Training for Restaurant Staff You Should Know [8 Best Practice]

The restaurant business is one of the most trending businesses of this century. But the success ratio of a restaurant business is very low. Most restaurant businesses are forced to shut down in the first year of starting. Because most restaurants can’t generate more revenue than the startup cost. It is because the restaurant couldn't attract more customers or couldn’t make the customer return who once visited due to lousy service. This whole scenario is the result of not being able to provide restaurant staff with the necessary training. Good training for restaurant staff is very important for the success of a restaurant business.

Topics of Training for Restaurant Staff

Training for restaurant staff is a must to ensure the success of a restaurant business. But before providing any training as a restaurant owner or a restaurant manager, it is your responsibility to know and list down which areas or topics you need to train your employees. Let’s look at our top picks of training for restaurant staff topics in which areas you must train your employees.

Topic 1: Food Safety

The most crucial factor in the restaurant industry is food safety. Knowledge about food safety is vital for food handlers. Because food handlers must ensure 3 things before they serve the food to the customer.

1. Firstly food handlers must ensure that the food is not contaminated.
2. Secondly, food handlers must prepare the food hygienically.
3. Third and the final thing is food handlers must ensure the food is safe for consumption.

And in order to ensure these things a restaurant kitchen staff or food handler must know about food safety. Otherwise, he or she can’t ensure anything. Without food safety training, kitchen staff can’t identify whether the food is contaminated or not. At the same time, he or she will not be able to prepare food hygienically. And finally, the kitchen staff will not be able to ensure the food is safe for consumption. So food safety training for restaurant staff is very important.

You can start the food safety training with the basics of food service and kitchen service. Then move to advanced food hygiene standards imposed by HAACP or its local equivalent. The main points of food safety are described in brief below.

1. Personal Hygiene

First and the foremost thing is maintaining personal hygiene for restaurant staff. Whether a staff works in the kitchen or in the dining hall or is a cashier. Everyone must maintain their personal hygiene. So you must train your restaurant staff on how to maintain personal hygiene.

2. Foodborne Illness

Foodborne illnesses are a serious problem. If any customer gets sick after having a meal in your restaurant, then you might get in serious trouble. You might face lawsuits that might cost you a fortune. Also, the reputation of your restaurant will be lost forever. So every kitchen staff must know about foodborne illnesses. They must have knowledge about:

• What are the causes of foodborne illness? 
• How to prevent foodborne illness?

So that kitchen staff knows the causes of foodborne illness and can prevent foodborne illness. This is why training about food safety is important for every restaurant and every kitchen staff should be aware of foodborne illnesses.

3. Cross-Contamination Prevention

Cross-Contamination is a process where unintentionally different kinds of microorganisms such as viruses, bacterias, pathogens, etc are transferred from one substance to another and creates a harmful effect.

There are mainly 3 kinds of cross-contamination. They are:

• Food to Food
• Equipment to Food
• People to Food

Food contamination can cause foodborne illness. So every kitchen staff must know about the causes of cross-contamination and the prevention of cross-contamination.

4. Proper Food Storage

Proper food storage is another vital thing. Because if food is not stored properly, then food can get spoiled or even worse, contaminated. And it will create two major problems. They are:

• If food gets spoiled then there is no other option but to throw it away. But you spent a large amount on buying that food will be wasted. 
• And if food gets contaminated, people will fall ill after having that food. 

So knowledge about proper food storage is very important. Kitchen staff must know about a few things while storing food. They are:

• Dry food must be stored in a place where there is no chance of getting wet.
• Raw foods like meat, poultry, fish, seafood, etc must be stored in the refrigerator.
• Foods must be stored in a clean area. You must clean that place every day. And also make sure to sanitize that place after cleaning every day.
• Food must be stored in a place where there is no pest. You must take every possible action to prevent pests in the food storage room.

Every kitchen staff must be trained on how to store food properly. It will help you to reduce costs in your restaurant business and also help your restaurant save its good reputation.

5. Preparation

Knowledge about food preparation is also very important. Because food that is served to customers must be appealing to look at and also delicious in taste. At the same time, they must be safe for consumption. Knowledge of food preparation is also important to prepare food according to customers' needs or demands or requests. It ensures customer satisfaction.

Topic 2: Serving Food

A restaurant’s waiters or serving staffs are the ones who mostly represent a restaurant. Because they are the first person with whom customers interact the whole time that a customer spends in a restaurant. A serving staff must have expertise in 3 things. They are:

1. How to appropriately greet customers to make customers feel welcomed
2. How to seat them at the right table according to the number of people arriving together
3. How to take orders or suggest the right meal according to customers' demand 

The most important thing a serving staff should master is the details of the whole menu. When serving staff will know every detail about every item on the menu. Then they will be able to provide better customer support. They will be able the answer any question about any food item on the menu. Serving staff will also be able to suggest the best item based on the preference and also dietary restrictions of a customer. To avoid health consequences like an allergic reaction and also religious or personal brief.

For example, a customer is vegetarian and orders an item not knowing it has a non-vegetarian item. If a serving staff knows every detail of the menu, then they will be able to suggest to the customer another thing with no non-vegetarian ingredient.

Serving staff should also have the knowledge of which dish goes well with which drink to level up the eating experience of customers. Besides leveling up every customer's eating experience, serving staff can make more sales by recommending dishes, drinks, and desserts.

Topic 3: Cleaning and Sanitation

Cleanliness is very important when it comes to the restaurant business. Most customer doesn't return to a restaurant or stop visiting a restaurant if it is not clean. Some customers never visit a restaurant because they saw a negative online review from another customer about this restaurant is not clean. Cleanliness is very important because it is the first thing that attracts a customer’s attention.

Cleaning and sanitizing training for restaurant staff are necessary. Both are important for your restaurant. But one thing to keep in mind. Cleaning and sanitation are not the same. Both are different processes. 

Cleaning 

Cleaning is the process where the visible dirt and derbies are removed or cleaned from a surface. Cleaning includes dusting and moping floors with wet cloths, cleaning tables and windows, dusting lights or any hanging objects from the restaurant ceiling.

Sanitizing

Sanitizing includes cleaning invisible elements such as viruses, bacteria, pathogens, germs, etc from a surface or disinfecting a surface.

Both cleaning and sanitizing are very important in a restaurant to ensure the safety of public health. You must impose cleaning guidelines and procedures in your restaurant to maintain cleanliness. You must provide the necessary and right cleaning supplies and types of equipment to your employees so that they can work better. It would be best if you had a cleaning schedule for overall cleaning. Also, give extra attention to the high-touch areas like the restroom. Before enforcing all these activities, training your employees about cleanliness is the most important thing.

Topic 4: Customer Service

A restaurant business doesn’t have any existence without its customers. So quality customer service is very important for a restaurant business. That’s why customer service training for restaurant staff is also required.

A customer's experience starts when they arrive at the restaurant. Quality customer service should start from the entrance door. 

1. When a customer arrives a restaurant staff must welcome them with a warm greeting. This way the customer will feel more welcomed.
2. Accompanying a customer to a suitable table is also important. Sometimes customers find it very difficult to choose a suitable one for themselves. So accompanying them to the right table or choosing a suitable table for them will be a great help for the customer.
3. Helping customers with the menu is another big sign of good customer service. Asking for a customer's preferences and demands, then suggesting an item is also very appreciated by customers. Also helping customers by suggesting drinks that go well with their chosen dish is also necessary. Finally helping them chose a good dessert is also a must. Overall helping customers with the menu is crucial.
4. Being proactive before and after taking orders is also necessary.
5. Checking customers after a while every now and then is required.
6. Calling customers by their names makes them feel more connected.
7. Finally asking for their feedback makes a customer feel that you care about how they feel about your restaurant’s food and service.
8. Listening to the complaints of the customer with a very tolerant attitude is also necessary.
9. Showing appreciation if given a good compliment is also necessary.
10. Finally asking them to visit again when a customer is leaving is also essential.

Topic 5: Opening and Closing

Opening and closing a restaurant is not just flipping the “Open” sign to “Close” or vice versa.  There is a lot of work that must be done before opening the restaurant and after closing the restaurant.

Before opening a restaurant you must do a few things. Those are:

1. Turn on all restaurant lights and other facilities such as air conditioning or air ventilation.
2. Setting up furniture like tables, chairs, or sofas accurately.
3. Checking whether everything is clean and sanitized or not.
4. Make sure everything you need is present in your inventory.
5. Make sure your employees are present and ready to start working.

You also need to do a few things after closing a restaurant. Such as:

1. Cleaning up the whole dining space, kitchen, and especially the restroom.
2. Resetting the furniture of the restaurant.
3. Calculating the total sale of the restaurant of the day.
4. Checking the inventory and listing up things you need to refill for tomorrow.
5. Turning off the lights and other facilities.
6. Locking the doors and windows correctly.

A restaurant employee must be trained to effectively do all these tasks. So preparations before opening and after closing training for restaurant staff should be given accurately.

Topic 6: Cashiering

Another important topic of training for restaurant staff is cashiering. A cashier is a person or a restaurant employee who is responsible for processing all the payment transactions of a restaurant through a POS system or a cash register. A cashier must be very fast to provide a smooth customer experience. Apart from payment processing a cashier also needs good communication skills for customer satisfaction as good communication between a cashier and customer during payment processing is required.

The responsibilities of a cashier are very sensitive. So you must provide a cashier with the necessary training to ensure he or she doesn’t face any problems and maintain their duty effectively with confidence.

Topic 7: Workplace Safety

Restaurant employees must be trained on how to maintain workplace safety. Because they constantly work with fire, hot substances, sharp objects such as knives, and many more. So workplace safety training for restaurant staff is vital. Everyone should be aware of the workplace safety of the restaurant and everyone should maintain workplace safety.

For example, if any spills occur, employees must clean them immediately. Otherwise, someone else might slip and fall and get hurt because of it. And everyone should be very careful to avoid any unwanted accidents. And if unfortunately, any accident happens everyone should be aware of how to take the situation under control. 

For example, every employee must know how to use the fire extinguisher and where it is placed in case anything catches fire. 

Topic 8: First Aid

First aid training for restaurant staff is a must necessary. A restaurant is a place where employees constantly have to work with sharp objects such as knives. Also, they are always exposed to hot substances and fire. So employees can easily get injured. That’s why first aid training for restaurant staff is required. Because if employees have good knowledge about first aid then they can treat themselves or their coworkers if anyone gets any kind of injury. Every employee must know the basics of first aid and also know where the first aid kit is kept.

Conclusion

Training for restaurant staff can be time-consuming and costly but results in well-trained employees. Well-trained restaurant employees are the greatest asset of a restaurant. Trained employees can ensure the success of a restaurant. So restaurant owners or managers should prepare every new and old employee by providing them with proper training.