Educating employees opens doors: influencing trainees with new media methods really works, and savvy operators use well-schooled workers to set a concept apart

Nation's Restaurant News,  Jan 29, 2007  by Dina Berta

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Training is no longer optional for competitive restaurants in today's market.

More than just an exercise in teaching an employee how to perform a particular task, training has emerged as a strategy to retain workers, improve customer service, grow sales during product rollouts and build a culture by communicating a company's goals and values.

"In the past, training was focused on elementary skills--making sure the staff knows what to do," says Josh Davies, president of the Council of Hotel and Restaurant Trainers, or CHART, and director of training for Denver-based hotel management group Sage Hospitality Resources.

"What we're seeing more and more is companies that use training to differentiate themselves from the competition. It's become a required element of everything you do," Davies says.

IHOP Corp. is launching a customer service training program that is so important, the Glendale, Calif.-based franchisor is requiring all of its more than 400 franchisees to implement it by the end of March. IHOP has never made any of its training programs mandatory before, says John Isbell, director of training for 1,278-unit family-dining chain.

"This new service initiative is based on consumer research," Isbell says. "Guests want better service. The training is urgent and critical. We want to make it our standard operating procedure."

The program is aimed at improving service, not with speed, but by being more personable, friendly and genuine with customers, he says.

For years the chain's training had emphasized serving diners quickly. The new program signifies a cultural shift in IHOP, Isbell says. The goal is for the pancake houses to not just be known for efficient service, but also for its engaging service.

The corporate office is sending trainers to the restaurants to show franchisees how to conduct sessions with front-of-the-house employees. Employees will take an assessment test to determine which way they learn best--audio, visual or reading. Once that has been decided, they'll train in that mode: more reading materials if they like to read or more videos and on-the-job instruction if they prefer to watch.

While one-on-one training remains the primary teaching tactic in restaurants, training also is getting a boost through customization, the use of technology and the Internet. Mixed media methods are making it easier and more cost-effective to train employees, operators say.

Bradley, Ill.-based Monical's Pizza still sends management trainees to certified trainers to learn various skills, such as how to make pizza dough. Lynn Saathoff at the Monical's pizzeria in Bourbonnais, Ill., will work with new managers for a week, showing them how to mix dough and use the machines that cut the dough into perfect circles.

"At Monical's they let you know what is expected of you from the beginning, and they show you every step," says Saathoff, who has been with the chain for seven years.

Beyond on-the-job training, Monical's expanded a few years ago into online training. It was one of the first restaurants to use "ManageMentor Plus," a Web-based management development program offered through Harvard Business School Publishing and the National Restaurant Association Education Foundation.

Profit is up 33 percent over last year, says Harry Bond, president of 58-unit Monical's, which generated $50 million in annual revenue last year. The company also reports below-industry averages for annual turnover for general managers, which is about 10 percent, and turnover for hourly employees, which runs approximately 85 percent.

In the 1990s, faced with a tight labor market and greater competition from national pizza chains, Monical's was looking for something to give the brand a competitive edge, Bond says, and decided that its employees were its advantage.

"We had to find good people and keep good people," he says. "You have to have a good training program to keep people engaged."

Higher retention lowers the cost of turnover and training new employees, operators say, although most estimate that the foodservice industry does not spend as much on training as other industries do. It is suspected that restaurant companies spend less than 4 percent to 5 percent of their operating budgets on training.

CHART, an organization of more than 500 trainers and human resource executives, surveyed its members and learned their companies spend an average of $140,000 on training, or up to $84 million for the entire CHART membership.

IHOP is spending a significant amount on the new training initiative, although Isbell declined to give a specific amount.

"Well-trained employees just stay longer," Isbell says. "They believe you care about them and that you think they are important to you, and when that happens they are better workers. Also, when they know their job really well, that's when they do the extra stuff, the above and beyond as opposed to just taking orders or making food."