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How to Build an Effective Restaurant Training Program

Learn how to build an effective restaurant training program that gets your team up to speed faster.

12/1/23
7 min read
restaurant training program

DoorDash is pleased to introduce this guest blog post from our Merchant Benefits partner EdApp, a mobile-first microlearning platform.

Your staff is a key component of your customer experience. If they're not having a good time, neither are your customers. Having an effective restaurant training program is important in ensuring your teams feel confident in their roles. With the right training and guidance, you can equip your team with the skills, tools, and knowledge needed to greet and serve customers well. 

Why is restaurant staff training important?

Training is important in attracting and retaining quality talent. In a recent study conducted by YouGov, seven in ten frontline workers (70%) describe training as important or a top priority when considering new roles. By giving your staff more opportunities for quality training, you’ll not only raise the quality of service they deliver to your customers but also convince them to choose working with you.

Training can reduce the number of mistakes and errors made while working. This ultimately can help save time and money and prevent financial disruptions to the business. In a recent analysis by Forrester, it was found that organizations that used EdApp as their training solution were able to save 12% of the costs from safety and compliance and cut training times in half. 

Tips for creating an employee training program that works

Whether you’re creating a program from scratch or looking for ways to innovate your existing restaurant service training, consider using training tools like EdApp. These training apps can help you transform your restaurant training into bite-sized, engaging, actionable, and simplified learning sessions. 

Make training bite-sized with microlearning

Microlearning means workers can complete their bite-sized training whenever they have 5 minutes to spare - no longer bound by clunky training modules on-site. Bite-sized training also makes new information easier to digest and increases knowledge retention in your restaurant staff.

Bubble tea brand Chatime transformed their training into short, sharp microlessons. As a result, they had a 90% adoption rate in the first month alone. Now when T-Ristas come into the tea brewery, they do a 10-minute training on different drinks and can start making them right away. 

Josephine Eager

Because our T-Ristas are getting to know the product quickly, they’re having a lot more fun with it.

Josephine Eager, Training, People and Culture Manager, Chatime

EdApp uses native smartphone elements like swipes, drag and drop, and match to make training feel more like a game – not work. Gamification can make even policy-based training more interactive and engaging for staff, leading to higher completion rates and message retention.

Supercharge your training with Gen Z techniques

Your training techniques need to keep up with shifting workforce demographics. Whether you’re training new employees for a quick-service restaurant or catering service, consider using engaging gamification features to encourage your restaurant staff to complete their training. 

Turn boring training into a game by celebrating achievements, having leaderboards, and even giving out prizes. With some external motivation, your teams will be racing to complete lessons as quickly as possible or retaking courses to have the highest score among their peers. EdApp turns passive trainees into active learners with these gamified Gen Z features, encouraging workers to engage with their training more often and consistently. 

Turn analysis into action

The next step you’d want to take once you start building or transforming your restaurant training program is to find out how you’ll track, gather, and analyze results and interactions. Reports and analytics help you track compliance, spot problems early, design better learning outcomes, and remind your teams to re-engage with their training. 

The metrics you need can be at your fingertips with specific tools like EdApp. With actionable reports and analytics dashboards, every interaction is searchable and securely stored in a digital format that never expires. Quickly view and export engagement and performance insights to out-of-the-box reports so you can track and report on any aspect of your learning strategy.

Simplify your admin workload

Creating a quality restaurant training program can take time. But it can be easier with pre-made content, templates, PowerPoint converters, and outsourced help. It’s not just your learners who can save time; restaurant operators can save time and create the ideal restaurant training program in minutes, not months. 

Optimize your course creation process with EdApp. This training platform comes with an easy-to-use creator tool and template library, as well as a course library with over 1,000 premade restaurant-specific courses covering everything from customer experience to HACCP-accredited food safety courses

You can also convert your existing training material into engaging microlessons with a built-in PowerPoint converter. Plus, EdApp can build your first few courses for you, walk you through the platform, and take some time to understand your specific training needs. 

Invest in staff training

In the end, your workers are the face of your business. Investing in educating and upskilling your restaurant staff is one of the best decisions you’ll ever make while running your business and leading your teams. Change the way your restaurant teams learn with EdApp. 

To save over 40% on EdApp, sign up here through your DoorDash merchant account. And learn more about Merchant Benefits and Discounts.

Author

Darcy Dario
Darcy Dario

Marketing Associate, EdApp

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