As the labor crisis in the restaurant industry continues, what we’re hearing from restaurant operators is that flexibility is the key to attracting and maintaining top talent. At Park City Utah-based restaurant group, Leave Room for Dessert Eateries (Heart and Hill, Hill’s Kitchen), schedule flexibility and outsourcing some back-office functions like HR and payroll have led to a lower turnover rate at their restaurants.
Owners Brooks and David Kirchheimer also know that their employees might not be around forever, especially if many are high school and college students on break, and even encourage them to start their own businesses one day.
“Flexibility is where you don't need to be there just to be there,” Brooks Kirchheimer said. “[…] If they're forced to be there for 12-hour shifts, it's not going to make them feel good. I think flexibility in understanding people's needs. For example, our chef Jordan Harvey is phenomenal at flexibility. When he's needed some of the prep team to stay an extra couple of hours, he'll pay for them to get an Uber or Lyft home because many of them don't have a transportation.”
It might sound simple, but treating employees like human beings and putting them first is key, the Kirchheimer father and son duo say, and that’s why their motto has always been to “Inspire their associates, thrill guests, and enrich the community.”
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