Cash Is No Longer King When Rewarding QSR Staff

Store owners now prefer non-dollar incentives for motivating employees.

Ask a quick service restaurant (QSR) staff member these days what will spur them to perform better at work, and they are less like to cite more cash as their preferred carrot. Instead, many are yearning for recognition, personal growth and a raised sense of company ownership as sweeter enticements, according to store owners.

Personal achievement and growth

At the Ferguson Plarre bakery chain, for example, cash rewards have taken a back seat to personal achievement as the top motivator for staff. When employees feel that they have competed with the best in the company and come out on top, that gives them a surge of
confidence and motivation to do even better with the cash bonus just the icing on the cake, says Steve Plarre, chief executive officer at Plarre Foods Pty Ltd.

“Healthy competition between staff members seems to be by far the greatest motivator of our team. The key to this is providing easy and clear access to the metrics for people to see where they are on our ‘score board’. I’d suggest that 80% of the positive uplift we see is from pure pride from personal improvement and no more than 20% of the motivation comes from the dollars. Admittedly we’re not a huge company and still have a very hands-on and family feel about the place,” says Plarre.

Similarly at Burger Urge, employees are pushed to achieve some personal growth while working for the company, and leaders are more than happy to accord recognition for such milestones. This has worked in keeping staff energized and loyal.

“Managers are offered financial incentives based on their key performance indicators (KPI’s) but the most important thing we have found in retaining staff is the company culture and offering people the chance to grow with you,” says Pete Kilroy, marketing manager at Burger Urge.

Performance metrics and more

Foodco Group, which operates Jamaica Blue and Muffin Break, also ascribes to the notion that employee recognition is one of the most critical strategies to retain the best staff. But how do you determine which ones deserve a big pat on the back plus cool non-cash perks such as travel vouchers? The company uses not only objective performance metrics but also peer panel
evaluations.

“Recognition of employees underpins our retention program with both structured and ad hoc reward programs. Our structured incentive program is connected to performance indicators and provides financial drivers to grow targeted results. Our EPIC program, based on Foodco values is peer nominated and is selected quarterly. Our annual rewards program recognises employee performance and is nominated through the EPIC program by peers and selected by a panel.

The recipients of this reward receive a travel voucher,” says Serge Infanti, managing director at Foodco Group.Performance indicators are great in setting targets for employees, increasing job motivation and satisfaction.

“Many of our Franchisees have their Team Members based on incentives and performance based targets to help them perform in their roles and enjoy doing so,” says Warren Reynolds, executive chairman at Muzz Buzz.

These metrics vary per company. At Roll’d, customer service has emerged as a key indicator for a staff’s performance.

“We are looking to introduce a Customer Centricity Program to further enhance the focus of customers on each of our team members. We will use this as the foundation of their performance and reward the best at our end of years Christmas Party,” says Bao Hoang, founder at Roll’d.

Company pride and ownership

QSR staff are also fueled by the idea of working for a company that they can be proud of and gives them freedom to shape careers instead of being boxed into their roles.

“The greatest way to retain staff is one that is overlooked – offering them a vision for what you stand for and giving them a chance to buy into it,” says Mark Buckland, managing director at Healthy Habits, which is why the company chose to adopt the vision of ‘Saving the world, one sandwich at a time’.

“Whilst corny, it offers our team members a vision for a better world driven by good, healthy food. It also creates a narrative which they can buy into,” says Buckland.

“Of course we also invest in traditional methods like vouchers, rewards, recognition through ladders, competitions and national awards but again – the key is setting a vision for what you stand for and encouraging passion in execution that vision.”

Foodco, meanwhile, believes empowering employees to build their careers makes them more engaged and less likely to jump ship.

“Retention and recognition are key elements in our overall HR strategy. Turnover within Foodco is minimal with many staff achieving a 7 year plus tenure. With a remote workforce a lot of work is done to ensure that staff feel connected to their role, their brand and Foodco, this includes structuring of roles and communication within teams, career development, bringing people together several times a year, shared news updates and an engagement program administered every two years to understand how we are tracking,” says Infanti.