Upskill your team to boost your business

Every business is facing new challenges they have never encountered before, but many are missing out on leveraging their greatest resource – their people.

Customers are settling into the new normal and supporting their favourite businesses by leaning heavily on takeaway and delivery.

Those in the hospitality and foodservice sector are busy experimenting with new ways to maximise their sales and lower costs by developing innovative takeaway menus. But the real opportunity lies in maximising the capabilities of your staff.

This is the perfect time to help them acquire new skills that can improve your business during and after lockdown. Investing in your staff can help your business turn a greater profit by bringing services inhouse that you might have normally outsourced or by diversifying your offerings. It also demonstrates your willingness to support your staff, improving job satisfaction and employee retention.

The good news is, it doesn’t have to cost a lot to upskill your people. Let’s take a look at a few ways you can empower your people to grow your business.

Bring your front-of-house people into the digital age

Right now, everyone is searching for restaurants online and judging them on their digital presence. Not being online or giving digital visitors a poor experience can literally kill your business. Luckily, setting up your online storefront can be quite simple.

Communicating with your customers through social posts is very similar to communicating with them at the table or from across the bar. Your front of house staff will very likely have skills perfect for putting up a simple website, running your social media account or even running paid ads. Even if they can’t do it yet, there are tons of free resources online they can use to teach themselves. Once set up, they can manage all of that on the go from their phones!

If you’ve got some staff with an interest in tech, you could think about bringing your website maintenance in-house by investing in a simple website development course.

Elevate your menu with wine, beer or cocktails

Many businesses are now offering alcohol delivery and pickup online along with their meals. However, in order for your staff to legally serve and supply alcoholic beverages, they will need an RSA (Responsible Serving of Alcohol certificate). Now is the perfect time to get your staff the certificates they require.

You could also go one step further. Expand your offering and stand out from the crowd by providing pre-packaged signature cocktails. Most hospitality staff will jump at the chance to study a cocktail preparation and service course.

Help your chefs level up

Many chefs and cooks can get stuck cooking the same thing year in, year out which can lead to lower job satisfaction. Why not think about adding something new to the menu or helping your cooks learn new techniques to improve your current dishes?

There are plenty of courses available for even the most experienced chefs where they can learn about new ingredients, improve their skills and experiment with new dishes.

Make sure your new ‘students’ have great coffee

Being alert during work is important and providing a coffee break is a great way to keep their spirits up. Snag a great coffee machine to make great coffee in a heartbeat and keep your team motivated.

All the best!