Server Success: The Only Guide You'll Ever Need On Restaurant Staff

Server Success
The Only Guide You'll Ever
A publication of Upserve.com
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Whether you manage 1 or 100 locations, this

eBook is your complete guide to what makes the
best staff successful and how to improve staff
performance across the board at your restaurant.
This eBook covers:

• Hiring the best restaurant staff
• Training your staff for top performance
• Staff management strategies that can ensure
you retain your employees
Share me    2 www.upserve.com
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We are restaurant loving geeks that spend all of our time

analyzing restaurant data.
Why?
We want to help you provide the best hospitality you

can. Here we share some of our findings about server
performance from working with over 3,000 restaurants
across the United States.
table of contents
6 Server Retention: The Restaurant Industry’s Challenge
10 What Is A “Turnover Rate”?
11 How To: Calculate Annual Server Turnover
13 The Restaurant Industry: By The Numbers
16 Trends In The Restaurant Industry
18 Why Staff Management Is Important To Restaurants
20 Why Are My Employees Leaving? Top 3 Reasons For Turnover
24 How To: Hiring the Right Staff
26 How To Find The Right Restaurant Employees
29 Top 3 Questions For Restaurant Employee Hiring
30 Upserve Benchmarks: What The Best Servers Have In Common
33 5 Traits To Look For In A Restaurant Server
34 Training Your Staff For Top Performance
36 The Top 3 Tactics To Include In Your Training Strategy
38 Ongoing Training Tactics Not To Miss
40 Making The Most Out Of Family Meals (In Other Words, Using It for
Training Moments)
42 “The Best Pre-Shift Meal I Ever Had…”
44 5 Employee Retention Strategies To Put In Place Today
49 How Upserve Helps Restaurants Improve Staff Performance
54 References + Additional Reading
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If you run a restaurant or a bar, you are likely faced with a hundred different
challenges in a day.
How many of those challenges have to do with your staff?
Lately it feels like I can’t

catch a break. I had 2
servers quit this week.
You should consider

yourself lucky to only have
had 2 quit. In the last 3
weeks 2 of my bartenders
didn’t show up and my
best waitress quit.
Something has got to give.

I was talking with Tony and
he said that he hasn’t had
a single waitress leave his
staff at Trattoria Romana in
6 months. What’s he doing
differently?
I’d sure love to know…
server retention:
the restaurant industry’s challenge
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Why are we talking about restaurant staff

performance?
As a restaurant owner or operator, you are no

stranger to the fact that employee turnover is a
challenge.
In fact, it is consistently one of the top

challenges restaurateurs face year after year.
However, coupled with labor challenges and an

aging workforce, no one would blame you for
arguing that things are feeling tougher lately.
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Every employee in your restaurant is capable of bringing

in $84,000 in revenue. But if your employees are not
performing their best, it’s impossible to benefit from
that. Your servers are the face of your restaurant and
have a direct impact on your bottom line.
But the facts are still the facts….
62.6% The annual turnover rate for the

restaurant industry.
42.2% The average annual turnover

rate in the U.S. labor force.
80.9% The highest the restaurant

industry has ever seen turnover at.
56.6% The lowest the restaurant industry

has ever seen turnover at.
2 YRS The amount of time that will pass

before only about 25% of the staff
you spent time recruiting will still be
working for you.
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While in general, employee turnover

remains steady in the private sector, in the
restaurant industry, employee turnover has
been on the rise since 2011.
Annual Employee Turnover Rates (%)

Restaurants-and-Accomodations Sector vs. Total Private Sector
80.9
74.2
66.3
61.0 61.0 62.5
56.6 58.8
49.1 47.9
42.2 44.4
44.0 40.5 40.8 41.5
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics Restaurants-and-Accomodations Sector Total Private Sector
The restaurant industry looks as if it will continue to face one of the highest
turnover rates in the U.S. labor force. But the real challenge is not the rate
itself, but what restaurateurs like you can do about it today.
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what is a “turnover rate”?
Let’s all get on the same page…
First things first, it’s time to define what “turnover rate” means - and
why it matters to your restaurant.
Turnover rate is the frequency at which

employees leave a job.
For example…
Tony’s Tacos saw a 50% turnover rate last year. This means that if
Tony had 10 employees, 5 left and needed to be replaced.
If you’re shaking your head thinking about what this means for
Tony - cost of hiring and training, lost guest satisfaction, increased
operations costs - then you’re not alone. High turnover brings a ton
of challenges of restaurant owners and managers.
1 2 3
Recruitment, Hiring Lost Time: Lost Experience: In the
and Training Employees: You’ve got a lot on your restaurant industry,
The more staff you have plate, and staff management experience can be hard to
to hire, the more time is time consuming - find. With a high volume
you have to spend on all especially when you have to of new employees in
of these things. continually hire and re-train. your restaurant, less
experienced staff can lower
the customer experience,
and thus harm your
restaurant reputation.
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how to: calculate annual server turnover
Turnover is a problem for everyone, but what does it mean for me specifically?
Turnover impacts not just your bottom line in terms of profitability, but staff morale and
operational success, too. The first step to facing the challenge head on? Knowing what
you’re dealing with.
calculate your turnover calculation example:
Add up the monthly employment your

1. restaurant has had for the last 12 months
then divide by 12.
monthly employment for the past
12 months: 600
600
This is your average monthly employment.
12
Pro Tip: Your monthly employment can be
found by averaging the number of payroll avg monthly employment: 50
deposits you had in a month.
Add up the number of separations (in

2. other words, employees that left) in the
same 12-month time frame.
total no. of separations: 20
Calculate your annual employee turnover rate

3. - the total number of separations divided by
the average monthly employment for the last
20
50
x100 = 40%
12 months, expressed as a percentage. turnover rate
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After reading this guide, you’ll not only understand how to

gauge your own server turnover rate, but what to do about it.
5 Traits To Look For In A Restaurant Server

How To Hire The Right Staff
What Do the Best Servers Have in Common?

Server Benchmarks In The Restaurant Industry
3 Staff Training Tactics That Guarantee Success

Training Restaurant Employees
Keeping Your Staff … Staffed

5 Employee Retention Strategies
Using The Data In Your Restaurant To Reduce

Server Turnover
How Upserve Can Help
the restaurant industry:
by the numbers
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There are 1 million restaurant locations in the United States.
In black and white, here’s what we know about the restaurant

industry and the staff it employs.
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Job Experience Restaurant Sales Restaurant Employees

Half of all adults have worked in $709.2 billion: Restaurant 14 million: Restaurant industry
the restaurant industry at some industry sales projected in 2015 employees.
point during their lives.
Four: The total percentage of the One in 10: The number of working
Eight in 10 restaurant owners say U.S. gross domestic product the Americans with jobs in the
their first job in the industry was restaurant industry controls restaurant industry.
an entry-level position.
3.8%: Restaurant industry sales 1.7 million: New restaurant jobs
Nine in 10 restaurant managers increase in nominal terms. created by the year 2025.
started in entry-level positions.
1.5%: Restaurant industry More than nine in 10 restaurants
Nine in 10 restaurant employees sales increase in real (inflation- have fewer than 50 employees.
say they are proud to work in the adjusted) terms.
restaurant industry. Sales per full-time-equivalent
$1.9 billion: Restaurant industry employee at eating and drinking
Seven in 10 restaurant workers sales on a typical day. places in 2013 were $83,561.
say they plan to work in the
restaurant industry until they 47%: Restaurant industry share of
retire. the food dollar.
Eating and Drinking Place Employment

Change from the previous month
59,800
54,500
44,700
33,600
26,800 25,100 22,300 26,200 23,900
20,300 20,700
-8,900
OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP
2014 2014 2014 2015 2015 2015 2015 2015 2015 2015 2015 2015
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics; figures are seasonally adjusted
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trends in restaurant industry
The best restaurateurs know that it takes more than a good menu to bring guests
in the door. Every year, new trends shape and reshape the industry, and staying
ahead of those trends is the difference between a restaurant that succeeds, and
one of the many that fail every year.
In the coming year, the National Restaurant Association predicts that the trends
that will shape the restaurant industry are all around one thing: Restaurant Staff.
1 Labor Challenges Are Emerging (Again):

The U.S. economy is on the rise, which means unemployment
rates are going down - and restaurants are having more
trouble recruiting and retaining their employees. For the
15th year in 2014, restaurant employment growth outpaced
overall employment growth in the private sector. A gap
between open positions and available candidates is the
consequence. In other words, you’ll need more staff and the
candidates simply won’t exist.
2 Employee Turnover is Rising:

Recruitment is not the only challenge restaurant owners face
as a result of the improving economy. When jobs were more
scarce, people were less likely to leave their existing jobs.
Now, an improved economy means employees are more likely
to leave (existing jobs faster for new opportunities). Coupled
with the fact that restaurant turnover is always higher than
the overall private sector and you have a recipe for disaster.
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3 The Labor Pool Is Shrinking (And Aging):

As if turnover and labor challenges are not enough, a
shrinking and aging labor pool is going to make hiring much
different. Currently, four in 10 restaurant employees are aged
16-24, however, the number of people in that age group who
are looking for jobs in the industry is shrinking. This prime
age group is participating less, which means restaurateurs
will have to look elsewhere… like to the aging population and
workforce. This means a change in how you hire, and how you
incentivize, your restaurant staff.
The long and short of it is this: employee turnover is on the rise, and it doesn’t look
as if it will decrease anytime soon - which means there will be changes in hiring
restaurant staff from all aspects. How you respond will make or break you.
And at the end of the day, without staff how

does your restaurant run, anyway?
why staff management is
important to restaurants
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With all of the signs pointing towards enthusiasm towards restaurants, profit and
success, some might say that staff turnover is the Achilles Heel of the industry.
And “some” might be right.
The loss of an employee at your restaurant is more than just a change in your staff.
In fact, it’s all of these things:
Cost: In time and money for hiring a new employee (e.g. advertisements, your time, the time
of staff that you may use for interviewing, etc.).
Shift Changes: Without proper notice, the loss of an employee can be disastrous to
your shift scheduling.
Training: Exposure to your restaurant and it’s operations is essential to onboarding a new
employee. The cost of this is both time and money.
Customer Experience: Ramping up a new employee takes time and that can
sometimes mean a dip in the customer experience in your
restaurant while new employees get up to speed.
When looking at that list, think about the cost involved, in dollars and cents.
On average, the cost of hiring an hourly employee (such as a restaurant employee)

can be as much as $3,500. For your industry, that’s an investment that walks out the
door nearly 50% of the time.
The good news is this:

You don’t have to accept employee turnover.
It doesn’t have to be a line item in your regular cost of doing business. With a
long-term staff management strategy in place, you can learn how to reduce
turnover, hire the right employees the first time, and increase your bottom line
why are my employees leaving?
top 3 reasons for turnover
1.
2.
3.
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In other words, why is the turnover

rate I calculated so high?
Knowing what we know about the restaurant

industry and the trends that will shape it in the
coming years, it’s easy to see why focusing on
staff management is so important.
But before you can dive into hiring, training and

retaining your restaurant staff, let’s back into
the problem and understand why restaurant
employees leave.
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Excluding reasons beyond your control, here are the top

3 reasons for turnover to look out for:
1. Pay + Hours:
An inadequate pay rate, or a lack of the ability Be sure not to short-change your highest
to make enough money in tips or other wages, performing employees and you’ll increase
is a major reason why employees leave jobs, your chances of retaining them.
especially in the restaurant industry.
2. Internal Conflicts:
Why can’t we all just get along? The A good restaurateur has his fingers on the
unfortunate truth is that sometimes staff and pulse of staff engagement as much as guest
management disagree. Other times, staff engagement.
disagrees amongst themselves. When this
conflict is not resolved, employees will leave
to avoid the head-butting.
3. Lack of Opportunity:
If your restaurant does not provide the Take the time to set up regular check-ins on
chance for staff to move into different an individual level with your staff so you can
roles or higher level positions, staff that understand their abilities and desires in the
are high performers will be tempted to industry.
leave -- and more than likely will be offered
opportunities elsewhere.
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Restaurants are often launchpads

for career growth
At the end of the day, in the restaurant industry career

advancement often happens when employees move from one
job to the next. Understanding this mentality is the first step
to bridging the gap.
Nine out of 10 restaurant employees have moved onto higher-

paying jobs in the industry after their first job, and that is true
no matter what the segment in the industry or the position.
When it comes to reasons why employees leave, there are

some factors outside of your control. Career advancement,
student turnover, seasonal hiring and relocation are examples
of reasons staff leave that you may not have control over.
However, with an effective strategy for staff management,

decreasing your restaurant’s turnover rate is easier.
how to: hire the right staff
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When it comes to staff management at your restaurant,

the actual process of hiring staff is one of the most
important decisions you will make.
One good employee and you can

create a customer for a lifetime.
one bad employee can lead to a

potential reputation problem.
When it comes to hiring great restaurant employees –

from servers to management to chefs – there exists a
universal truth: it is not easy. What’s harder than that?
Employee retention (we’ll talk about that, too).
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how to find the right restaurant employees
Your grandfather wasn’t using these methods...
Tech + Restaurants: The Golden Ticket

When it comes to restaurant technology, things span beyond
using technology for your POS or food costs. Technology can
help you hire the right restaurant staff, too.
Nowadays, you don’t need to take out an advertisement

in the newspaper to let the world know you’re hiring a new
hostess (nor should you). Modern recruiting methods can
give your restaurant a leg up in the search for employees.
What You Should Be Using:

Online job boards such as Monster or Indeed, Facebook,
Twitter, LinkedIn and your website!
How To Do It:
Come up with your desired job description and take it online.
With an online posting, you can make things as short or long
as you please, and the sky’s the limit in how many times
you can post! Start with your website and move from there
to online job boards. Once you have the listing in those two
places, re-share the links on your social media accounts.
Pro Tip: Spread the word! Encourage your friends and other
staff in your restaurant to use their networks, too. One share
on Facebook of your online job posting can double your reach.
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Traditional Hiring Methods Still Work, Too

Of course, just because we live in a culture that is technology
saturated, it does not mean that your traditional hiring
methods won’t still work.
Traditional methods for hiring include:
Use your employees’ networks:

Speaking of word of mouth
Hire people you know: and referrals, don’t forget
Look to your family and friends that people love to work with
to fill potential jobs. These are people they love. Ask your
people you already know and staff for their insight into who
trust and trust is key to a good might be a good fit for your
employee relationship. open position.
Better yet, incentivize them.

Take advantage of word of mouth: Try offering a referral bonus
In the same sense that you might for a staff member who posts
ask your family and friends the job and gets you a new
about their desire to work at your hire as a result.
restaurant, ask them to pass
along the news that you’re hiring,
too. Word spreads fast and the
people that you hear from will
often come with a good referral.
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Thinking Outside the Box

Take a minute to think about your restaurant…
When it was time to hire the folks that you trust today,
how did you go about the process? We bet there was
an interview process, but did you think it through
specifically as it related to your restaurant or even the
way business is done nowadays?
Restaurateurs who think “outside the box” may realize

that there is more than meets the eye (or resume) to
their current staff.
Ask yourself:
What are the What kind of

common traits my lifestyle do my best
best employees employees lead?
share?
What is the average
What is the average level of experience
age of my waitstaff? my staff holds?
You shouldn’t be surprised to find that your top

performers have a lot in common in terms of
demographics and career path.
And if you’re not using that information to recruit,

then you’re missing out.
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top 3 questions for restaurant employee hiring
Once you’ve nailed down how to find the right employees for your restaurant, it’s time to vet them and
hire them.
Time constraints in a fast-paced environment like yours can make it hard to feel like you have the ability
to maintain consistency in this process. But you can! With the right interview process and questions in
place, you can consistently hire high caliber restaurant employees.
There are tons of insights out there about how to interview potential employees, and lots of questions you
can ask, but we have 3 that we think are the cream of the crop:
1. Can you provide me an

example of how you
Someone who is applying for a job in the industry
likely has some experience as a server or
restaurant employee. This person will know how
to handle customers; but asking them how they
provide assistance to handle providing assistance, in general, is a good
someone in need? view into their demeanor.
2. What is your strategy

for bringing back loyal
Building relationships, being approachable, and
providing loads of attention is one way to bring back
loyal guests. What’s better is knowing which menu
items to recommend based on client preferences,
guests? understanding special events, and up selling items
that will bring high satisfaction.
3. When you approach the table and

learn a customer is a first-time
An employee that might suggest a low
cost item or an item that is not a hit
with everyone (simply because they
guest, what do you suggest?

enjoy it), is not going to have an easy
time with building customer loyalty or
driving sales.
upserve benchmarks:
what the best servers have in common
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Upserve works with

thousands of restaurants
every day; we consider
ourselves to be in a strong
position to both analyze
and advise on server
performance.
We wanted to know what makes

the best run staff differenet?
To answer this, we looked

at both bars and fine dining
restaurants, and compared the
east coast to the west coast.
To indicate server performance,

we pulled the following metrics
from the Upserve portal:
• Sales per cover

• Average Turn time
• Average tip
• Average tip %
• Lost sales
This is what we found…
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What Do the Best Servers Have in Common?

Upserve works with thousands of restaurants every day; we consider ourselves
to be in a strong position to both analyze and advise on server performance.
East Coast VS. West Coast

1 hr 23min 1 hr 19 min
Avg. Turn Time Avg. Turn Time
Fine Dining
$94.41 $77.09
35.73% Lost Sales Lost Sales 33.54%
Average tip % Average tip %
$63.34 $22.63 $18.86 $56.22

Avg. Tip Avg. Tip
Sales Per Cover Sales Per Cover
1 hr 3 min 58 min
Avg. Turn Time Avg. Turn Time
Bars
$46.11 $37.07
21.52% Lost Sales Lost Sales 18.04%
Average tip % Average tip %
$24.61 $5.29 $4.78 $26.51

Avg. Tip Avg. Tip
Sales Per Cover Sales Per Cover
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5 traits to look for in a restaurant server
There are some employees that stand out among

the rest as top performers. What is it about them
that makes them so good at what they do?
These 5 traits are a good place to start…
Reliability Dedication Amicable
Cooperation Communicative
At the end of the day, it’s about experience coupled with a

personality poised to succeed. Those who possess a good
work ethic and a “whatever it takes” attitude will be the most
passionate and therefore the best servers you can hire.
training your staff for top performance
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For them… and for your restaurant
In order to be successful, your servers need

top-notch training and on-going support to
succeed and perform at their best.
Your staff will come with various experience

levels. Don’t make assumptions about prior
knowledge and instead give all of your new
hires the same thorough introduction to your
kitchen, staff, operations, menu, and guests.
By developing a comprehensive training

strategy that is consistent guarantees all of
your employees will understand exactly how
things are done at your restaurant, and be on
the same page.
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the top 3 tactics to include in your training strategy
The best restaurant staff training is a blended strategy. If we

had to narrow it down, these would be the top 3 tactics to
blend into yours.
1. Education
It’s important not to overlook the immediate Here are some things to include in
benefit of education in the form of the education:
instruction. All of your employees will need
instruction on how your restaurant operates, Restaurant facts:
your menu, your ideal guest, staff processes, Cuisine type, ideal customer, average
and how they are expected to act. guest, busy times, most popular
menu item, head chef information,
Written instruction can be owner information.
useful when it comes to
education. A formal training Operations instructions:
will have a system for Roles and responsibilities of staff,
explaining everything in the using the POS, intersection of servers
restaurant. and other staff, how food is prepared,
how menu is selected, how FOH and
BOH work together.
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2.Demonstration
A good demonstration involves the trainer performing
tasks that trainees must learn. Trainees observe proper
techniques to replicate later. Here are some things you
should use demonstration training for:
Table setting
Upselling
Food running
Order notes
3. Shadowing
Shadowing allows employees to learn from one another and for your best staff to help build
up your new or underperforming staff. In the instance of onboarding new staff, this gives
your new employee a chance to see the internal workings of the restaurant before having
to do so on their own.. exactly how they are best performed. This also allows staff to train
one another, which can improve skills on both ends. You might want to have shadowing for:
Serving tables
Running food
Accepting reservations
Clearing tables
Using the POS
Do you know which servers are the best at selling wine or pairing appetizers with
menu items? Upserve can help you learn -- so that you can make the most of
shadowing as a form of training.
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ongoing training tactics not to miss
In life, experience is the best teacher. The difference between you as a

teacher and life? You’re always giving the lessons before the test.
Even after your employees are onboarded and trained, you won’t want to
forget about ongoing training. It can help improve skills, correct any issues
before they become ongoing, and improve employee retention.
Here are two tactics not to forget about when implementing

your ongoing training strategy:
Take the time

1. Suggestive Selling to educate on
daily specials
As your servers become more
familiar with your restaurant and
the menu, they are easier able to Allow your
suggest pairings of food and wine, employees time to
upsell desserts and improve their become familiar Suggest wine
sales (and your bottom line). Here with the menu pairings weekly
are some ways you can help improve
suggestive selling, long-term.
Teach your employees

Encourage the which menu items are
kitchen staff to most profitable
discuss the menu
with the waitstaff
The most ideal upsell is for a menu item that is the most profitable. How do you
know that easily? Upserve’s Magic Quadrant can tell you!
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2. Ideal Table Service

When it comes to waiting on tables, the longer you do it, the more you
learn about the best way to give attention, multi-task, and give space.
However, the best servers don’t need to be on the job for 10+ years to
learn this, ongoing training can teach them.
Train your servers to read Educate your servers on Train on multi-tasking.

the attitudes of their tables. how to talk about the Being aware of your
For example, guests who are menu. surroundings is an important
looking around the restaurant Many guests will rely on their part of staff performance.
are probably looking for their server to guide them to the Talk to your staff about how
server and need something. most ideal meal. The more to balance multiple tables,
On the flip side, guests who you can train on how to talk large parties and small
make minimal eye contact or about the menu and pair parties, and how to work with
continue their conversation items together, the better their teammates to meet
in the server’s presence service your staff can give. guest needs.
probably desire less attention.
Don’t Forget
The restaurant industry is customer-intensive. In order to be the best
they can be, your staff should be attentive to guests and also outwardly
display the personality and professionalism that your restaurant expects.
A good staff training program will be a 50:50 split between those two
skills, mixed with knowledge of the menu and restaurant.
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making the most out of family meals (in other words,

using it for training moments)
Family meal is the restaurant staff meal before meal service starts (before
the restaurant opens for dinner, or just the start of the evening shift).
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For many restaurateurs, family meal sets the tone for the day.
If it isn’t great, people don’t feel great. And if people don’t feel
great, there’s a chance service and the general mood might slip.
Aside from the mood-boosting capabilities, here are 3 reasons

why “family meal” is a tradition you don’t want to miss out on at
your restaurant.
Increase knowledge of Turn employees into guests. Reduce waste/employee theft.

restaurant dishes. Imagine if every time you If your employees know they
Sitting down with your staff had a family meal, a different are able (and encouraged) to
to enjoy a “free” meal from employee decided they just had participate in a free employee
your restaurant encourages to bring their family/friends back “family meal”, it is less likely
your staff to taste dishes, try to try the dish they just enjoyed? they will steal from your
new things and even discover The possibilities for increased restaurant. Additionally, your
a new favorite. With all of that revenue are endless! restaurant can reduce food
new knowledge, your staff is waste by providing meals that
better able to sell your menu take advantage of unused or
to your guests. excess ingredients and supplies.
Ongoing feedback is just as integral to employee success as initial training. With the
right cadence of communication with your staff, you can be sure they are always
primed to succeed, no matter what arises.
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“
At Upserve, we’re no stranger to the inside of the restaurant industry. Many of our employees
have been restaurant staff, managers and even owners. We asked them to chime in on their
“
best pre-shift meal, and here’s what they had to say…
The Best Pre-Shift Meal I Ever Had…
“Pre-shift typically covers things like specials and even tasting of

dishes. A great opportunity to discuss popular and high ROI menu —Joe Gattuso,
items and develop server contests.” BOH Extraordinaire
“We would discuss change-over from the day shift to night shift.
What was stocked, switching shifts, who would be cut early, etc.
—Steven Saracino,
Also, we would go over which specials or drink offers we were
College Town Bartending Ninja
presenting that night and who would have certain responsibilities at
which bar.”
“What I really loved about family meal was that it bought the team
together. The WHOLE team. This was a big time for team bonding.
The Chef and the Bartender would introduce new specials, menu
—Kathleen St. Amour,
changes, etc. The FOH team would break off....I assume to go over
Restaurant Veteran + Pastry Queen
reservations and special guests (this place was a destination, so lots
of reservations)....
...At other places, we had ‘pre-meals’ while doing side work......

often what was communicated (it was busy/slow, it will be busy/slow) With Upserve’s Top Servers Report,
would directly impact how to attack side work.” you can run daily, weekly, and
monthly server contests to increase
sales and improve guest experience.
Learn more about it here.
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“I worked a very busy restaurant in Key West. The pre shift was an
integral part of our day. The ability to get your entire wait staff together
before the shift began was a great way to align my team for the day’s
events….
….We had two pre-shifts a day. The first was right before the opening
of the restaurant. Having the staff’s undivided attention was crucial.
We would go over multiple things. The days specials. This gave me the —Tony DePasquale,
opportunity to explain and answer any questions regarding the specials Restaurant Veteran of 21 years
on the menu. I would have already spoke to the chef and got the ins + Manager Extraordinaire
and outs of the day’s specials so that I could relay the parts that made
up the specials to the staff. Another was big parties….
…..As I said this was a very busy restaurant with many functions that
could be going on at once. For the most part, the staff on hand knew
ahead of time who would be working these parties. Still, the ability
to get everyone on the same page helped with a smooth event for
our guests and put us in a position to succeed. The “pre shift” is an
important event that usually happens right in front of the guests without
them even knowing it. The ability to be ready for anything that could
happen during a seating albeit lunch or dinner, put us in the position for
success.”
Understanding what happens
at your restaurant on any given
day is hard. You rely on reports,
checklists, prep lists and more
to keep you in the loop. You
also rely on pre-shift, shift and
Manager’s Log notes that end up
being hard to follow in a paper
diary, Google document, email
chain or clunky online system.
Upserve’s response: The Logbook.
Emailed to you daily to optimize
your operations and make family
meal that much better.
Learn more about it here.
5 employee retention strategies to put in place today
1
2
3
4
5
return to TOC
So that you don’t spend all this time learning about hiring and training staff
only to lose them anyway…
Now that we know a thing or two about

the problem - high employee turnover -
and the strategy for hiring and training the
right employees, it’s time to be sure you
have the right retention strategy in place
to keep the employees you work hard to
hire and train.
In other words... “Okay, so restaurant

employee turnover is high
- what do I do to keep the
staff I have?”
Aside from increasing pay and adding

additional benefits and perks to staff,
here are 5 employee retention strategies
you can use today.
return to TOC
1. Measure tenure
Turnover rate is important, but so is the
average tenure of your staff.
Understanding how long your employee

stays with you, in all positions, can help you
understand what you need to do to keep
people.
For example, if your average server stays

for 24 months, design your milestones for
incentives around that… and beyond… to
keep your employees motivated and retain
them.
2. Conduct “exit interviews”

No matter how hard you try, some people are
going to leave no matter what.
When they do leave, leverage their reasons to

learn something new about how you can keep
the rest of your staff.
Ask them what their reasons for leaving are

and what they think you could have done
differently to keep them.
return to TOC
3. Implement “stay” interviews

For the most part, everyone knows what an “exit”
interview is.
Implement stay interviews instead. These are

check-ins with your veteran staff that allow you to
get a pulse on why they are happy in their job, why
they remain an employee, and even gives them a
chance to tell you what might sweeten the deal and
keep them longer.
4. Identify stressors and eliminate them

In the restaurant industry, stress is often high.
For employees that leave or are unhappy, a common complaint

is that they feel as if no one is in their corner and they receive
minimal support. As an owner or manager, identifying the stressors
in your restaurant is the first step to working to eliminating them
(or at least making them more manageable).
Talk to your staff regularly about their pain points and ask them
how you can help.
return to TOC
5. Keep communication open

When was the last time you asked your
employees to weigh in on things like scheduling,
career goals, and training desires?
The more open your lines of communication are

with your staff, the better able you are to provide
them what they need to stay, long-term.
return to TOC
how Upserve helps restaurants

improve staff performance
return to TOC
You work hard to

create a good customer
experience - and that
means that great food, a
stellar atmosphere and
amazing service need
to come together. Some
days, this might feel more
challenging than others.
With turnover rates as
high as 60%, and your
servers being the face of
the customer experience
you aim to provide, it’s
easy to see why hiring,
training, managing and
retaining top servers can
prove such a challenge
for restaurant owners.
But what if we told you

there was a better way?
return to TOC
How Does Upserve Monitor

Server Performance?
Your restaurant is full of hidden insights begging for you to use them
to improve staff performance. In fact, it’s one of the benefits to our
technology drive world. Restaurants that run Upserve know that
monitoring and improving staff performance is easier than ever.
Recognize Your Best Servers

Upserve’s Server Scorecard gives you deep insights into what makes each member of
your serving team successful and where there are opportunities for your restaurant to
improve staff performance.
Dynamic restaurant analytics give you reports that track turn time, average sales
per cover, ability to sell across your menu and how effective servers are at bringing
customers back. Use them to spot red flags quickly and fine-tune your training on the
skills that matter most to your bottom line.
return to TOC
Quickly Spot Changes In Sales Performance

Upserve’s restaurant analytics software analyzes data from the payments
network, POS systems and across the social web, consolidating sales and
customer insights into a single easy-to-read report.
Compare sales across all of your locations from a single email to see where
there are dips. Dig deeper to uncover menu data and server performance
trends, then use best-practices from your most successful locations to coach
the managers who may be falling behind.
Focus On Your Training

You have a limited amount of time to dedicate to coaching your staff on an ongoing
basis; make every minute count by training on the skills that can improve staff
performance the most.
With Upserve’s Server Scorecard, you can log into your portal and see how average
turn times are trending and how each server stacks up against the average. You’ll
quickly be able to see who would benefit from coaching and implement the training
you need to address this specific customer feedback. Have a pro on staff? You can
see where an individual’s expertise lies and pair them up with people who need a little
extra help in those areas.
return to TOC
Enhance Communication
With Upserve’s Logbook, managers can centralize communications across their whole
team by setting up shift notes, opening & closing task lists, staff notes and pre-shift
checklists in their Upserve portal.
Gather feedback, discuss ideas and stay connected with the Logbook. The Logbook
and all the information you need to enhance communication and grow sales is delivered
in a daily digest email. Digest automatically reports net sales, covers, tickets, best
customers and more, and arrives in your inbox everyday
Build Customer Loyalty

Upserve’s Top Servers report allows restaurants to single out top performers,
understand trends and run contests. Now, you can turn performance data
into actionable insights and make performance fun! As a manager, you can
better share information and train servers.
The best run restaurants run Upserve. Isn’t it time you had complete visibility
into server performance? Request a demo and see the difference it can make
for your restaurant.
LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW UPSERVE
CAN IMPROVE STAFF PERFORMANCE
return to TOC
references + additional readings
5 Workforce Trends To Watch For In The Restaurant Industry - NRA
2015 Restaurant Industry Playbook - NRA
What You Don’t Know About Your Servers… - Upserve
Annual Employee Turnover Rates - Bureau of Labor Statistics
Reduce staff turnover at your restaurant - NRA
Management 101: Hiring Restaurant Employees - Upserve
Communicate with employees to create a positive environment - NRA

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Server Success

The Only Guide You'll Ever

Whether you manage 1 or 100 locations, this

This eBook covers:

We are restaurant loving geeks that spend all of our time

We want to help you provide the best hospitality you

Lately it feels like I can’t

You should consider

Something has got to give.

I’d sure love to know…

Why are we talking about restaurant staff

As a restaurant owner or operator, you are no

In fact, it is consistently one of the top

However, coupled with labor challenges and an

Every employee in your restaurant is capable of bringing

But the facts are still the facts….

62.6% The annual turnover rate for the

42.2% The average annual turnover

80.9% The highest the restaurant

56.6% The lowest the restaurant industry

2 YRS The amount of time that will pass

While in general, employee turnover

Annual Employee Turnover Rates (%)

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

what is a “turnover rate”?

Let’s all get on the same page…

Turnover rate is the frequency at which

how to: calculate annual server turnover

calculate your turnover calculation example:

Add up the monthly employment your

Add up the number of separations (in

Calculate your annual employee turnover rate

After reading this guide, you’ll not only understand how to

5 Traits To Look For In A Restaurant Server

What Do the Best Servers Have in Common?

3 Staff Training Tactics That Guarantee Success

Keeping Your Staff … Staffed

Using The Data In Your Restaurant To Reduce

There are 1 million restaurant locations in the United States.

In black and white, here’s what we know about the restaurant

Job Experience Restaurant Sales Restaurant Employees

Eating and Drinking Place Employment

trends in restaurant industry

1 Labor Challenges Are Emerging (Again):

2 Employee Turnover is Rising:

3 The Labor Pool Is Shrinking (And Aging):

And at the end of the day, without staff how

And “some” might be right.

On average, the cost of hiring an hourly employee (such as a restaurant employee)

The good news is this:

In other words, why is the turnover

Knowing what we know about the restaurant

But before you can dive into hiring, training and

Excluding reasons beyond your control, here are the top

Restaurants are often launchpads

At the end of the day, in the restaurant industry career

Nine out of 10 restaurant employees have moved onto higher-

When it comes to reasons why employees leave, there are

However, with an effective strategy for staff management,

When it comes to staff management at your restaurant,

One good employee and you can

one bad employee can lead to a

When it comes to hiring great restaurant employees –

how to find the right restaurant employees

Server Success: The Only Guide You'll Ever Need On Restaurant Staff

Server Success: The Only Guide You'll Ever Need On Restaurant Staff