A Few Tips For Effective Restaurant Employee Supervision

Whether you have one employee or dozens, effective restaurant employee supervision is both an art and a science. There are the usual laws and regulations for employer and employee interactions which must be understood and implement, but effective supervision is more than the letter of the law. Here are a few suggestions for obtaining the best results from your employees as an owner, manager or supervisor.

Every employee should know exactly what the responsibilities are for the specific position. This includes where the individual is in the organizational chart. The worker also needs to know what behaviors are expected, as well as which are prohibited. The written employee manual should be supplemented by on-the-job training. If you delegate the training to another employee, be sure that the verbal instructions match the written instructions.

It is important that employees are motivated to do a good job. This concept is not something that can be accomplished by a list of do's and don'ts. However, it does help if the employee is receiving wages in accordance with the law and benefits consistent with those of the surrounding region and industry standards. Other factors that may motivate workers include health, education and child care benefits.

Workers whose abilities are matched to the particular job are more likely to be happy and productive employees. At the same time, many people appreciate the opportunity to advance in responsibilities and benefits. For those who want to move up the career ladder, an achievable plan should be available to the worker. Education and training that may lead to promotion is something that boosts morale and thus facilitates positive supervision results.

Consistent penalties and discipline when required is very important. If one employee's breaches of rules is winked at, you can be sure that soon another employee will be doing the same thing. Because you don't want the situation to deteriorate into an atmosphere of "snitching" on one another, you must have monitoring and review tools in place so that you, as supervisor, can independently determine if there are problems with one or more employees.

Effective restaurant employee supervision begins with full knowledge by the workers of expected behavior. Training in the specific duties of the position must be implemented by someone who is knowledgeable in the written and on-the-job expectations for satisfactory performance. Supervisors who are cognizant of the morale of the work environment get better results. When penalties or poor performance must be addressed, consistent application is crucial.