Are you a student of hotel management? If you are into a catering business or an employer of a hotel or restaurant, then you may be interested in knowing about the orientation. How Long is Orientation at a Restaurant?
Why is orientation important?
Why waste time in orientation? Isn’t it better to just tell them to get to work directly after they are selected? But when they commit errors, you will be the first one to get angry at them. However, it is your mistake that you didn’t let them know about how things should be, at this particular restaurant. So, you don’t have any right to yell at them for no reason. It is because they did not know. You were the one who was in a hurry to get the work done rather than spare a few moments to orient them to this place.
Only when your employees know the dos and don’ts of their workplace, they will avoid their mistakes. It is your responsibility to ensure that they know everything about their workplace. It will convey to your employees that you care about them. You want them to give the best of their services to their workplace. By giving them an orientation, you are telling them that this is the standard that you would want them to maintain.
How long is orientation at a restaurant?
The number of hours involved in the orientation may vary from restaurant to restaurant. It also depends upon several other aspects such as position, job profile, number of chores, rules, and regulations, kind of restaurant, and other similar factors. But it should not be that short, which does not convey a major part of your workplace culture. And it should not be that long that half of your employees have just dozed off.
Usually, they last for 1 to 2 hours. But it may last for an entire week. But if your workplace is very different and up to the mark, then you might want to extend it to few more hours. If this is the case, you might consider giving them breaks in between. You can also make it interactive. When you give them knowledge in a practical form, it becomes easier for them to remember it.
You can also try to involve skits or make them do skits. When they do something, they can recall it better as and when required. Adding visual, graphical, or symbolic representations will also aid their memory. You can also add songs or jingles that assist them in remembering long, boring rules. If your question is, how long is an orientation at a restaurant in California? Then there is no one answers to it. You need to consider all these aspects and then you can decide upon doing what is best for you.
Whether your orientation is short or long, you need to ensure that you feed them properly and welcome them nicely as well. Their salary needs to be begun from the day of orientation as well. They should not feel like their time and energy is being wasted unnecessarily.
What are a good orientation and a bad orientation?
Good orientation is the one that does not let the employees doze off. It conveys what the employer wants the employees to know and understand. It need not be creative or something very out of the box. But there must be room for interaction. The image of an employer should not be such that the employer hesitates to talk to him/her.
A good orientation should include the steps to be taken by the employees regarding sexual harassment, bullying, and other kinds of pain. It can also involve the doing of paperwork, showing them the restaurant properly and explaining them their job profile very well. It would be very helpful for them to know the vision of the company and the working culture.
Encouraging team spirit and co-operation will be highly helpful. You can also show them the fire exits, ways to use the fire extinguisher, and other kinds of safety measures. Emphasizing the appropriate dress code, discipline and their ways to get promotion will the employees less worry and more certain.
A bad orientation is where things are not explained properly and the employees are left with worry and low confidence and self-esteem. There is no encouragement of interaction and the employees are not paid or fed by the employer. Bad orientation feels very mechanical and boring like a formality. If you are an employee in a bad orientation, you will get that vibe that they have kept the orientation just for the sake of keeping it and nothing else. As an employer of a restaurant, ensure that you don’t keep a bad orientation.
Conclusion
Hence, the duration of orientation at a restaurant should be as short as possible but it should include all the major points that are important to be conveyed to the employees. Moreover, not only duration but also the quality of the orientation and the treatment given to the employees at the orientation are of great importance.
