Employee turnover is one of the most difficult problems faced by owners and management. Figures produced by the National Restaurant Association suggest that the restaurant staff turnover rate was around 75% in 2019, and that’s before the pandemic made matters worse (100% to 200% and higher for national Quick-Service-Restaurants in 2020). On top of that, the cost of hiring and training an entry-level replacement can be as much as $3,500.
But it’s not just a problem experienced by restaurants. Between the pandemic, labor shortage, and rising costs of food and labor, it’s become more difficult for grocery stores to retain experienced and well-motivated staff, too. Nevermind that many grocery stores these days are adapting a hybrid “grocerant” model, in which they sell prepared foods (or in some cases operate an entire restaurant) in a special area of the store – often causing grocers’ turnover statistics to trend more toward restaurant statistics.
Below, we discuss how the right POS system can reduce turnover in your hybrid grocery store or “grocerant”, but many of the same practices and features can easily be applied to grocers without a dedicated prepared foods/restaurant concept in-store. If your business does operate on a hybrid model, this advice will especially apply to the restaurant portion of your store.
Why is Turnover So High?
Surprisingly, low pay isn’t one of the factors most often cited by employees in restaurants and retail. More commonly, staff complain about feeling inadequately trained or qualified, underappreciated or neglected, or that they generally find the work less enjoyable than they’d expected.
Ensuring that staff feel valued is a cornerstone of good management practice and may go a long way toward addressing these complaints, but the right POS can also help. With the pandemic having changed the way these industries operate, it’s more important than ever to retain and engage your staff.
4 Ways NorthStar POS Helps Reduce Turnover
Here are four simple ways that a modern POS like NorthStar can reduce turnover in your grocery store or grocerant business.
1. Helps reward your most productive staff
The NorthStar POS system allows for the production of numerous customizable reports, which enable you to see at-a-glance which members of your team are performing exceptionally well in terms of general productivity, table turns, upsells, or loyalty program sign-ups.
Equipped with this information, it’s then a simple matter to reward them with cash bonuses, food perks, or extra vacation days. Announcing these kinds of rewards at team meetings is a powerful motivator, not just for the recipients but for all staff members who attend.
2. Reduces job Stress
Employees commonly cite slow, cumbersome, or buggy technology as one of the main irritations in their job. Dealing with demanding customers in a crowded, noisy space is stressful enough without having to battle with unreliable technology. So having a modern efficient POS system which makes staff members’ jobs as easy as possible is in itself a great aid to retention.
The NorthStar POS makes it a breeze for staff to place orders and upsells with kitchen and bar – and to receive an immediate notification of any changes to the menu. Customer payments and tips can be accepted right at the table, helping to maximize table turns and make staff feel like they’re a vital part of an efficient and successful operation.
3. Increases staff remuneration
Speaking of tips. Tips are a major element of remuneration for most restaurant staff and therefore a major factor in keeping staff happy and reducing turnover in that part of a grocerant. In 2014, a study by researchers at Iowa State University found that modern POS systems could help increase tipping by as much as 38 percent. With that in mind, NorthStar is specifically designed to facilitate and encourage tipping, which makes it a huge asset to a hybrid model business with a full-functioning restaurant inside the grocery store.
How does it work? Touchpads allow customers to select instantly from one of several suggested amounts, all while chatting happily to their server or friends. The psychological phenomenon known as “anchoring” means that customers naturally tend to go for the middle option, and knowing this can enable you to subtly increase average tipping levels.
4. Improves rostering efficiency
NorthStar POS reports can identify sessions that staff members have found particularly difficult and stressful, such as when an unusually large number of dishes are returned, or when customer walkouts and complaints are common. These kinds of problems are often related to understaffing during busy periods, in which case the POS system can help identify and remedy this by suggesting simple changes in rostering.
Conversely, overstaffing during slack periods can be just as bad for morale. Few staff members enjoy standing around with little or nothing to do, and in quiet periods, there is of course much less opportunity to earn tips. Naturally, more efficient rostering also makes life much easier for management.
NorthStar POS Helps Grocery Stores Succeed
In all these ways, a modern POS system can be a powerful tool for increasing both staff engagement and customer satisfaction for a hybrid model grocery store.
CBS NorthStar has been a leading provider of innovative restaurant technology for more than 25 years, and its current systems include a wide variety of features to help both management and staff achieve optimum productivity in their businesses. Visit https://northstarrestaurantpos.com/ to learn more.
