Training in the restaurant industry can be costly and time-consuming, and it’s often a headache for managers and employees alike. From hiring to onboarding new employees, having an efficient, affordable, scalable, and easily trackable training program is key to employee satisfaction and consistency across all venues.
The Problem of Restaurant Employee Training
A restaurant’s training program has a direct influence on employee turnover. Poor training leads to a vicious cycle of poor job performance, lost work time, poor customer service and high job dissatisfaction which in turns leads to more turnover.
Scheduling, certifications and logistics of training is another obstacle currently facing restaurants executives. Since most traditional training is on-the-job, done by more experienced employees or dedicated trainers it results in lost productivity and expense to take employees and key trainers offline to teach an in-house training class. Food safety protocols and certifications are constantly evolving as well, requiring more training to keep up with job and safety requirements.
How eLearning Benefits Restaurant Training
While you might be more familiar with the general benefits of an eLearning platform - such as consistency of training quality, higher learning retention, and access to training that fits the employee’s schedule, there are other critical ways an eLearning platform can have a direct beneficial impact to a restaurant’s bottom line.
Reduction in Training Costs
While it can’t eliminate it entirely (nor should it) eLearning drastically reduces the need for face-to-face employee training. This results in a reduction in travel expenses for trainers and the cost of experienced employee’s time away from their main responsibilities.
eLearning integrates existing training materials, and converts content into bite-sized learning that improves employee engagement and retention. Research shows that micro-burst learning is a much more effective way of absorbing and retaining large amounts of material. With web-based administrative tools for updates and maintenance, the need for paper training materials is drastically reduced.
Improved Training Analytics
Another pitfall of traditional classroom training modules is that it is difficult to measure and track training success. eLearning has detailed analytics that helps measure employee engagement and learning retention, allowing restaurants to focus training efforts where they are most needed. Analytics also help improve employee turnover rates, as it is possible to drill down on where an employee is struggling and provide additional support. Training managers are also able to adjust their face-to-face training to fit where the employees need the most help.
An effective cost-and-time reduction strategy is to develop assessments that enable instant grading, automated feedback, and/or moderated peer reviews. eLearning courses can be updated quickly and easily, which means less time and lower costs for each course presentation.
Streamline Employee Onboarding
High employee turnover rates lead to higher operating costs, a decrease in customer loyalty, and loss of revenue. It is essential to have a training program solution that adheres to a standard curriculum, which provides quality training at all locations. The most cost-effective way to ensure these things is to have quality employee onboarding, so employees are well equipped and informed when they come on board. eLearning can be customized according to positions and roles, with quick access to the appropriate digitized materials they need to be trained effectively and efficiently from day one.
See an eLearning Restaurant Training Module in Action!
Contact jan.z@digitalcc.us to learn more about how Digital Content Creators can improve the quality, affordability and efficiency of your restaurant’s training program!