As promised, we will continue building on the questions and concepts presented in last month’s article, “Why an internal growth path is the answer to turnover,” spurred by a question from Janice Mackler, Hospitality Strategic Sales Advisor at DSA Signage. As a refresher, she’d told me about this Finnish restaurateur who has less than a 3% turnover in his restaurants. This very low turnover number is not surprising from my perspective as an EX2CX Advisor, because he creates his restaurant culture and runs his business as I advise all I speak with, from the “inside out,” from employee experience to customer experience. He focuses on and prioritizes his “people assets,” providing them with an internal growth path.
I invite you to reread Part I of this article, where I explore this idea and explain how to achieve it. Please send your thoughts to [email protected] so they can be included in the column next month.
The follow-up questions from my conversation with Janice naturally lead to these next related questions: “Do you cross-train your teams, and if so, what criteria do you use to create this program? Do you feel it improves team collaboration and empowerment when everyone feels they have a path?”
I’d like to start with the big picture. I’m a Georgia girl in my roots, so I love me some football. While watching the most recent University of Oregon (UO) game against the University of Washington, I was struck by something the commentators were discussing that really resonated. UO is currently No. 1 and the only undefeated team in the NCAA this year thus far. I feel the commentator’s description of a large part of their success is the exact reason for the success of any business, whether a restaurant, hotel, or any organization.
The commentator stated that during training, they work hard together with the same shared goals for the school’s team (as it applies to your business, my concept is to sub your company name here). In doing so, they train and work as a team, creating bonds as they give their all, working hard daily, and getting to know one another on a deeper level. Through knowing each other’s “why,” who they are as individuals, and their dreams and goals, when they defend their QB or other players, they are protecting and supporting their family, their work-family, in the given positions they have on the field. When you know and care about someone on a personal level, you will do whatever it takes to help make that person successful individually and together as a team unit. I feel the exact same principles apply to a restaurant team family! And, to the questions of cross training your staff, herein lies the answers.
Restaurant operations involve a high-pressure environment with fluctuating demands. Seamless collaboration is a must. Things happen. There are many moving parts, just like a football play. The diversity and versatility of your employees will be an asset to meet these demands. While not without its challenges, cross-training offers unique benefits that enhance team productivity, cohesion, and collaboration, as well as employee growth. Here are some key benefits of cross-training teams:
- Operational efficiency leads to cost savings: When employees can step into different roles during peak hours or emergencies, other team members will step in to keep things running smoothly, keeping your customers unaware of issues. And, while high turnover makes cross-training challenging, it also makes it essential to fill any gaps while unifying the morale of the team and communicating a smooth experience for customers.
- Enhanced employee skill sets: Versatility in role responsibilities promotes personal and professional growth. For those employees looking to build diverse skill sets, this will round out their capabilities.
- Improved team collaboration leads to customer satisfaction. Understanding each other’s work responsibilities and appreciating coworkers’ responsibilities reduces friction and increases teamwork. For example, when kitchen staff understand the wait staff pressures during service, they will make more effort to meet the front-of-house (FOH) requests stemming from customer demands, understanding that this impacts both back-of-house (BOH) and front-of-house.
Let’s dive a bit deeper into how cross-training enhances the all-important team collaboration.
- Shared Understanding of Roles: Not only intellectually knowing what other teammates’ roles are, but actually experiencing them, being in the shoes of others, and learning what they go through builds empathy and mutual respect among team members. For example, a host team member witnessing what goes on BOH and shadowing a server will help them understand the timing of everything that needs to happen to turn tables in the required amount of time. Vice versa, the kitchen staff, when experiencing the responsibilities of the host and servers, will understand the challenges of the coordination that has to happen FOH based on each fulfilling their respective pieces of the overall game day strategy in service.
- Enhanced Communication: Cross-trained employees use shared knowledge to communicate effectively throughout both the employee and customer journeys. For example, a restaurant team can smoothly manage a rush because staff understand each other's workflows.
- Strengthened Problem-Solving: Teams can function better as a unit with the same goals: to support one another and give the customer not only the very best service but an experience. They will also be able to adapt and pivot during crises without requiring specialized staff. For example, it’s picking up an empty or dirty dish on a table that isn’t your assigned table because you walked by and paid attention to the customer’s needs and not because “it is or is not my job” or “my table.” Or it solves the problem of a sudden staff shortage by redistributing tasks among capable employees now that they’re cross-trained.
Last month, we addressed empowerment through internal growth paths. As it relates to cross-training, here are a few suggestions about why they go hand in hand.
- Opportunities for Career Advancement: Employees gain skills that position them for promotions or diverse roles. This will help them grow in broad ways that will develop skills for either that position or for when they move on from this role or even that company.
- Boosted Employee Morale and Retention: Cross-training signals an investment in employee growth. As employees feel better about being a part of a greater whole and contributing to the greater good of their mutual goals, morale is uplifted, and they will feel valued, valuable, and respected. This pride in their work will lead to reduced turnover, and it will increase the possibility of envisioning long-term opportunities for themselves.
- Fostering a Culture of Learning: Establishing cross-training as a norm creates an environment where employees actively seek development. This will encourage one to stretch their own self-growth goals.
Now that I’ve addressed why cross-training is beneficial, let’s move to the second part of that question: “What criteria do you use to create this program?” This is an important consideration to create an effective experience for your employees and, ultimately, your end-customers, who will feel if it works successfully or not.
Criteria for creating an effective cross-training program must:
- Identify key skills for each role: With the company’s core values guiding the culture and always at the heart of operational decisions, management must focus on critical tasks that align with and support those operational goals. Only once each role is clearly defined by the skills and expectations can they be fulfilled and taught to others to fully understand how that role fits into the larger strategic game plan of the entire customer journey.
- Assess team eagerness and readiness: Communication. Communication. Communication. Use multiple sources to learn and gauge employees’ interests, enthusiasm, and readiness from one-on-one conversations, surveys, and feedback apps, to name a few. Based on this information, tailor training accordingly based on strengths and aspirations.
- Design a structured program including technology: There should be an easy-to-implement and follow plan that considers not only the end goal but the most efficient way of achieving the understanding of various roles. I suggest-
- Step-by-step modules that deliver information in multiple ways for the various learning types across the population, i.e., kinesthetic hands-on approach, analytical method, verbal interactive learning style, etc.
- Clear timelines for each
- Measurable outcomes
- Leveraging technology apps for task simulations, scheduling, and tracking progress.
- Ensure managerial support and mentorship: Without strong leadership, there will be no guidance or role models to set the bar and the tone for employee expectations. Hire the right value-aligned management who will always support and serve as proud mentors to your staff. It’s worth stating again that this tangible role-model style of leadership, along with belief in the capability and seeing opportunity in their people, encourages those they lead to stretch their own self-growth goals.
- Establish feedback mechanisms: Now that we have established the critical importance of continuous communication, remember that consistent feedback ensures the program evolves to meet the evolving team’s needs.
I clearly see cross-training staff as a huge winning trifecta for all restaurants: a win for the customer’s experience, a win for the employees’ personal and professional growth and knowledge, and a win for the owner/operator/leadership. With stronger operational efficiency and staff better understanding all aspects of the operation (including the admin and ‘business’ side), the cohesive, collaborative team will create empowered, empathetic employees. Take caution to balance the need for effective implementation with the totality of so many details to avoid burnout but instead leave the staff feeling more supported and empowered to help one another. With structured programs to educate and give clarity around each role and responsibility as it plays a part of the larger restaurant team objective, you will find what may have felt like overwhelm and chaos become beautiful, controlled chaos.
To an outsider, it may appear like football players running all over the field without fully understanding the play, but with your teammates knowing each other’s “why” and feeling connected to one another, they will support each other no matter what. They are not only protecting each other, covering whatever is needed in the moment, but also protecting the customer’s experience. And who doesn’t want more of that?!
Email [email protected] if you want to have your culture-related questions featured in the next Ask Jill! Develop Your Company Culture article.
