Employee Onboarding in Hospitality: What are the Most Effective Methods of Preparing New Employees?

Onboarding new employees in the hospitality industry is an essential part of hiring and training new employees for their roles and responsibilities. In the hospitality industry, it's particularly important to ensure that new employees are well-prepared for their roles, as they will be working in a fast-paced and customer-focused environment. Running a successful staff onboarding program also results in more motivated, better-trained, and confident employees. In this blog post, we will cover how to onboard your fresh staff and how to turn them from zero to hero.

First, we must talk about the most effective methods of preparing new employees in four broad pillars:

Strategy – The broad, long-term plan of action to achieve your onboarding goals.

Contents – The topics that need to be covered in the onboarding and subsequent training.

Techniques – The delivery methods of onboarding training.

Implementation – The practical process of applying those strategies and techniques to onboard your restaurant staff.

1. Strategy

What are you trying to achieve from onboarding new employees? You most probably desire a capable and confident workforce. After all, any establishment (especially in hospitality) is nothing without its people, and they need to be trained to fulfill their duties efficiently and accurately. The process of accomplishing that objective begins with a good strategy.

  • Define your objectives

Clearly outline what you want to achieve through your onboarding program. Are you aiming to reduce staff turnover, increase productivity, or improve customer satisfaction? Whatever your objectives may be, make sure they are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound.

  • Create a structured plan

Develop a roadmap for your onboarding program that includes a timeline, milestones, and checkpoints. Your plan should cover all the essential topics, such as company policies, job expectations, safety guidelines, and customer service protocols.

  • Identify the needs of your target audience

Your onboarding program should be tailored to the needs and preferences of your new employees. Determine who your new hires are and what they expect from their job, so you can design a program that resonates with them.

  • Assign roles and responsibilities

Identify who will be responsible for delivering the training and who will be supporting the new hires throughout the onboarding process. Ensure that everyone involved understands their role and has the necessary resources to execute their tasks effectively.

  • Evaluate and refine

In your strategic plan, make sure to keep evaluation metrics and monitoring mechanisms in place, so that once you have implemented your onboarding program, you can assess its effectiveness and gather feedback from your new hires. Keep it flexible so that you can use this feedback to improve your program by making adjustments and refining it over time.

2. Contents

The way you can achieve this goal is by providing ongoing learning opportunities and ensuring that new employees are integrated into the company culture and values. The main strategy for this is to put in place a comprehensive onboarding program that covers all the necessary skills, knowledge, and resources that new employees need to succeed in their roles.

Here are some contents to include in the said onboarding training program:

  • Company Orientation

Company orientation is a crucial part of onboarding new employees in the hospitality industry. A thorough understanding of the company's history, mission, values, and culture is essential for any new employee to feel connected and invested in their work.

A clear mission statement and company culture provide direction, and purpose, and foster a sense of belonging and connection to the organization. A strong company culture encourages teamwork, collaboration, loyalty, and commitment to delivering excellent service to customers.

  • Job-specific Training

Job-specific training is crucial in the hospitality industry to equip new employees with the necessary knowledge and skills to perform their roles effectively. It includes technical skills, such as operating equipment and software, to operational skills, such as cash handling and following specific regulations.

Hands-on training and shadowing of experienced staff members can be an effective approach to ensure new employees are well-equipped to provide excellent customer service (discussed later here). Investing in job-specific training helps organizations have a competent team that can deliver excellent results in a highly competitive industry.

  • Safety & Security Training

Safety and security training is a critical component of onboarding new employees in the hospitality industry. This training is necessary to ensure that employees understand the safety and security protocols of the organization, including emergency procedures, fire safety, and health and safety guidelines. In the hospitality industry, safety and security are of the utmost importance, and failure to follow proper procedures can result in serious consequences. For example, not understanding fire safety protocols can put employees and customers at risk, and not following health and safety guidelines can result in food poisoning outbreaks.

By providing safety and security training during the onboarding process, employees can be better equipped to identify and respond to potential safety and security threats. This training should also be ongoing, with regular updates and refreshers – ensuring that employees remain vigilant and prepared in the event of an emergency.

  • Customer Service Training

Customer service skills are essential in creating a positive customer experience and building brand loyalty. In a customer-facing industry, employees must understand how to provide excellent customer service, handle complaints and feedback, and build positive relationships with customers.

Through training, employees can learn how to communicate effectively, actively listen to customer needs, and provide personalized service. They can also learn how to handle difficult situations such as complaints or negative feedback, turning them into positive outcomes.

By providing comprehensive customer service training, organizations can improve the overall customer experience, resulting in increased customer satisfaction and repeat business.

  • Soft Skills Training

Soft skills training is crucial in the hospitality industry, as effective communication, teamwork, time management, and problem-solving are necessary for employees to interact with customers and colleagues, manage their time efficiently, and solve problems creatively. By providing soft skills training, employees can become more productive and effective, leading to improved customer satisfaction, better teamwork, and increased job satisfaction.

The goal is to prepare new employees to perform their job duties effectively, provide excellent customer service, and contribute to the success of the organization. By implementing a well-planned and executed onboarding program, the organization can ensure that new employees are equipped with the tools they need to succeed and become valuable members of the team.

3. Techniques

  • Mentorship

Pair new employees with a mentor who can guide them through the onboarding process and provide ongoing support as they settle into their roles. This person should be someone with experience in the industry and the company, who can offer insights, answer questions, and provide feedback.

  • Job Shadowing

Allowing new employees to shadow experienced staff members can be a valuable way for them to gain a better understanding of how things work and how to perform their job duties effectively. This can be particularly valuable in hospitality, where many tasks are hands-on and require real-time interaction with customers.

The benefit of having a more hands-on approach to learning is that new hires can learn by doing, this facilitates a faster learning curve than through traditional classroom-style training, it also encourages relationship building which can help new employees feel more welcome, and create connections, these connections can be valuable for their personal and professional growth.

There are a few disadvantages to this method of learning though, it creates a limited perspective, usually, there is only a single mentor in place to teach new employees, and this can create a narrower perspective.
It can also be more time-consuming; it is a significant investment of time and resources from both sides of the table – it requires certain individuals to be in the establishment at certain times.

  • Training Manual

A training manual is a guidebook that explains how to do your job. It covers everything from safety rules to customer service and helps you understand what's expected of you. By following the instructions in the manual, you can be sure you're doing your job the right way. Having a training manual in place can prove helpful, it can even be distributed to potential employees to prepare them for their first day.

  • Digital Training Techniques

We all know that technology is a useful tool in everyday life, but it can also be leveraged to help educate and train your staff. Learning Management Systems (LMS) are such technology that can track employee progress and performance, allowing managers to monitor training completion rates and identify areas for improvement. LMS such as spoon.tech allows you to easily convert your processes into interactive and visually engaging training materials, including gamification features such as games, quizzes, leaderboards etc.

4. Implementation

When implementing the above strategies and techniques, make sure to cover the following steps:

  • Create a comprehensive onboarding program

Develop a structured onboarding program that covers all the essential information and skills the new employee will need to perform their job effectively. This can include an overview of the company, its mission, and values, a breakdown of the employee's role and responsibilities, and specific training on relevant tools and technology.

Sending this document out to new hires before their first trial shift is a great idea. This allows the new member to already have an idea about the company structure, its operations, and what their first goals & milestones should be.

  • Fun and Engaging

Avoid creating an exceedingly lengthy & wordy document, as this can make onboarding training seem more of an obstacle than an opportunity. We recommend using a more engaging approach, such as interactive games and quizzes, as well as making use of visually appealing materials, such as videos and pictures. This will make it easier for your employees to consume the information and digest it in a practical form.

  • Offer ongoing training and development

Instead of just a one-time onboarding training, provide ongoing training opportunities to help new employees build their skills and knowledge over time. This can include online courses, workshops, or mentoring programs. A clear roadmap of a continuous learning plan can help new employees stay motivated and look forward to various milestones in career growth.

  • Encourage open and easy communication

Create an open and supportive environment where new employees feel comfortable asking questions, seeking feedback, and sharing their concerns. Encourage regular check-ins between new employees and their manager or mentor to ensure that they feel supported and can raise any issues or challenges. Facilitate easy communication channels so that employees can easily communicate their problems and responsible people can provide advice and guidance.

In conclusion, a well-executed employee onboarding program in the hospitality industry is critical to the success of the business. With a comprehensive onboarding program, employers can ensure that new hires receive the training and support they need to become productive, motivated, and confident team members. It is essential to create a structured plan with clear objectives, identify the needs of the target audience, and assign roles and responsibilities to ensure that the onboarding process is effective. Additionally, ongoing training and development, mentorship, job shadowing, training manuals, and digital training techniques can also help support the onboarding process. By implementing these best practices, hospitality businesses can create a culture of learning, engagement, and communication that leads to long-term success.

If you're looking to improve your restaurant business and to level up your staff with advanced features, spoon.tech can help. To get in touch with us, you can: fill out our contact form, alternatively, you can call us via phone at (+43 670 655 56 82) Or email us at hello@spoon.tech.