5 Unique Ways To Motivate Your Bar And Wait Staff
When it comes to your casual bar staff and wait staff, you’d assume that the nature of the job itself would be enough to keep anyone motivated and engaged – how many people get to work in a live music or party environment and call it their day job?
However, after running Australia’s largest ever casual workforce survey, we found that there was a disconnection in the way temp staff were motivated in comparison to how they saw full-time staff being motivated on the job.
Our mission at Sidekicker is to help people reach their potential, whether that’s by helping businesses better utilise their workforces or empower workers to design their own employment lifestyle.
One of the ways we see great potential being reached, is by referring to labour pools as one blended workforce, rather than a fragmented workforce of full-time, casual, temporary and part-time workers.
Historically, investing into retention strategies when it comes to temporary workers was understandably not a place where you’d find a return as you were unlikely to see them again.
Fast forward to 2018 – Today businesses have access to digital platforms like Sidekicker, giving them tools like talent pools and sending job requests to the same temps over and over again.
The kicker now is that the worker knows you get a benefit from having them return as you don’t have to train them, but if they didn’t like working for you, they aren’t going to apply to work for you again.
Based on our feedback and research from our 11,000+ Sidekicks, here are:
5 Unique Ways To Motivate Your Bar Staff and Wait Staff.
1. Show-off your superstar bar and wait staff!
Employee of the month programs have been around forever, and there’s a reason why…people love to be recognised.
When you have a shift workforce who come and go at all hours of the night, having a corporate employee of the month program may not be the way to go.
Here are a few unique ideas for recognising hard work:
– Name a drink after them, or your newest burger formula!
– Make sure you use your bulletin board to share wins and achievements
– Use your social media account to shout-out great staff
2. Create a ‘chill-out’ zone
Assuming you comply with Hospitality awards, your staff will no doubt be taking breaks throughout their shifts. We’ve all been there, hiding in the cleaning room or sitting over a computer while trying to chow down a sandwich.
Breaks are integral to creating a high performing workforce, so if you haven’t got one already, it’s worth investing in a chill-out zone. The addition of a coffee machine, some on-the-house snacks and a Jenga tower can make a world of difference to staff who are in a slump.
A well constructed breakout space can also encourage positive interactions between more seasoned staff members and new additions to the team.
3. Celebrate their personal life!
Birthdays, anniversaries, passing final exams – these are all milestones worthy of a cake or shared round of drinks.
By sharing in major events of your staff’s personal life they’re less likely to identify with the notion that they are just a ‘body’ to the venue and take ownership for their actions and your brand.
4. Pre-tasting sessions
When your venue is adding new items to the menu, get your staff’s opinion – they’re the ones tasked with the responsibility to sell it.
The next time a customer asks your staff member the difference between the house Cab Sauv vs the pricier option they will be more motivated to recommend the higher quality product because they’ve tried and tested it.
Enthusiasm about a product speaks volumes.
5. Team-bonding time
If you’re using a platform like Sidekicker to hire temporary or casual staff, extending an invitation to a team bonding session like a trivia night or laser-tag session takes a small step to show the members of your casual team you view them as an integral part of your workforce.
Small steps like these are a giant leap in developing your company culture to include casual staff and improve their performance through accountable motivation.
