Finding and retaining great staff is one of the biggest challenges in running a hospitality business but it's essential to the success of your business. Here’s your guide to attracting and holding onto great staff.
While the quality of your offering is important, it's the experience delivered by your team that keeps customers coming back and separates you from your competition.
Customers can truly feel your team culture. Here are some tips on building and getting the best from your team.
1. Create a desirable place to work
BENEFITS OF WORKING WITH YOU
Be clear about what makes your business special. Communicate this in your recruitment ads to attract and build like-minded teams.
At Allpress, we highlight our diverse and inclusive workplace, a focus on health and safety, and opportunities for career growth. Little things like free coffee, free meals for café staff, monthly weekends off, access to learning and development opportunity, and a Health & Wellbeing Allowance can attract highly experienced staff.
EFFECTIVE RECRUITMENT
Find people who align with your values. Make this a big focus in your interview process by asking questions about what motivates, excites and inspires the candidate, alongside skillset and experience questions.
If you’re having difficulty securing your team, looking at part-time and casual roles can help plug gaps when needed. Platforms like Supp can also help you find baristas, FOH and kitchen staff when you’re in a pickle.
At Allpress, we've been operating successful cafes for decades and have fostered a great team culture. If you're new to recruitment and interviewing for staff in hospitality, chat with our team who can share tips and interview questions for café staff interviews.
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ONBOARDING
It's important to get buy in from your staff on the big picture. Take time to educate and fully onboard new staff to your brand purpose, offering, and operations, and assign a mentor to drive their training. At Allpress, a new team member's first week is solely focused on meeting the team, understanding our offering and getting to know our brand.
Take time to build out your onboarding plan to welcome new team members that outlines your expectations of the team, standards, and day-to-day processes. Without thorough onboarding planning, you could lose potential team members before they're given a real chance to begin.
And don't forget to reach out to Allpress for barista training workshops at each of our locations.
FEEDBACK
Creating a culture of praise and constructive feedback goes a long way. Praising great work and behaviour creates trust within the team – so when the time comes for constructive feedback, it's readily accepted and worked on.
Feedback goes both ways too. Ask your team what they think is working well for the business, and if there's anything you, as an owner, can do better. Fostering culture means leading from the front.
2. Upskill and invest in your team
When individuals feel valued, that positivity oozes across every facet of the business, and customers can truly feel it.
WORKSHOPS
Reach out to your key partners and suppliers to help unlock training for your team. Allpress has a range of training programmes catered to new staff, right through to your management team.
As a starting point, at Allpress we offer blend breakdowns, cuppings, diagnostics, latte art, sensory skills, Tech 101 and a good old-fashioned beer and pizza treat to round it all out.
We can host team events and training workshops in our roasteries to unlock your skill needs. So don't hesitate to get in touch.
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Build a leadership team that drives and embodies your brand values. This creates development opportunities for your junior staff to work towards – if that's what they're interested in.
INVEST
Invest in your future leaders. Education programmes run by your leadership team can help support aspiring managers and front-of-house experts. Courses, industry events and online learning can help you grow and retain your team.
3. Reward and recognition
Creating a high-performing culture is about celebrating both shared and individual success and creating a team that feels appreciated.
This can be done in both formal and informal ways.
TEAM CHECK-INS
These are a great way to call out great behaviours – at Allpress, we celebrate our Team Member of the Month in each regional team, and as a wider business celebrate those who go above and beyond in demonstrating the business values via our Creme de la Crema award. Connecting behaviour to success helps to promote connection and recognition even if commercial goals are tough to reach.
CELEBRATE
Take time to celebrate as a team if you reach your goals – a team dinner, outdoor activity or annual awards help bring teams together and recognise the collective work your team achieves together.
We focus on exceptional specialty coffee but we can also help you to build and develop a team that sticks around to help your business thrive.
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