Deemed “The Great Resignation”, the past few years have seen an unprecedented number of employees grow tired or burn out in their careers and leave their positions. Of course, scarce labor has been an issue throughout the ages, but the issue has been compounded with all the difficulties the foodservice industry has faced in recent years. Throughout the industry, issues like low pay, poor benefits and long hours are compounded by safety and stability concerns. Thankfully, there are effective ways to help support your employees and increase retention.
Operators have had great success reducing or limiting their menus to help reduce strain on their kitchen and waitstaff. In fact, entrée items have decreased 3.6%1. Removing even one menu item can have a tremendous impact on back-of-house labor. It not only lowers the stress placed on your employees, but also helps reduces back-of-house storage, prep time, and training.
Another way to increase the efficiency of your kitchen both for employees and your operation is to use versatile ingredients. Popular versatile items like beef pot roast, tilapia, or cauliflower can be used in multiple ways, in numerous cuisine types, and across many dayparts. Hillshire Farm® brand offers a wide range of toppings made with ingredients like chicken and pork that are can be great versatile choices for pizza operations.
For example, our chorizo is one such option that could be used in anything from bowls or flatbreads to chilaquiles, whatever suits your menu! With one ingredient that can be used in multiple ways, you are able to create consistency for your staff and help reduce labor strain and space often used for more one-note ingredients.
Burnout is real and shouldn’t be ignored. There are some incredibly inventive ways operations are addressing employee satisfaction. Everything from closing for an extra day to no-tolerance-for-rude-customers policies. Take a close look at what employees are having difficulty with and address those concerns head-on. Whether it’s benefits, pay, working conditions, or anything else, talking with employees and determining what issues they may be having will not only help improve your relationship with that employee but with all future employees as well.
Just as employees have experienced burnout, so have your customers. Consumers are tired of scratch cooking and look to pick-up/delivery more often.2 In fact, homemade pizza grew in popularity during the pandemic, as consumers ate more at home and looked for fun experiences, and the trend continued into 2021, indicating that pizza kits and components can be an area for innovation from category players.3
This can help reduce work for employees and give customers new ways to enjoy your operation.
One of the easiest ways to reduce burnout of your staff is to simply reduce their more menial tasks with back-of-house-friendly tech. Things like tablets to help take orders, a convenient digital inventory system, or an automated dough machine are great ways to help reduce the strain on your kitchen. Take a look at your operation and have an open conversation with your staff about what key innovations will make the most positive differences in your kitchen.
Whatever you can do to help reduce burnout amongst your staff—no matter how small the change may seem—will, over time, allow you to make exponential improvements to your working environment, employee retention, and the overall success of your operation. There’s no better time to get started and Hillshire Farm® brand is always here to help.
1 Technomic 2020
2 Mintel, Pizza US 2021
3 Mintel’s Pizza: Incl Impact of COVID-19 – US, 2020
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