By Deagon B Williams
A restaurant employee handbook is an integral part of a restaurant’s operation. Some people think these kind of manuals aren’t worth the paper they are written on, but that’s a big mistake. Your employee handbook is incredibly important for a couple of reasons. First, there is the legal aspect of taking responsibility to convey the required information. Additionally, there is the act of writing the employee handbook that causes us to think and articulate what is most important to your staff. Here’s the secret: People don’t know unless we explicitly tell them. And it’s even better if we tell them in writing.
I used to dread putting communication in writing it as it seemed so unnecessarily formal and/or dry. I used to feel that writing important things was impersonal as well as distant and harsh. I’ve later learned that it doesn’t have to be formal or cold in tone and it sends the important message that I take this communication seriously, I take my business seriously and I want to make it easy as possible for you to understand without expecting anyone to read my mind.
Okay okay, enough of my rant…. Hopefully I’ve convinced you of the importance of a written manual. Now, back to the first purpose: the legal issues. Be sure to cover drug and alcohol policy, scheduling, time off, holidays, benefits, termination, sexual harassment, safety practices, emergency evacuation, etc. This handbook should answer any FAQ an employee might have and lay down a consistent policy you will enforce fairly in all situations. Having these policies laid out in advance protects both you and the employees.
Secondarily, in the restaurant employee handbook we share our values and mission – which ends up becoming the culture of our company. The bottom line is that you are literally creating your company as you write your restaurant employee manual.
And if you need a good laugh check out the Kitchen Confidential episode called ‘Power Struggle” which addresses an operations manual gone bad in the first 5 minutes of the episode.
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