Restaurant Playbook: Onboarding

Onboarding and orientation help introduce every new employee to their restaurant and provide an opportunity to leave a lasting positive impression.

Onboarding is the process where new employees are integrated into your business. It includes an orientation, completion of paperwork, and education about the company - its structure, culture, and values.

Onboarding is your opportunity to:

• Share your restaurant culture
• Set clear expectations
• Make your new employee feel welcome

The onboarding process starts once the offer is accepted and includes:

• Pre-start communication
• Onboarding paperwork
• Restaurant orientation
• Role review & training process review
• Safety walk-through and location tour
• Introductions to the team & trainers

Effective onboarding can:

• Set clear expectations
• Motivate your new employee to stay with your company long-term (retention!)
• Increase job satisfaction
• Increase productivity
• Encourage teamwork
  

The best way to upgrade your new employee onboarding experience is to make sure it is:

• Consistent and compliant
• Engaging and involves the full team
• Informative and clear

Onboarding is a great opportunity to wow your new hire!

Create a great pre-onboarding experience

1. Send a welcome message letting them know:
   • Where to be
   • When to be there
   • Who they are meeting
   • What to bring
   • What to wear
   • How excited you are to welcome them
2. Send a day-of confirmation message with meeting details
3. Make sure their first day is planned out with a clear contact to oversee the day

Why it matters

• New employees are more likely to come prepared for their first day in uniform with proper tools & documents required for onboarding paperwork
• Starting a new job can be stressful and when communication is unclear or doesn’t happen at all, new employees are more likely to leave a job

First Course NYC insight: Many restaurant partners added updates like these to their early communication after receiving feedback from the program – ex. a welcome email. “We implemented a new welcome email structure after starting First Course NYC that improved the onboarding experience and helped our team come more prepared on Day 1”

Make the first day welcoming!

A great onboarding and orientation experience should include:

• Warm welcome and introduction to your brand
• Onboarding paperwork with someone available to answer questions
• Introductions to coworkers
• Tour of the restaurant
• Training schedule & expectations
• Overview of the role and expectations
• Review of key policies they should be aware of (like attendance!)

Use this opportunity to show your new employee who you are:

• Educate them on your mission, vision, and values
• Integrate them into their new team

First Course NYC insight: The number of apprentices who stayed in their job for more than 60 days was 4.5 times higher if they were happy with their onboarding experience.

Our apprentices were most impacted by:

• Clear communication before onboarding
• Walking through what to expect during training
• Receiving a tour of the restaurant

It’s important to establish from the start that every team member and manager play a role in onboarding, orientation, and training.

Onboarding Tip: Infuse your culture into your onboarding experience; set the tone on what is important to you from the beginning.

First Course NYC insight: What did you enjoy most about your onboarding experience? “Honestly, the culture here. Everyone is willing to help and aid each other”

Increase overall team engagement in onboarding and orientation by:

• Outlining clear roles and opportunities to participate in the onboarding process
• Rewarding the team for supporting the process
• Setting expectations for both direct (as trainers/buddies) and indirect (as coworkers) participation
• Sharing information with the full team at pre-shifts and team meetings

Ensure your systems and processes are followed by:

• Training your managers, trainers, and buddies (learn more about "buddies" in the training section of this playbook)
• Checking in regularly with new employees, managers, and the team for feedback
• Implementing new employee surveys to seek feedback on their experience after 30, 60, and/or 90 days
• Monitoring retention of new employees after 90 days to identify potential issues

Outline what you want every new employee to experience in their onboarding

Check out our recommended timeline and collect key information

Ask your team:

• What was their favorite part of their onboarding experience?
• What do they wish they had known on day 1 or week 1 that wasn’t explained?
• What advice would they give a new employee when they start?

Ask yourself:

• What do you want everyone on your team to know about your brand?
• Who on your team would be the best to share this information with your new employees?

Use our onboarding and orientation checklist template and customize it for your team to ensure:

• Every new employee has the same great experience
• Multiple people on your team can support the process
• All compliance topics are completed every time

Build your orientation presentation to share key information and policies, including:

• History
• Core values
• Leadership team
• Attendance policies
• Information on pay and benefits

Communicate with your team

• Celebrate your new employees with your team
• Set clear expectations for the team’s role in welcoming their new coworker
• Build the type of team you've always dreamed of

Set clear expectations for your new employee

• Check in with your new employee between the job offer and start date. If there is little or no communication during this time, they may find a new opportunity. This will help them feel more welcome and comfortable.
• Make sure they know who to reach out to with questions.

First Course NYC insight: 95% of apprentices who were satisfied with their onboarding had a person they could reach out to with questions

• Even a single meeting with their direct supervisor on their first day will improve the training experience for both the employee and the employer.

First Course NYC insight: What did you enjoy most about your onboarding experience? On day one “We got a one-on-one with the chef, and he was able to give me advice while showing the restaurant”

Provide a clear outline for the training process with a training schedule, expectations, and benchmarks

Do...send a welcome message to your new employee with all the info they need

Don’t...wait until their first day to touch base with them

Do...schedule a tour and team introductions into the day

Don’t...just have them come in just to complete paperwork and then go home

Do...share a training schedule on their first day

Don’t...wait until they are set up in your scheduling platform to get their next shift