Staffing Guide For Your Restaurant

Hiring employees in any industry can be stressful, but staffing a cafe/restaurant is much more difficult. Labour is one of the significant operating costs many restaurants face.

Restaurant staffing means hiring & retaining employees to create everyday shift schedules; it involves hiring and training a fleet of efficient FOH(front-of-house) and BOH(back-of-house) employees or having a few key employees play various roles in your restaurant. 

In this guide, you’ll understand why staffing a restaurant is challenging and other vital factors.

Reasons Why Staffing A Restaurant Is Challenging 

Recent research shows that 30% of restaurateurs state that staffing is one of the most significant pain points of their business, ranking above marketing, accounting, and inventory. Let’s check out the factors that contribute to these challenges;

1. Labour Shortage.

COVID-19 led to a global labour shortage, and the food industry was hit hard, with many employees leaving the restaurant industry for higher wages and new opportunities. 

This has made it difficult for restaurants to find skilled workers amidst the shrinking labour pool. 

2.  Demanding Regulations.

Some laws protect workers, which also makes staffing complicated. Restaurant owners must keep things like overtime, breaks, tipped and untipped wages, and other laws in mind while building schedules and hiring employees. 

3. High Labour Costs. 

Paying staff is the most costly expense all restaurants have. Labour costs comprise 31.6% of every restaurant’s operating costs. As wages increase due to workers’ demand and inflation, labour cost also increases, making it vital to build an accurate shift schedule and retain staff.

How To Improve Your Cafe And Restaurant Staffing

1. Look Out For Passion Over Experience.

Yes, we know experience is essential, but an inexperienced yet passionate staff willing to learn can make a better hire than a staff who has been around for a long time.

Experience is accumulated by showing up, which says nothing about attitude. At the same time, passion, on the other hand, cannot be taught, but it can make a significant difference in the mindset of staff.

The perfect employee should have experience and passion; it’s advisable not to dismiss a passionate applicant because they don’t have long years of experience. 

2. Present Your Cafe And Restaurant As A Great Place Of Work.

How you present your restaurant to prospective employees has much to do with the success of restaurant staffing. Sell your cafe/restaurant as an excellent place to work; you can communicate to potential staff how you can help them further their skills.

Whether it’s the opportunity to learn something new, continuing education, or on-the-job training, it can be an amazing way to motivate good staff to work for you. 

How Many Staff Are Needed In A Restaurant

It can be tricky to know how many staff you need for the smooth running of your restaurant. Hiring too few staff will have an adverse effect on your customers and your employees;  when you hire too many staff, they will be disappointed due to the lack of tables to serve.

For Staff

If your cafe/restaurant has 25 tables, you will need around five to six servers; each server will have 4 to 5 tables to stick with the optimal ratio.

Twenty-five tables/six servers = 4.2 tables for one server.

Twenty-five tables/five servers = 5 tables per server.

For Cooks 

This varies depending on the complexity of your menu and your kitchen size. This average includes prep cooks & chefs.

Four cooks should be able to manage all the cooking for 50 tables, i.e., during their shift. 

On  A Final Note;

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