How Gamification Can Help Restaurants Exceed Goals

How Gamification Can Help Restaurants Exceed Goals

by | Apr 29, 2016 | Business Toolkit, Management

Gamification, you’ve probably heard this buzzworthy term more than a few times over the past year, and there’s a reason. From learning new skills to breakthroughs in scientific research, the use of gamification in business is drastically rising because of its effectiveness. Now, it’s time for the restaurant industry to take advantage.

Ameego, the premier online scheduling and labor control platform made specifically for the restaurant industry, recently published an article detailing how restaurants can use gamification to exceed their goals, and it explains gamification perfectly.

Boiled down, gamification is essentially taking an often boring activity, and transforming it into a fun game to achieve high productivity.

And, as of late, leaders in the restaurant world have been utilizing gamification to solve industry-wide problems from high turnover to low sales. Here are just a few that you might want to know about.

Improving employee performance

With the help of gamification experts Guest Engine, CARA, one of Canada’s leading franchise operations, developed a gamified program called #Connect in the hopes of increasing employee performance.

The program is based on the concept of “cooperative competition” in which employees work together to achieve individual goals such as exceeding sales numbers or receiving a positive review.

using gamification in restaurants to increase employee performance

When those goals are met, the gamification comes into play and employees earn points which they can then redeem for rewards, such as badges that signify an accomplishment, perks like writing your own schedule and monetary rewards.

The results: more sales, higher productivity and increased staff morale.

Boosting customer engagement

The use of gamification can extend beyond operations, and a great example is the Dominos ‘Pizza Hero’ app that, among other things, gamified the ordering process.

The app, which was a virtual pizza “slot machine”, would randomly generate a pizza for its owner after shaking the app. To top it off, the pizza could be ordered directly from the app.

using gamification in restaurants to increase employee performance

It was a hit amongst indecisive eaters and within just two weeks of its release, the app generated over 140,000 downloads, doing wonders for their engagement.

For more ways to leverage gamification in your restaurant, check out the Ameego Blog →

Catering Company ‘Eat Offbeat’ Staffs Kitchen With Refugees

Catering Company ‘Eat Offbeat’ Staffs Kitchen With Refugees

by | Apr 25, 2016 | IndiNews

From traditional Nepalese dumplings and Iraqi baba ghanouj to heaping containers of East African lentils, the variety of authentic cuisines prepared in the kitchen of New York City catering and delivery company Eat Offbeat spans the globe.

Even more refreshing? So do the men and women who make up its kitchen staff. In fact, all seven of Eat Offbeat’s employees came to the United States as asylum seekers or refugees who fled other countries. And, not one of them had any prior professional culinary experience.

One of the company’s two founders, Manal Kahi, who plans to continue to hire and train refugees to work in the kitchen, explains that her motivation is partly humanitarian and partly business-savvy. She and her co-founder/brother, Wissam Kahi, believe that in a city saturated with excellent ethnic cuisine, their hiring practices lend them a way to stand out from the crowd.

We are really focusing on these new and off-the-beaten-path cuisines. Refugees are coming from countries that have cuisines we don’t really know…it’s not cuisines that you find at every corner.

The experience of being an international transplant in New York is one that Manal understands well having moved to the city from Lebanon as a student. Coincidentally, in 2014 when she started considering the possibility of running her own kitchen, Syrians had begun fleeing their homes in droves heading for her native Lebanon.

Ruminating on how she could contribute to the humanitarian efforts to aid the Syrian refugees, Manal stumbled upon the idea of employing them to make the traditional recipes she had come to love.

I was feeling very hopeless about it. When I got this idea of making hummus, I thought maybe Syrian refugees could be making it.

While other aspects of her eventual business plan changed, the idea of employing refugees remained. To get the ball rolling, Manal, having recognized the impact that an industry influencer could bring to her cause, enlisted the help of high-profile chef Juan Suarez de Lezo. By then partnering with the International Rescue Committee, an organization with a humanitarian mission to resettle refugees and asylum seekers, Manal and her brother were able get staffing underway.

Now, only five months into their soft launch phase, Eat Offbeat is already preparing nearly 200 meals each week out of a rented commercial kitchen in Queens. While catering is only currently available for groups of at least 10 people, plans are in the works to open up delivery to individuals.

As for the menu, that is expected to change as well, with Manal planning to take dishes out of the rotation if and when the employee who makes the recipe leaves her employ.

We want to keep it tied to them.

While every employee learns how to make recipes other than his or her own, Manal shares that retiring dishes from the menu is a nod to the fact that Eat Offbeat is just as much about celebrating people as it is about the food those people make.

Wherever they go from here, it seems clear that Manal and her brother have a bright future in the culinary industry. After a successful start in New York, any other market should prove child’s play. As Frank Sinatra famously sang, if you can make it there you’ll make it anywhere.

Attract Top Talent With Relocation Incentives

Attract Top Talent With Relocation Incentives

by | Apr 18, 2016 | Business Toolkit, Management

Finding top talent to fill the vital roles of a company often requires hospitality management and operations to extend their recruitment strategies. Placement of career opportunities on a broad platform to recruit is good, but making a distinct effort to allure top talent to relocate could net even better results.

 

Selling the Reality Life Enhancement

There’s more to offer beyond salary and benefits.

Successful companies in the hospitality industry understand the positive impact of bringing quality individuals to the table. While offering a competitive salary and benefits is effective in many ways, even more important is to offer a holistic life enhancement opportunity.

Instead of this person being a tourist, desiring to be entertained and dazzled with the sites and events of a location, they’re going to respond better to clear picture of what day-to-day reality will be.

Finding the Employee Who Doesn’t Want to Relocate

The interest is not in relocating, but in working for the company.

See, the person who is immediately on board with relocating is likely going to be the person who then relocates again within a short time. The optimal candidate is the person who doesn’t have a mind to relocate but is the best fit for your company.

The point here is to expand the talent pool from which a company recruits by appealing to those who hadn’t considered relocation, but became open to it after the allurement strategy was employed.

Creating a Movement of Like-Minded Individuals

The world is a smaller place than before the Internet, yet is still large enough for even the most broad-minded people to become location-centered.

While it’s good to have an orderly, unified set of standards to compose the direction of your organization, ultimately a business is most effective when it appreciates and utilizes the innovative creativity of its employees. Holding on and letting go at the same time is a good analogy of the process of best using the diverse talents in your employees.

This culture of like-minded individuals can be an effective selling point during this allurement process. Prospective applicants need a reason beyond salaries and location benefits, and this culture of individuals can be the tipping point in their decision.

As a part of your unique recruitment process, designing a window of insight to show the unique philosophy of your organization will solidify an understanding of your company’s like-minded cohesiveness.

One in a Million is More than Enough

Create a culture of success with successful hires.

Taking advantage of the reach of your recruitment efforts is an effective strategy for finding top talent. With such a large prospective base of people looking for a career in the hospitality industry, finding the right ones for long-term commitment is more likely than ever.

Enticing talented individuals to relocate is worth the effort because finding that one in a million will bring innovation and positive energy to your workforce.

 

The hospitality industry is uniquely positioned to attract top talent who would, at least, consider relocating, but, by the same token, is subject to a shifting workforce. This trend can be reconciled by including relocation incentives in the recruitment process. By reaching those beyond the natural recruiting sphere, you’re tapping into a unique pool of talented employees by offering an unmatched opportunity.

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Get ServSafe Certified in Denver

Get ServSafe Certified in Denver

by | Apr 12, 2016 | Career

The ServSafe Program leads the way in providing comprehensive educational materials to the restaurant industry through face-to-face and online instruction. Certification classes are provided monthly by the Colorado Restaurant Association. If you’re not located in Colorado, check your State’s Restaurant Association website for event information.

ServSafe Alcohol

The purpose of the ServSafe Alcohol ® is to ensure that servers, bartenders, and managers have the information they need to understand and implement the skills of responsible service. Participants should leave the program confident in their ability to make sound decisions and handle potentially intoxicated guests. A workbook is provided as a reference tool for your operation.

 

Next Class:

9:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Colorado Restaurant Association
430 E 7th Ave
Denver, CO 80203

 

Who Should Attend: Managers Supervisors Bartenders, Servers, Barbacks, FOH, Owners, Operators
Cost: $40 CRA members, $55 non-members
Registration form (REQUIRED): View/Download here

 

ServSafe Food Safety

ServSafe Food Safety® is a program of the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation. The Manager Certification course is a 1-day immersion course, offering basic food safety concepts. This program has a certification exam; passage of the exam is acceptable in 95% of American jurisdictions with a training requirement.

 

Next Class:

8:30 AM – 5:00 PM
Colorado Restaurant Association
430 E 7th Ave
Denver, CO 80203

 

Who Should Attend: Managers, Supervisors, Chefs, Line Cooks, Prep Cooks, Kitchen Managers, Owners, Operators
Cost: $140 CRA members, $180 non-members
Registration form (REQUIRED): View/Download here
Tips for Hiring & Retaining Talented Service Employees

Tips for Hiring & Retaining Talented Service Employees

by | Apr 5, 2016 | Business Toolkit, Management

Recent economic trends have led more and more talented individuals to seek employment in the service sector, which is great news if you’re looking to hire employees for your service-related business. Nevertheless, turnover in the industry remains high, which means that even if you score great talent, it’s likely they’ll leave within the year, but not if you know how to pick them, and keep them satisfied on the job. These are the tips to do just that.

1. Think long-term

You might need a restaurant hostess right now or a concierge for your hospitality business, but what will you need in the upcoming months or next year? Thinking more long-term, like investing in continued education and promoting from within, can help you hire someone who can fulfill the position you need right now and then move into another position later on down the road.

Talented employees, whether they’re working in a restaurant, hotel or corporate office, need to stay motivated not only with a sense of purpose but also mastery.

They’ll stay at the place that provides this; where they have a chance to work towards a goal, learn new skills, and grow professionally. So, next time you’re hiring, do so with the intention of future promotion and make it known that this is what you’re seeking in potential employees.

2. Offer good benefits

Many people look at service jobs as just that- a job, not a career. That’s because some employers don’t offer crucial benefits that more traditional offices and career-focused places do. If possible, provide high-level employees with health care, retirement savings, or, if you’re a public company, stock options, so they can remain in the industry instead of going corporate out of necessity.

If you can’t do any of these things, at least not right now, then think about what else you can offer for benefits because these perks can make all the difference. Paid time off, extra pay for holidays, or even a shift meal can make your place of business more appealing than the others down the road.

3. Define your culture

Workplace culture, from how a business looks to employee attitudes and communication, reinforces how an organization operates. It’s a fundamental element that can have a huge impact on the satisfaction of not just your customers but your employees as well.

Even the best employees are nothing without a supportive work environment.

Those who want to build a career in the industry will look to work somewhere that has clearly defined values, priorities and communication, otherwise known as an attractive and inviting culture. So, if you haven’t already, work on building a positive workplace culture that will improve customer experience and employee satisfaction.

4. Ask your best employees for references

Great employees probably surround themselves with people who have a similar work ethic. Take advantage of this, and make the most of your employees’ networks when hiring next. Ask your best employees if they have any references or know anyone looking for a job. This will show your staff that you trust them, value their opinions and could lead to an exceptional hire.

5. Appreciate your employees

Employees talk about their jobs, so it’s going to be well-known if you’re a gracious employer or a hellish one.

Keep your reputation rock-solid by showing your appreciation.

Hosting company events, giving praise publicly and even just being understanding when mistakes are made can go a long way in expressing gratitude.

Beyond what your employees say, customers can tell the difference between a well-treated staff and one that’s under-appreciated. If it’s the former, service will be great, customers will be happy and business will be good. If it’s the latter, at the very least, you’ll have some pretty bad yelp reviews to deal with.

Hiring is one of the most difficult aspects of the service industry, which is why spending the time to source talented employees and dedicating resources to maximize job satisfaction is crucial to the success of your business. And, we’re here to help. Find more info and tips in our Management section.

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