How Learning Management Systems Can Promote Worker Retention

On Tuesday, Nation’s Restaurant News put together a huge feature on a potential solution to the dismal restaurant labor landscape. Authors Meredith Sandland and Carl Orsbourn argue that digital solutions can help restaurants navigate a nationwide staff shortage and offer ideas on how brands can help employees find value in their place of employment.

Sandland and Orsbourn write that workers feel better about their jobs when they feel valued, when they feel their work is appreciated and when they feel their work is helping them grow. The authors suggest a digital solution to helping create a positive work environment for employees: If an interface can be designed to curate a message toward those exact needs, a brand is setting itself up to be far more successful than a traditional setup that could easily leave workers feeling unsatisfied. 

As Sandland and Orsbourn write, a learning management system (LMS), a place to house, track and deliver training content, can help brands engage employees and may promote retention. This new digital tool may also help create a positive work environment while curating feedback to the exact preferences of new employees. “[They] want to know they are contributing to something larger than themselves,” said Sandland and Orsbourn. “This starts with defining customer service as part of the culture, rather than as a transaction.” 

Minor solutions like this can bring major relief for brands and workers alike — but it’s just a minor piece of an ongoing struggle to find and retain restaurant labor. While paying employees more is a surefire way to keep them around a little longer, it isn’t the only thing that contributes to a strong employee retention rate.

If money is a limiting factor for a franchise brand, Sandland and Orsbourn suggest a state-specific outline toward employee needs. Working around the overtime requirements in certain states can take creativity, but it can also ensure that employees are not overworked and additional employee funding is not required.

Sandland and Orsbourn point out that Florida, for example, sees overtime kick in for any hour after a standard 40-hour week. California will kick in their overtime definitions for anything on top of a standard eight-hour work day, leaving brands to get more creative if a standard nine-to-five isn’t long enough to get a job done.