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As a new employee in a restaurant, whether you are new on the floor, in the kitchen, or in the administration, you have plenty of questions. How do I turn on the alarm? What’s on next month’s menu?
Do you have a strategy for how the employees in your restaurant can communicate and find answers when they are uncertain of something? If not, it’s a good idea to consider a social intranet solution that gathers employees and information in one place.
As a new employee in a restaurant, whether you are new on the floor, in the kitchen, or in the administration, you have plenty of questions. How do I turn on the alarm? What’s on next month’s menu? What do I have to know about allergens and hygiene control? You can look for answers in the employee manual, on the notice board in the staff room, or you can bother a colleague with all your questions. In the latter instance, it’s not just the new employee who has to use time looking for answers, but also the colleague in question.
Making it quick and easy to find answers when questions arise also frees up more time and attention for the guests in the restaurant. That’s why you should consider gathering all important information in one place – preferably right at hand. With an app-based intranet solution, every employee can have the answers to the most probable and improbable questions right in their pocket. Go for a solution with an easy and efficient search function and reading the employee manual or the latest hygiene instructions can be done in a flash.
If the weather is better than usual, or if something unusual is drawing crowds nearby that will eventually end up crowding your restaurant, you’ll often have to spend a lot of time on the phone calling in extra help. It could save you a lot of time if all relevant employees received a simultaneous notice telling them extra hands are needed. If you choose a modern intranet with the option of messaging specific groups, you’ll have the possibility to react in a hurry when things aren’t going as planned.
Groups can also be used for inspiration and for small internal competitions that can boost engagement and lead to increased sales of items with big margins. ‘Who can move the most double-shot espressos today?’ The coffee-hero of the day can help inspire behavioral change in the rest of the staff. And the successful efforts echo on the bottom line.
It sounds so simple, but sharing the right information with the right employee can be an artform. Every time you inform a waiter about something that is only relevant to the kitchen staff, you steal a little of that waiter’s time – and that is often at the cost of the attention left for the next relevant bit of information about new opening hours. Look for a solution that lets you share news and messages with selected colleagues, so the rest of the restaurant isn’t bothered by irrelevant updates and doesn’t have to keep up to date in an ocean of e-mails, checklists, text messages and Post-It’s in the staff room.
It’s also important to go for a solution that features automatic sign-up for work groups so that user administration can be put on autopilot. Otherwise keeping track of who should have access to which groups can soon become an administrative burden – particularly in a restaurant where staff turnover has to be taken into consideration.
When internal communication spreads across several platforms, it becomes hard to keep track of agreements. But many often choose to communicate on platforms they are already familiar with. That makes it hard to sidestep e.g., Messenger or WhatsApp, and it is very possibly here we find the answer to why the classic intranet doesn’t always meet expectations. Today, there is a new generation of social intranet solutions that closely resemble the social media we are used to using, but that separate work and private life – and protect company data at the same time.
You will obviously have to be aware of whether the system can actually replace the social platforms we are all familiar with, otherwise you’ll just end up where you started. It will end up becoming just another system. Make sure there is a quick link to the restaurant’s Facebook page, so select employees can easily contribute to your external communication – all while security is in place and business data isn’t shared on networks outside of your control.
Most restaurants juggle between several different systems daily, from shift planning, bookings, economy, HR, payroll, operations and loyalty programs – to name but a few. When you begin looking for a unified solution, it will at first seem like a good idea to go with a manageable full suite solution. And that might be fine for a while, but many soon realize that they are trapped in a system that is unable to keep up as the restaurant grows.
Instead, you should look for an open system where you can easily integrate your favorite systems. Preferably an open API-solution with plug & play integrations that keeps communication as the focal point that ties everything together.
In principle both tiny cafes and large restaurant chains will benefit from Ziik. It obviously takes a certain number of employees, preferably a small handful, before it really makes sense. But if you are planning to grow, it’s a good investment to have a system for employee communication in place from the beginning. Because once you have the basics under control, you’ll quickly master the processes for onboarding new employees. You’ll be certain that the direction and vision for the restaurant is clearly communicated and has reached every employee, and you’ll get a solid foundation for improving the restaurant’s bottom line.
Yes, of course! You can drop us a line at hello@ziik.io or call Martin Simonsen on +45 2086 0189 for a chat about how better internal communication can help improve the bottom line for your restaurant. We can offer comprehensive advice over the phone so you can decide whether Ziik covers your needs and supports the systems you already use.
No hidden surprises
No hidden fees or bindings of any kind here.
Easy to get started with
Ziik doesn’t require long explanations. The user experience is reminiscent of the ones we are all familiar with from social media.
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