The Daily Rail: Brinker's Education Benefit a Plus for Its Restaurants' Staff

INFOGRAPHIC: Gamification of Restaurant Staff Sales

Restaurants spend so much time marketing on social media, yet they turn a blind eye to marketing to guests already in their seats. Here's how restaurants can boost revenue with suggestive sales and gamifying the sales process.


DID YOU KNOWS…

Someone Sign This Pole to a Contract

The Eagles and Patriots will line-up for this year’s Super Bowl but the big story right now is the Eagle’s fan who got taken out by a concrete pillar. The fan was trying to run down train and got absolutely blindsided. Here’s the video (with slo-mo instant replay)!

Carded for Energy Drinks?

Pushed by public pressure, British supermarkets are going to start banning the sale of energy drinks to people under the age of 16. The reason is the high caffeine and sugar content “aren’t exactly ideal for minors.” Energy drinks typically have around two cups of coffee worth of caffeine and a variety amount of sugar. Among proponents of the measure is Jamie Oliver.

Facebook Going Global for Sports?

Facebook has hired Eurosport’s Peter Hutton to pursue global live sports right deals. Hutton is a veteran in global sports rights deals, including snagging the European rights to the Olympics for Eurosports from the BBC. This is another strong move by Facebook as they look to become a bigger player in sports streaming.


GETTING YOUR EDUCATION GAME ON

Why it matters to you: Brinker’s new education benefit sure is a reason to work there.

 As if the labor market wasn’t competitive enough, Brinker just upped the ante with the announcement they are implementing a “no-cost” employee education program. Brinker operates the Chili’s Grill & Bar and Maggiano’s Little Italy brands with over 1,700 locations, both company owned and franchised. Initially the program is only available for company stores, but they are hoping that the franchisees will see the value and get on board. Their chief people officer Rick Badgley said, “Our hopes are that we can steer these people into a career into hospitality.”

However, even if only a small percentage stay in hospitality, what an amazing benefit to offer hourly employees. They are offering the no-cost degree track program as well as English as a second language benefits and General Equivalency Diploma instruction as well. The company has positions ‘coaches’ to support staff as they navigate the work, life and school balance issues.

If you are a competitor of Brinker’s then this will certainly complicate your efforts to attract the quality of staff that they are hoping to attract. While most small operators won’t have any luck keeping up with the Jones’s here, but chain operators will at least have to examine this program for their own businesses. Either way, the War for Talent just got a little more difficult.

IT’S NOT JUST DELIVERY, IT’S AN EXPERIENCE

Why it matters to you: As restaurants fight the delivery boom to keep butts in seats some focus on the experience.

 So many restaurants these days are partnering with delivery systems like Uber Eats, and focusing on boosting delivery sales as opposed to their brick & mortar locations. It’s easy to see where we could end up facing some issues. David Chang recently closed his restaurant to the public and partnered with Uber Eats, ushering in the first deal of its kind (and we’re sure not the last). With no actual location to visit, restauranteurs cannot control every aspect of the experiences which can lead to major issues. Meanwhile others have decided to stick to the tried and true methods of owning their space and ensuring every aspect of their restaurant is controlled and as perfect as possible.

The experience is why a lot of people go out to/are interested in going out to eat in the first place. It only makes sense improving the guest experience would be the best defense toward dealing with the tech-delivery boom. If you ensure your space is not just a place to eat but an actual destination -- something actually special -- nobody can take that away from you. If you double down on what actually happens when customers come inside of your restaurant, customers will seek you out rather than just eating somewhere more convenient. Partner that with embracing new tech and you are on the right track to growing.


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