Your restaurant is unique. Training will depend on your unique needs and menu, and while you may have to follow a similar opening and close to other eateries, you still need a manual to train your team.
Manuals leave no room for error for your staff.
If someone needs to refresh themselves on best practices, procedures and protocols, all they need to do is open the training manual that you provide to your team. Supervisors, managers or whoever is responsible for training new employees will appreciate the training manual that you provide.
We're going to explain exactly what you need to do to create a restaurant training manual and how to train employees.
Step-by-step Restaurant Training Manual Prep
Your training manual should start with a few sections that are less about training and more about educating your staff. For example, you'll want to add sections on:
- Company overview: Explain your restaurant's history, goals and mission to your staff. You'll want to tell the story of your eatery from idea to reality and then explain the vision of the restaurant, such as being a family-friendly restaurant that people come to after a long day of work because they know that your food is tasty, and the atmosphere is perfect for their families.
- Guest overview: Your guests are also unique and will require a special touch. Explain who your guests are, what their needs and desires are, and what they expect when they eat at your establishment.
Once you have these two key sections outlined, you can move to your staff's duties and responsibilities.
Outline Duties and Responsibilities
You've done so much up to this point, and now it's time to get into the fine details of your manual. First, you'll want to create a full list of:
- Duties
- Responsibilities
Thoroughness is the goal of this section of your manual. If your waitstaff needs to help with cleaning the restaurant every night or will need to be available once a month for a deep cleaning after you close the doors for the day, add it.
Consider the duties and responsibilities of your managers, waitstaff, dishwasher, line cook, chef and anyone else who will fill your restaurant's ranks.
List Any Dress Code Requirements
Make sure that your staff understands the rules for your dress code and how they should appear when they arrive.
For example, should your staff arrive in uniform and be ready to start their shift, or will they have enough time to change before they start? If so, should they arrive a little earlier to change?
Although this may seem simple and straightforward, establishing these policies will set expectations and ensure everyone is on the same page.
Additionally, make sure that your staff understands your policies for:
- Grooming and hygiene standards
- Dress code policies for dinner and lunch (if they vary)
- Whether or not you will supply uniforms or if staff will need to purchase their own
- Jewelry, nails, perfume/cologne or any other dress code policies you may have
Create an In-depth List of Opening and Closing Procedures
Your restaurant training program should include information on your opening and closing procedures for each role. These procedures should be listed in whatever format you think will work best for your staff: a checklist, bullet point list, etc.
Opening Procedures
While every restaurant is unique, common opening procedures include:
- Prepping kitchen utensils
- Handling pre-opening deliveries
- Preparing cooking supplies
- Restocking ingredient stations
Once you have a list of your opening tasks, you can organize them by section and task. Try to bucket items together based on priority and proximity for maximum efficiency.
You can organize your checklist in an Excel file and print it for your team. Make sure that you also include explanations of why each item is important.
Closing Procedures
For closing procedures, you can follow a similar process as your opening procedures checklist.
Your closing procedures may cover:
- Cleaning policies
- Food safety
- Organization
- Finances
Make sure that your team knows which tasks need to be completed by the end of their shifts and by whom. For example, should your servers hand off their tables to another server once their shift ends? Should they also check in with a manager before they finish up?
Once you've created a detailed list of your closing procedures, you can organize them into a checklist with explanations for each task.
Requirements for Health and Safety
Naturally, your training manual should cover how your entire team should handle things like guest allergies and sanitization.
Ensure your servers are educated on which dishes are gluten-free and your kitchen staff knows how to prepare dishes for people with dietary restrictions or allergies.
It's also a good idea to create a policy for medical emergencies, so your staff will know how to handle emergency situations that may arise, such as if a guest starts choking.
Sick day policies should also be covered in your manual, so your team knows what to do if they are sick.
Safety and Sanitization
Restaurant staff training should also focus on safety and sanitization. It is imperative to not only keep your staff safe from harm but also to keep your customers safe from foodborne illnesses.
Be sure to cover and review all processes surrounding:
- Knife maintenance
- Hand washing
- Glove-wearing
- Food storage and cleaning
- Dishwashing
- Serving dishes
Guest Service Standards
When guests dine at your restaurant, you want them to have a specific experience. Most importantly, you want them to have a positive experience.
Creating a set of standards for service will help your staff deliver a consistent experience for all guests each time they dine at your establishment.
Make sure that you cover:
- Your guest services policies
- The types of customers your staff will likely be serving
- How to handle certain behaviors (like aggressive customers)
- How staff should greet guests
- How to set tables and seat guests
- Anything else relating to guest service
Closing Thoughts
An effective server training manual can help your staff feel confident in their roles and ensure that they know how to deal with certain challenges that may arise during their shifts. Furthermore, proper training helps keep everyone safe and creates a consistent experience for customers.