The Labor Issues That Matter Most To Restaurant Operators Plus How To Solve Them

At a recent Restaurant Franchising & Innovation Summit in Louisville, restaurateurs and franchising professionals came together to discuss major issues facing the restaurant industry and to propose solutions, according to an article on Pizza Marketplace. A panel of three such professionals sounded off on one of the near-omnipresent concerns for restaurateurs—labor—and included “Stacked Pickle COO Scott Goodrich, Taziki's Vice President of Operations Mike Smith and Cousins Subs President and CEO Christine Specht. The session was monitored by Scott Absher, CEO and co-founder of Shiftpixy,” the article said.

Absher highlighted the labor shortage that hit the restaurant and hospitality industries during the last recession due to a population of newly unemployed workers taking jobs in the rideshare space, the article said. To help combat the subsequent labor shortage, “all panelists said that culture was key to attract and retain employees. Specht said her restaurant constantly tries to push their culture,” according to the article.

"It has to be an inviting place to work. Uniforms can't be awkward. You need to cater to their needs,” Specht said, according to the article. Smith pointed out the need for coaching, the article said: “Employees think if you aren't coaching them, you think they don't exist."

Other important best practices highlighted by the panel included spotlighting a career path—"It's also going to be about opportunity. People are driven to opportunity," Goodrich said—as well as empowering management to make some entrepreneurial decisions and making the restaurant feel like a family, according to the article.

In order to build an environment that retains talent, Smith said you need to, "Live culture, refer to it, reward it,” according to the article.

Katie LaTour is a staff writer for 1851 Franchise and Estatenvy. She has experience in copywriting, editing and translation, and has written content for brands including Coca-Cola, Ivivva and Ray Ban's. She holds a Master of Arts in Writing and Publishing from DePaul University and a B.A. in English and Spanish from the University of Dayton. Presently, Katie is working on a poetry collection and building a platform for Chicago creative professionals to share best practices.