How to Onboard a New Restaurant Employee

You’ve just completed the final round of interviews and are excited to welcome the perfect employee to your team. However, the new hire seems to be taking longer than you’d hoped to understand processes and adjust to the overall company culture. 

What’s more, existing employees are struggling to compensate for these shortcomings, resulting in other team members feeling frustrated and sharing negative employee feedback. Hiring a new person was meant to be beneficial for the team and the business, not detrimental. 

Luckily, there is a solution for these growing pains, and that is having an effective onboarding process that thoroughly yet efficiently shows new employees everything from what is expected from them, how to carry out business operations, and the company’s culture.  These are just some of the things every new hire should know when they start a role, no matter the industry. As a restaurant, having team members work together seamlessly is paramount to the company’s success. If one member isn’t following the established procedure, the consequence is felt by everyone. 

Be reminded that the whole onboarding process should not rest on your shoulders alone, it is a lot of work for one person to oversee and limits how well the new hire will integrate into other teams and stations. 

In this guide, we will cover the details of what each step in a restaurant employee onboarding process involves in an easy to read checklist to make it easy for you and your team to implement.

New Hire Checklist for Restaurant Employees

In order for your new hire to hit the ground running, there are a few things to do, some even before their first shift. 

Not only will onboarding new hires properly give you, your team, and your restaurant the best chance of success, but is a huge green flag to the new employee. It shows them that you are informed and proactive as well as provide support for anything they may need, allowing them to start their new job with confidence. 

Let’s begin the checklist for new restaurant employees to ensure they have a positive onboarding experience. 

Complete Paperwork and Legal Documents

Before a new employee puts on their uniform, you need to fill out the necessary paperwork. It’s not fun, but it must be done for them to be legally permitted to work at your establishment. 

The following forms need to be collected and submitted before the onboarding process can begin:

• W4 form: To calculate how much federal tax you’ll have to withhold from each employee’s pay. 

• I-9 form: Submitted to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to make new employees legally allowed to work in the U.S. 

Keep a copy of these forms in each employee's file. Following the forms, report the new team member to your state's new hire registry. 

This crucial step should be done by a manager or owner.

Set up a Direct Deposit

To ensure each employee is paid the correct amount at the same time every month, it’s best to set up a direct deposit. This takes money straight from the company’s account and into the worker’s account. 

Have your new hire submit a blank check or their ACH bank information so you can set up a direct deposit as soon as possible. Making this step a priority in the onboarding process shows that they can trust you to pay them exactly what they are owed on consistent dates. 

This step should also be done by a manager or owner.

For more information on how to do restaurant payroll, read this guide.

Outline Restaurant and Team Policies 

It’s important to cover your company’s policies and expectations regarding dress code, behavior, and harassment. Every restaurant is different; some have uniforms, and others do not. You may also want to provide free staff meals or opt for a staff discount. 

When it comes to harassment, make it clear to every new hire that you hold your employees to a high standard of behavior. Establish that they must be respectful at all times, and any harassment claims will be taken very seriously. 

One of the existing employees (ideally tenured) can take care of this step or pass it to a manager or owner.

Detail Staff Scheduling Regulations

You want new employees to transition seamlessly into how you do things at the restaurant. But it’s unfair to expect them to know all the ins and outs without a thorough restaurant orientation. 

This is particularly important when it comes to your restaurant’s staff scheduling policy. This includes shift length expectations, break policies, and how to submit requests for time off. Having an overview of your scheduling system is crucial, whether it’s an app, an online scheduling template, or printed out in the break room and shared via group chat, etc. 

Walking new team members through their scheduling expectations gives them valuable insight into the company’s culture in terms of work-life balance. It also reduces the risk of a high employee turnover as new hires are given transparent expectations, removing the element of unpleasant surprise of back-to-back 12-hour shifts or rejected time off. 

This should be done by an owner or manager.

Set Up Benefits

An essential part of a positive onboarding experience is showing your new hire firsthand how your company culture prioritizes its staff. A paycheck only goes so far, which makes providing ongoing support and suitable benefits key for increasing employee retention rates and making new hires feel valued. 

Unfortunately, restaurant employees don’t often get full employee benefits. Businesses with over 50 employees are required to provide health benefits such as 401k matching and dental, but many small restaurants can’t afford them. 

If you do provide any benefits, go through the paperwork and/or systems required with your new hire. Otherwise, try your absolute best to provide alternative benefits such as transit reimbursement or childcare coverage. 

Explain your policies around the benefits you provide, and get new employees organized on any relevant online systems.

This should be done by an owner or manager.

Integrate Them Into Staff Systems

Onboarding new hires introduces additional usernames, passwords, and ID numbers, all very important details that must be added to the appropriate staff systems.

Get the new team member set up in the restaurant’s: 

• POS system

• Employee payment portal

• Scheduling app or website (if applicable)

Give a brief overview of how to use each system and encourage other team members to help the new employee by answering straight forward questions. If it’s a technical issue, either see to it yourself or contact the technology provider. 

A trusted employee can run through this step with your new hire, but you might need to get them access, first.

Talk History, Mission, and Brand

Refrain from going into too much detail and boring your new hire, but starting off their new job with an overview of what your restaurant is all about will set them on the right path. Outline the company’s history, your mission, and short term and longterm goals for the restaurant. 

This part of the onboarding process depends on whether you want to share information about your brand and how it’s presented in your decor, social media, and menu. 

It’s also beneficial to share the management approach with the new hire. Cover what kind of boss you strive to be and the established working environment surrounding team members. 

For front-of-house staff, share high-level goals of what you want every guest to feel as they’re served at your restaurant. For back-of-house staff, focus on goals for the culinary experience, the origins of your menu, and your approach to food allergies.

This step should be done by an owner or manager.

Explain Roles and Hierarchy

Make sure your new employee understands who in the restaurant does what role. Even though this step only takes a few minutes, it's essential for preventing team members from feeling overwhelmed. 

To make it easier, write out the company hierarchy or, ideally, have it premade in your employee handbook. This should include the names of existing employees and an overview of each role. 

Doing this eases any confusion the new hire may have and gives them confidence in knowing who they can turn to when their manager isn’t available during the training process. 

This step can be done by a tenured staff member.

Introduce a Buddy or Mentor

For a truly effective onboarding progam for a restaurant job in particular, use a buddy system. This involves the new employee shadowing a team member throughout the first day or week of the new job, learning exactly what they should do. 

Using a buddy removes confusion about how to do things around the restaurant, from little things like napkin folding to big things like inventory management. A buddy or a mentor can answer any question the new hire may have and help them mingle with other team members. 

However, showing a newbie the ropes carries big responsibilities, so it’s crucial that the buddy or mentor chosen is thorough, helpful, and the best example of what’s expected in your new addition. 

This step should be done by an owner or manager.

Create a 30-60-90 Day Checklist

This checklist structures progress the new hire is to make, detailing skills and milestones to be achieved after 30, 60, and 90 days.

It shows your long-term investment in their success and allows you to track improvements and obstacles over the following weeks. You can give the option for milestones to be left blank and filled out by the employee, or you can have a predetermined timeline that is applied to all new employee onboarding processes. 

These skills and milestones may look like the following:

• Is familiar with all menu allergens and dietary restrictions.

• Can comfortably handle X amount of tables in Y time frame.

• Proficient in using company software.

• Has completed all up-to-date job-specific training.

This step should be done by the manager (or other senior employee) responsible for the check-ins with the new hire.

Provide an Employee Handbook

The employee handbook is like an instruction manual, with everything your new team member needs to know, including core values, company policies, and where they fit in as employees. 

Therefore, an employee handbook is a crucial part of a successful employee onboarding process. It must be accurate, up-to-date, and well-structured, as you want it to be something staff can refer back to. 

Give the handbook to your new employee and go through key passages together. At the end of the session, set time aside for questions and explain your reasoning for policies and the restaurant's strategic process.

This step can be done by a tenured employee.

Have a Check-in Schedule

Despite being common in the corporate world, restaurant employee onboarding benefits greatly from regular check-ins. They are great for catching minor issues before they get bigger, demonstrating your ongoing support, and helping reduce employee turnover rates by implementing employee feedback.

Unlike the 30-60-90-day check-ins, check-ins don’t have goals or milestones. They are exclusively an opportunity for the employee and their manager to have a relaxed conversation about how the new job is going and occurrences in their personal life if the employee chooses to share. 

Check-ins needn’t be longer than 15 minutes because as long as they are done regularly, everything has a chance to be covered. Try to aim to hold check-ins with team members every two weeks. 

This step should be done by the manager (or other senior employee) who will be responsible for the check-ins with the new hire.

The Power of Proper Onboarding

As you can see, the checklist isn’t necessarily long and considering how beneficial it is for your company’s success longterm, it should be part of every restaurant’s onboarding process. 

Showing each new hire that they are not just another number and are valued members of the team is more than just words. You need to prove it by setting them up for success and being there whenever they need some extra guidance. 

Giving new employees a poor onboarding experience is a guaranteed way to increase employee turnover. They will feel lost and frustrated as they want to be a strong new team member just as much as you do.

So, do your new and existing employees a favor and implement an effective onboarding process that works for your restaurant and ensures efficient staff growth.  

FAQs

What are the 5 C’s of onboarding?

To understand an employee onboarding process more easily, consider the 5 C’s, which are: 

• Clarity: What is expected from new employees, including roles, responsibilities, and goals. 

• Compliance: Outlines the company’s legal policies and operations.

• Culture: Immersing the new employee in company ethos and values.

• Connection: Building professional relationships among all team members.

• Check-In: Regular check-ins to cover any possible issues from both parties.

What to do to onboard a new employee?

Many companies have streamlined their onboarding process using software that uses videos and gamification techniques. The employee’s process is tracked and typically concludes with an assessment. 

Each onboarding program depends on the industry. For restaurants, follow the checklist in this article and be transparent with new hires, fill out necessary forms, teach and show what is expected of them,  set goals, and carry out regular check-ins.

What is the ideal onboarding timeline?

Onboarding should take around 90 days (3 months) to complete, but realistically, new employees will be learning bits and pieces on the job for longer than that. 

However, after the 90 days, you should be able to trust them with most if not all aspects of their role and to use their initiative to solve problems. 

Take into consideration that everyone learns differently, and your company may function differently and take more time to understand. As long as you have spent time perfecting your restaurant employee onboarding strategy, they will be part of the family by the 90-day milestone.