One of the worst things that a restaurant manager has to deal with is a top-performing chef, server, or other member of his or her staff turning in his or her two-weeks' notice or simply quitting right there on the spot. It is at this time that you begin asking yourself a number of questions, including how something like this could be happening and whether there was anything that you could have done to prevent it from happening.

It takes a lot of time and effort to interview, hire, and train new employees, so it is important that you work on building an organization that minimizes employee turnover. Here are three tips to help you do just that in your restaurant.

Tip #1: Reward Your Employees for Their Performance

Make sure to let your employees know when their work is exceptional. Offering positive feedback to your staff regularly can effectively keep them satisfied, engaged, and productive.

You can go about this a number of different ways, but here is one way. Each quarter, set aside a certain amount of money that you can put toward rewarding your employees for their generous efforts. These rewards can be as little or as big as you wish (ideally, it should depend on the effort of the employee that you are rewarding), including gift cards, bottles of wine (for of-age employees), or bonuses on their checks.

Tip #2: Offer Your Employees an Opportunity to Grow

It isn't uncommon for employees to leave their current positions for jobs that offer better pay, more flexibility, or greater growth opportunities. This particular type of turnover can be reduced if you offer your employees the opportunity for internal growth. This can be offered in several different ways, including management courses, third-party education, on-the-job training, and the chance to attend industry seminars/conferences.

Tip #3: Perform Exit Interviews

Regardless of the steps that you take to minimize employee turnover within your restaurant, you will still have employees leave for a number of reasons. The good news is that you can use your departing employee as an opportunity to learn about things that you can change within your restaurant, including the culture, management team, etc. This type of feedback can be invaluable to improving employee engagement and growing your company as a whole. While it may take some of your time, conducting exit interviews will prove to be well worth it in the end.

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