will keep them coming back. Optimizing this relationship yields returns in terms of increased sales and leads to more satisfied customers overall.

Train Your People Well

Providing excellent customer service helps build a loyal customer base, which can only be achieved with well-trained employees. Taking the time to help employees develop excellent customer service skills will result in satisfied, repeat customers who view your company positively. 

When creating a people development strategy, it is important to emphasize the relevant policies that directly affect customer service and core values such as kindness, helpfulness, and empathy, which encourage staff to go above and beyond for customers. Through continual training and guidance from managers, employees will have all of the knowledge necessary to provide top-notch customer service at all times.

Use Technology to Streamline Your QSR People Strategy

Today’s fast food chains must leverage technology to remain competitive. Automating manual tasks, such as ordering and scheduling, can help free up time for managers to focus on developing the people within their restaurant. Using technology for employee onboarding and training can also reduce the time it takes to get new hires up to speed, which results in a more efficient and productive workforce. 

Finally, leveraging technology and your online presence for customer feedback is essential for getting valuable insights into customer experience and satisfaction that can be used to optimize your people strategy and business strategy accordingly. For example, you could use your social media platforms to ask customers for feedback regarding their experience with your restaurant.

Level Up Your Employee Experience

Employee recognition inscription on the black sheet.

Rewarding employees for a job well done can be an incredibly effective way to motivate them and ensure your business runs smoothly. Incentives like giving a bonus or additional days off are compelling, as they offer tangible rewards that reflect the quality of work. 

Equally important is recognizing employee performance publicly, through recognition awards, at team meetings or simply by word of mouth. This can help boost morale and cultivate a sense of accomplishment. When implemented correctly, incentives and recognition strategies can create an atmosphere in which employees feel appreciated and perform their best. Employee feedback is also essential for understanding what motivates employees and how to create an environment that inspires them to do their best.

Make Sure Your QSR People Strategy Aligns With Your Company’s Goals and Objectives

Hand choose to rating score happy icons symbolizing pulse survey for employees

Having a clear understanding of your company’s goals and objectives is essential for any successful business. Their definitions should be kept to the bare basics and not cluttered with complicated jargon. It is equally vital that those working within the organization, particularly in customer services, have the same clear understanding of said objectives because it helps them serve customers better.

To make sure your QSR people are up to date with what is expected of them and are truly aligned with your company’s goals and objectives, provide them with adequate training resources on a regular basis. 

Moreover, create an environment where they feel safe to ask questions or express concerns if they have any, as this will enable them to better understand how to meet expectations. By having a well-defined fast food people strategy in place, you can build a strong team committed to helping the organization reach its business outcomes.

Figure Out What Employees Want and Need

It can be tough trying to find good employees in the fast food industry and even tougher trying to keep them around. HourWork is here to help. Our 3-step guide will help you figure out what today’s employees want and need, so you can attract and keep the best ones on board. It also includes exclusive data that will help you understand why employees stay and leave, so you waste less time in the hiring process.

HourWork Can Help You Stay Connected to Employees

At HourWork, we provide a suite of automation tools that help you stay connected to your employees and improve their job satisfaction. Our onboarding system helps you check in with new employees, even before their first shift. Pulse surveys measure feedback on a regular basis, and our analytics give you a clear picture of employee sentiment. 

We also help you tap into a pool of talent that has already been vetted by reaching out to the people that know you best, former employees and applicants. Request a demo today.