Staff shortages in the gastronomy sector

• Laminated images at cooking stations show how the finished product should look – “assembly instructions” with simple pictograms illustrate the process.

• Food scales at the relevant stations ensure that the calculated portion size – e.g., for salad – is maintained.

• Different-colored bottles and containers for sauces, dressings & more allow staff to work faster and make tasks easier for beginners in German.

• Standardized scoops and ladles, also color-coded, ensure recipes and portion sizes are correct.

• Timers or egg timers at burger stations, griddles, or fryers help maintain standards and quality.

Menu with efficiency and synergies:

• Use a few flexible and versatile raw materials/ingredients creatively in multiple dishes.

• Benefit for staff: fewer preparation methods and cooking times to remember.

• Clearer inventory management, saving space in storage or the cold room and time during stocktaking.

• Conduct practical workshops when onboarding new employees so workflows and specific tasks are demonstrated, observed, and practiced hands-on.

• Involve staff early in menu planning to ensure logistics, storage, and process considerations are known from the start.

• Product tastings for staff are essential for identification with the offerings and for complaint management: composition and presentation are better remembered this way.

• Foster an open work environment and a healthy error culture as the foundation for success and loyal teams, providing enough time, space, and a positive atmosphere for questions and constructive discussions about mistakes.

• Monitors at stations display the products to be prepared there and recipes with images, available in multiple languages (selectable via flags).

• Activate and maintain an intranet – instead of a system manual that goes unread – where images or, even better, videos demonstrate food preparation, accessible anytime as often as needed.

• Modern kitchen technology such as combi ovens offers multiple programmable options for each product (temperature, time, etc.). Simple operation via a product-image button starts cooking (e.g., on a fryer) and stops automatically after the set time, freeing up valuable time for plating or other tasks.

Advantage: Once significant time and effort are invested, the setup can be reused repeatedly, ensuring consistency and quality.

Equipped with the right POS software, service staff handhelds can be programmed to guide them through an order-taking menu that prompts for all relevant details (side dishes, sauces, extras, combination options, etc.). This way, nothing gets overlooked.

For example, exercises and tips on safely carrying dishes and full drink trays give new service staff confidence and ensure a smooth, fast workflow.

A digital question catalog on completed training sessions and workshops can playfully – swipe left or right – reveal where further clarification is needed. Please treat this as support, not as an exam!

displaying the most important regular to-dos makes work and self-checks easier (“Have I done everything?”). Example: workflows, cleaning schedules, order lists, or the correct allocation and use of dishes, cutlery, and glasses.

If you’re wondering whether new staff make a good impression outwardly, you can invite acquaintances for a “check”: Are the workflows smooth, and does the team’s interaction appear professional? Is the approach toward guests friendly and attentive? Where are there opportunities for improvement?

This way, they can double-check the presentation, be better prepared for possible guest questions (e.g., about flavor notes, spices, spiciness), and respond more authentically.