featured project:
great flood brewery and restaurant
new hire training program

FOH New Hire Training -- Project Planning and Analysis 

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Context

Great Flood Brewing opened in Louisville as a brewery only in 2014. Six years later in January 2020, Great Flood opened a brand new full-service restaurant. While trying to get their footing as new restaurant owners, the pandemic arrived just two months later. With so many new challenges to face every day as they navigated new waters, a comprehensive training program for front-of-house employees never fully came to fruition. To improve the training experience for new hires and in turn improve retention, Great Flood needed an organized and well-thought out training program to onboard their servers and bartenders. 

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I spent a few years working in restaurants through college, and I am an avid diner – I love going out to eat and trying new things and new experiences. I am close to many people that have either owned, managed, or worked in restaurants. Naturally, this project hit close to my heart and is something I had a personal interest in.

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Problem

A needs analysis identified that a lack of a structured training program on the intricacies of the menu and customer service for front-of-house employees was having a negative impact.

 

First, in customer service: there were more instances than was ideal of dishes coming out without the proper modifiers (for example, no gravy, no onion, add extra pickle, etc.) which then got sent back to the kitchen. Additionally, patrons would often ask for drink recommendations, but servers didn't always have a strong grasp of what suggestions to make based on the patron's stated preferences due to lack of knowledge about beer in general, and the brewery's specific house beer offerings.

 

Second, with food and drink costs: when food was being sent back to the kitchen due to employee error (for example, consulting patrons incorrectly on which menu items come with which toppings, condiments, or side dishes; which items can be substituted or replaced; which ingredients are included in a dish, etc.), product and money was being wasted. The restaurant owners accepted that mistakes happen, but needed to cut down on food waste and improve customer satisfaction.

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Together with my SMEs, we identified three areas for introductory training materials to be implemented: food menu knowledge, awareness of house beers and ability to make sufficient recommendations, and customer service and interactions.

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Target Audience

The target audience for this training is new hires to the restaurant, specifically front-of-house employees who will be serving tables or bartending. The learner analysis found that the majority of new hires at the restaurant are young (late teens to mid-twenties), and often inexperienced or brand new to the restaurant industry. This job is a second job for most, and money is a motivating factor. Technology is usually the fastest thing new hires pick up on, with menu memorization and substitutions being one of the more challenging aspects.

 

The majority of new hires will not have any experience with the restaurant's food or drink menu, so instructional materials were built accordingly. Technology is used throughout training to engage the younger population of new hires. All employees have some sort of restaurant experience, even if just as patrons, so relating that experience was also built into the training plan.

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Solutions

In devising a training program, I put the learners at the forefront: what tools would be most impactful for them to have a powerful impact on the business? I wanted to lean into technology wherever possible since the learner analysis found that the majority of new hires are young and have been using technology resources since they were little. Due to the highly hands-on and relational aspects of restaurant work, however, e-learning is not the only solution that should be used. 

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For this reason, this training program involves a blended approach that allows new hires to interact with a trainer and other new hires to receive feedback and bounce ideas around, but also complete e-learning materials independently. This gives the learner the opportunity to practice concepts in a low-stakes environment, but also allows the trainer (likely a manager) time to complete other tasks around the restaurant before reconvening with the learner. After each e-learning event, the new hire will meet with the manager to review content and complete an assessment) to review and reflect. 

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The Process

Needs, learner, and task analyses were conducted. See below for documentation. 

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• Needs Analysis

• Learner Analysis

• Task Analysis

 

Consultation with my SMEs was ongoing every step of the way to revise and clarify plans to ensure needs were being met. The instructional goal and objectives were written based on the needs analysis and were approved by the SMEs. Next, the instructional experiences were drafted and approved by the SMEs. With that approval, I created storyboards and then moved on to content creation in Articulate Storyline 360, Rise, and the mobile app creator Build Fire; and lastly, the written activities, assessments, infographics, handouts, and facilitator guide. 

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Phase One Materials

The materials created at this time were designed to serve as foundational instruction that must occur before a new hire goes out on the serving floor. New servers and bartenders need the opportunity to learn in a low-stakes environment where they can make mistakes and learn from them before serving patrons and guests. Real-world examples and applications were built in every step of the way to ensure easy translation when the new hire begins server shadowing and interacting with customers.

 

A detailed storyboard for each lesson is below, but to provide a quick summary, the following activities were planned and aligned to Gagne's nine events:

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• one-on-one direct instruction with a trainer

• small group direct and collaborative instruction with other new hires whenever possible

• activation of prior knowledge through informal conversations with trainer and/or training group (such as good and bad personal experiences they have had in a restaurant)

• infographics and handouts

• Google Slides for taking orders

• time for independent study and study tool creation (to memorize the intricacies of the food menu and the beer menu)

• e-learning activities created in Articulate Storyline 360 and Rise

• written and verbal assessment tools

• self-reflections and self-assessments

• scaffolded roleplaying with trainers and other employees (to practice order taking, recommending beers, and providing quality communication and customer service)

• hands-on sampling and observation activities (to learn the beer menu)

• modeling through videos on YouTube (for efficient methods of taking orders and providing quality customer service)

• attention-grabbing TikToks

• creation of a customer service action plan

• completion of an “If I See…Then I Will” Scenarios Worksheet (to practice finding solutions to issues they see around the restaurant)

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Note: the PDF below has 21 pages. You can also access it here on my Google Drive.