Catching More with Honey: How a People-First Approach to Training and Culture Can Improve Employee Retention

Alesha Sisk, Senior Director of Talent & Training, Tupelo Honey

The hospitality industry is still recovering from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, as thousands of restaurants struggle to address changing customer behaviors, rising inflation, and higher operational costs. But perhaps the biggest existential threat to the restaurant industry is attracting and retaining talent. According to the National Restaurant Association’s 2023 State of the Restaurant Industry report, more than 60 percent of surveyed establishments said they were understaffed. And while food service employment levels are beginning to resemble the pre-2020 norm, the survey found that there is one unemployed person for every two jobs — the lowest on record.

Even before the pandemic, keeping talent in restaurants was a significant challenge — and it’s easy to understand why. The hours are unpredictable, the environment can be stressful and physically taxing, and the wages are typically low. While the fast-paced, customer-facing nature of the industry will never change, there are several best practices businesses can adopt to show employees they foster an environment where people ‘work to live’ rather than ‘live to work.’ Below are some of the ways Tupelo Honey improves employee retention by investing in our greatest asset: our people.

Benefits That Consider the Big Picture of Employee Satisfaction

In a tough labor market, offering benefits that consider the wants and needs of employees on a holistic level can be a major differentiator for businesses looking to hire and retain talent. This includes creating a benefits program that considers not only an employee's financial needs but other aspects of their lifestyle. For example, at Tupelo Honey, our HoneyPot program is designed to help support employees at all stages of their lives with benefits that assist with college tuition, family-related expenses, and other lifestyle-related perks, such as pet insurance and wellness reimbursement.

During the pandemic, we as an organization asked ourselves how we could do more to better support our employees during times of financial hardship. This conversation led to the creation of our ‘Biscuits for a Cause’ program, where all the profits from our biscuit sales are deposited directly into an employee relief fund that helps team members in need. Programs like HoneyPot and Biscuits for a Cause send a message to prospective hires that a business sees them not just as employees but as team members of a caring organization that can make a meaningful difference in their lives in numerous ways.

Training Opportunities That Foster Growth and Belonging

The secret to company growth and performance is consistent staffing, yet many companies struggle to allot the necessary training and resources to keep talented employees happy and committed. We’ve been fortunate enough that 50 percent of our general managers and 75 percent of managers have been with our brand for more than six years, and more than 75 percent of management positions are filled from within the company. 

"As restaurant turnover rates continue to rise, now is the time to think about how your business fosters care and respect at every level of the organization"

One of the ways we’re able to retain employees at such a high level is by implementing training programs that instill confidence and a sense of belonging in the workplace. We offer robust hourly training for new hires in all hourly positions, but to help grow talent from within, we also have an extensive manager-in-training program where new hires travel to our training center and train for three weeks with our field training manager. They receive in-depth, on-the-job training through all our systems, learn each position and leave with a base knowledge of all our operations. They then return to their home location with another week of introduction and training with their regional management team.

Another way to help retain and empower employees is through initiatives like our ‘Project Aspire’ program, which is designed to elevate our BIPOC, female, and other underrepresented groups that historically have a more difficult time receiving promotions in the industry. Participants receive more than 30 hours of additional management training throughout the year, and to date, we have a 75 percent promotion rate for our ASPIRE graduates.

Improving the Flow of Company-Wide Communication

Proper communication is a crucial component of employee retention, especially for frontline workers. By using automated text messaging technology, we’re able to communicate directly with our employees to let them know about new benefits they may be eligible for, work anniversaries, company updates, or how to access documents like wellness reimbursement applications without needing a manager. This allows us to improve transparency and eliminate communication barriers between our corporate office and our frontline staff, as well as eliminates the need for our managers to distribute the information so they have more time to focus on other day-to-day business needs.

Scheduling Processes Designed for Better Flexibility and Work-Life Balance

One of the biggest pain points for food service employees is having an inflexible and unpredictable schedule. Tweaking schedule processes to enable employees to better plan their lives outside of work can help with employee retention by showing your team you value their work-life balance. To help provide more flexibility in our employees’ lives, we allow team members to begin accruing paid time off from day one and also release employee schedules two weeks in advance.

As restaurant turnover rates continue to rise, now is the time to think about how your business fosters care and respect at every level of the organization. Implementing programs that both reflect the needs of today’s workers and prove a company is willing to invest to improve the growth and well-being of its employees will not only help grow talent from within; it will ultimately help grow your bottom line.

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