How to keep (restaurant) staff motivated and satisfied

[teh_blumchenkinder]

So what do you think?
I really like all the ideas in there, especially the "ownership" idea... XD and the "make everyone work every job at least once." (yeah, yeah, hush I know one only right?)
Do you think any of this could work at your place of employment?

[csquared]

It is interesting to note the type of restaurants mentioned in the article. They weren't talking to the manager of the Applebees in Fayetteville, AR. Definitely not CRML's former pub.

From a high level, all five points are very important in any business. You will find most of that in a Management 101 course. The real trick is how to implement it in your business.

[KellyHabersham]

Not sure about any of this working regarding the library job, as my main gripes are the lack of opportunities for promotion or to move into a full-time position.

[Racket_Man]

I think this might only work at non=chain type places. at chain places EVERYTHING is handed down from up on high with little discussion or comment accepted from the peons. things are decided with the help of expensive "consultants" or "experts" or corp stuffed shirts who, most of the time have NEVER been a peon working under some of the policies or menues or procedures that are moved from Gods lips to the masses.

my franchise does "employee surveys" to get "feedback" on managers and DM's and "suggestions" for "consideration" (never do they get implemented but the "feelgood" for the peons is there so we feel like we are "contributing" to the company)

[DeltaSierra]

In my opinion, one of the best ways to keep a staff feeling satisfied is to see the higher-ups get their hands dirty too, so THEY know exactly what it is the rest of the staff has to deal with. This works for all stores, NOT just restaurants.

At one store that I worked at, the owner himself would spend one week a year in every single position - working the registers for a week, stocking the shelves for a week, unloading the trucks, pricing the stock, etc. It said it gave him a better view of what his workers were doing, and allowed him to see their side of things, and have a better idea of how to solve problems/issues because he *knew the job* himself. He also demanded that his store managers do the same. I loved working there, and only quit after he retired and sold the store and a new owner took over who couldn't care less. He demoted all the current store managers, brought in "his own" honkeys who did NOTHING and basically the morale took a HUGE nosedive, resulting a ton of people (including myself) quitting.