The Competitive Edge of Continuous Training (in Restaurants)

In the general business world it is becoming more widely known and discussed that continuous professional development is important for a multitude of reasons. Ranging from attracting and retaining great employees to better performance, the gains exceed the costs if it is done right. Unfortunately, there are still a lot of industries that don’t recognize this value. Restaurants, particularly smaller chains and independent operators, are quite noticeably prominent in not seeing the value.

The food-service industry is a fast-paced and always rapidly changing. Anyone in the industry knows this, and restaurateurs are always trying to stand out. With consumer reviewing playing a greater role and more companies than ever being competitive on excellent customer service restaurateurs need to make sure their staff is up to the task, well-informed, and engaged with their work. Continuous training is one of the best proven methods to do all of that.

With rising minimum wages all around the country and rapidly changing industry trends there is more reason than ever to invest in making your workforce the best it can be and instill loyalty to your brand, especially for restaurants. Training is more important than ever before for small businesses that employ minimum or near minimum wage employees, both because of rising wages and trends in the the current generation of the workforce who see growth as one of the largest reasons to take and hold a position.

Some of the most overused arguments against this investment like “time my employees are training is time the aren’t doing their job” and “it is too expensive” have long since been debunked and you can see this yourself with a quick cost-and-benefit analysis. Time spent training is time spent working because it sharpens skills and in the long-run leads to smoother and more efficient operations. The great news about the expense is that the cost of this training is getting lower all the time with excellent resources for online programs and better information accessibility. With the importance growing and cost lowering is there any reason not to invest in continuous training?