FSR June 2023

LABOR

capital does. Meaning, if I put $100,000 into my restaurant, I can physically see it looks nicer; it's refreshed. New custom ers come and say, ‘Ooh, it's pretty.’ You see that immediately. With human cap ital, you have to invest this money, and that takes a long time to pay off.” If restaurateurs commit to investing in their people and culture, employees in turn will also commit to the company at a higher rate, and retention rates will increase, he notes. But that commitment can’t only be talk about core values and being a family, or employees will quickly call your bluff. “Pay as much as you possibly can. It should never be a competition to see how little you can pay,” says Mike Herchuck, director of operations at American Social. The Florida-based brand recently trained in a manager who excelled in the role right off the bat, so Herchuck pulled them aside within their first 60 days on the job to tell them he felt they were underpaid, and the restaurant was giv ing them a pay bump. “It is okay to do a salary correction when it is warranted. Sticking to some predetermined time line for raises will only cause an unnec

essary and regrettable turnover,” Her chuck adds. “You’re either going to spend money on hiring ads or pay your people more; I’d rather give the money to the team than to a hiring website 100 times.” At North Carolina-based Tupelo Honey Hospitality, 50 percent of gen eral managers and 75 percent of its man agers have been with the brand for more than six years, says COO Caroline Skin ner, thanks to a slew of factors. Simpli fying communication by cutting down on emails, directives, and noise helps restaurant leaders focus on the food and guest experience, while important information is distilled into one monthly message in a concise format. “The pandemic taught us to constantly ask the question, is it necessary?” Skin ner says. “Regularly evaluate the layers of complexity in your communication, pro cess, or training, and eliminate unnec essary complexities.” In the fall of 2020, Tupelo formed Project Aspire, a diversity and inclusion program designed to uplift BIPOC (Black,

bers of the management team. Aspire provides individual coaching and lead ership development to high-potential managers across the company. These employees get to participate in panel discussions, and they receive 30-plus hours of additional management train ing per year. “Prioritize and accommodate diver sity; more than just looking for diverse candidates, we must find ways to help advance and accommodate underrepre sented groups through our training and development practices," Skinner adds. "We are the industry of opportunity, and we must continue to make growth and advancement opportunities available to all people from all backgrounds.” Having an engaged, knowledgeable staff doesn’t just lead to good team morale, but also translates to more sales. Highly-skilled employees who know the ins and outs of the business are less likely to make mistakes, which in turn improves the guest experience and effi ciency of the restaurant. For example,

Indigenous, and people of color) and female mem

TUPELO HONEY (3)

AT NORTH CAROLINA

BASED TUPELO HONEY, TEAM MEMBERS ARE TAUGHT THE "WHY" ALONG WITH THE "HOW" DURING THE TRAINING PROCESS— LIKE WHY THE 21-UNIT BRAND PRIORITIZES LOCALLY-SOURCED PRODUCE, AND THE IMPORTANCE OF SUSTAINABILITY AND SCRATCH MADE FOOD.

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