Many managers and employees alike dread performance reviews, but when properly conducted, these meetings can be incredibly beneficial to everyone. If you’re currently brushing this task off as grating formality, it’s time to start taking it seriously.
Turnover in the accommodation and food services industries increased from 66.7 percent in 2014 to 72.1 percent in 2015, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, so if you don’t dedicate extra effort to employee satisfaction, your staff won’t think twice about moving on to your competitor. Performance reviews can be beneficial to make your company a better place to work and increase your bottom line.
4 Tips for an Effective Hospitality Industry Performance Review
Give Meaningful Feedback
Providing employees with vague feedback is helpful to no one, so take the time to gather truly relevant insights. Cite specific examples of things each person is doing well and areas for improvement. For example, instead of commending your bartender for doing great work, praise the person’s ability to make drinks customers rave about on Yelp, keep people engaged in conversation so they spend more money and fill orders quickly.
Set Measureable Objectives
Similar to giving unclear feedback, setting ambiguous goals creates more confusion than benefits. Get on the same page with your staff by creating specific goals for each person to achieve. For example, instead of asking a server to concentrate on upselling, challenge the person to increase their total sales volume by 10 percent in the next six months.
Make it a Two-Way Conversation
As the manager, you’re responsible for leading the performance review, but the discussion shouldn’t be one-sided. Use this time to gain valuable insights from each employee. Find out how things are going with the person’s job, ask about skills they’d like to learn or different roles they’re interested in transitioning into, get ideas to better serve customers and see if staffers have any suggestions to make the company more efficient.
Meet With the Employee Regularly
Holding performance reviews annually is never a good idea, but the hospitality industry’s sky-high turnover levels make it even more important for this to be an ongoing process. Meet with each person on your team at least quarterly — monthly if possible — to touch base. Job satisfaction levels increase when employees know their manager cares, so this can help boost retention rates. These meetings are also a great time to review progress toward goals and make any necessary adjustments.
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