Things to Consider When Writing a Restaurant Employee Handbook
Planning for a restaurant business requires an organized set of rules and guidelines to establish a well managed working environment. Your employees are the most visible reflection of your success since the satisfaction of your customers may be dependent on how well they provide their services. You should acquaint your employees by providing them a handbook consisting of the restaurant rules as well as their benefits as an employee right after hiring them. This article will provide you information on the things that you should consider when writing a restaurant employee handbook.
Screening and profiling your employees will be necessary in order for you to effectively convey your message in a manner that they will easily understand. You should take into consideration their level of education and language. Some of your employees might not be a native English speaker or some might find it hard to understand a manual due to lack of education so it would be recommended that you use simple English when writing.
Make sure to update your restaurant employee handbook should there be any amendments made. Provide your employees the details of the changes in the handbook. Place a note for their reference where they can see the superseded information. Place a date of the effectivity where the new rule or guideline should be implemented. It would be better to send out a memo pertaining the details of the amendments in the handbook.
Ensure that general policies stipulated in the handbook are in compliance with the law. There are legal matters to consider in terms of attendance, termination, compensation, other benefits etc. All of these should be dealt with professionally in order to avoid trouble pertaining to legal issues. You may seek the advice of a lawyer by having him reviewed certain parts of the restaurant employee handbook that may contain legal information. By doing this, your business as well as your employees is secured and compliant from any form of legal obligation.
Write concisely and completely. Rules and guidelines should be explained thoroughly and direct to the point. Write as brief as possible but provide complete information. This will save you time and effort in the future. If all information can already be found in the handbook, there will be less inquiries and explanations to be done. Do not confuse your employees by using unfamiliar words.
If you are conducting orientation to the new hires, you should remember that what you have said verbally in the orientation should correspond with what you will write in the handbook so as not to confuse your employees. You should give accurate information since this is a crucial matter.
Proofread the restaurant employee handbook before finalizing and distributing it to your employees. The contents of the handbook should be reliable so your employees will find it informative and will keep it as reference for further inquiries. You may also ask someone to proofread your work. In this case, you are opening other valuable ideas and will be able to hear comments from others on your handbook.
Author Bio: Jerome Chiaro is a Restaurant Owner & Consultant out of Orange County, CA. Don’t train your staff alone! He can help you spend LESS TIME and become MORE EFFECTIVE… Claim your copy of his Free Restaurant Employee Handbook. Success doesn’t happen alone! Join a mastermind of restaurant owners and a wealth of resources, at his Free Restaurant Forms Blog.
Category: Business Management
Keywords: restaurant employee handbook,employee handbook