What is Restaurant Culture?

In order to understand restaurant culture, you first need to step back and look at the broad definition of company culture (a.k.a. organizational culture). That general, textbook definition is:

The behavior within an organization and the meaning that people attach to that behavior.

When you zoom in and identify the fundamental factors that contribute to the behavior within an organization, the whole idea begins to make more sense. Those fundamental factors include:

• Company vision
• Company mission
• Organizational strategy
• Values
• Norms
• Systems
• Symbols
• Language
• Assumptions
• Beliefs
• Habits

When you understand that these aspects of your business influence the culture therein, you can begin to implement small improvements — to vision, values, language, habits, etc. — that send ripples throughout your company.

Why Restaurant Culture Matters

Restaurant culture matters because it’s the “everyday life” of your team and your business as a whole.

From your employees’ point-of-view, restaurant culture is the atmosphere and dynamic they experience with their coworkers, supervisors, and managers.

When your employees feel comfortable within your restaurant culture, they are more likely to enjoy their time at work, develop better relationships, and be more productive.

If, on the other hand, your employees don’t feel comfortable within your restaurant culture, they are far less likely to enjoy their time at work. As a result, their relationships and productivity will suffer.

Restaurant culture even affects your customers. The behaviors your team members exhibit grow directly from whether they’re happy with the culture or not.

A disgruntled employee can unknowingly poison the customer experience and drive satisfaction down. That, then, affects your bottom line and the success of your business.

How to Build a Strong Restaurant Culture

1) Emphasize Ethics

The concept of ethics in your business is one of the least visible components of your restaurant culture. But, when done right, ethics have far-reaching effects that manifest in every corner of your company.

Ethics include such behaviors as:

• Trustworthiness
• Courteousness
• Accountability
• Honesty
• Excellence
• Cooperation
• Competency
• Morality

When you emphasize ethics as an underlying principle, you have a profound impact on your restaurant culture by improving the way your team members act toward each other and your customers.

2) Refine Your Vision and Mission Statements

A vision statement is a declaration of an organization’s objectives intended to guide internal decision-making. A mission statement is a short description of what your company does for its customers, its employees, and its owners.

When you fully refine your vision and mission statements, they inform your team members as to what your business is all about. This information guides them in their behavior and lays the foundation for a strong restaurant culture.

3) Establish an Organizational Strategy

Organizational strategy is a plan that specifies how your business will allocate resources to support infrastructure, production, marketing, inventory, and other business activities.

With these strategies in place, you give your business direction and priorities, which then influence culture.

4) Define Culture in Your Employee Handbook

Your employee handbook is a resource that tells team members what you expect from them and what they can expect from you. Adding a section that defines your company’s culture is an effective way to state directly a business aspect that often goes unspoken.

5) Build a Sense of Purpose

Whether you’re creating a restaurant culture from scratch or trying to improve an existing culture, building a sense of purpose for your team can go a long way toward making either of those goals a reality.

Understand the “why” of your operation to help find the right purpose that leads to a strong culture.

6) Define Values and Standards

Take the time to define the principles that underlie the restaurant culture you want to achieve and include them in your employee handbook. This step helps specify the actions you're going to take to fulfill your overarching strategy.

7) Create a Code of Conduct

A code of conduct is a set of rules that guides behavior in your business and provides a framework for ethical decision-making. As your organization grows, each of these points can help improve and strengthen your company culture.

8) Lead by Example

If you want your team to support the culture you’re trying to build, you must lead by example and support the culture yourself.

9) Be Honest

Honesty is one of the cornerstones of strong and productive business culture. Make honesty a principle in your interactions to foster trust and improve business operations.

10) Communicate

Effective communication adjusts what and how you say it to ensure message comprehension. Enhance your team’s communication to support the culture you’re building and improve business operations.

11) Assess Your Restaurant Culture Annually

At least once a year, assess your restaurant culture to see if it’s changed. Make necessary adjustments to ensure your culture remains positive and productive.

12) Set Goals for the Culture Itself

Just like any other business objective, be specific about your goals for improving company culture. Use the techniques from this list to achieve those goals.

13) Identify Personality Types

Identify different personality types in your team to tailor your culture-building techniques. This approach helps align the company culture with employees' natural dispositions.

14) Focus on Diversity

Hiring a diverse team brings unique perspectives, which can strengthen your company culture from both internal and external viewpoints.

15) Foster Inclusion

Inclusivity ensures all team members feel welcome, safe, and valued. This approach enhances participation and adherence to the company culture, ultimately benefiting the business.

Create a Positive Culture Through Scheduling

If you want to create a positive culture in your restaurant, use Sling to create the perfect work schedule for your team. Sling simplifies and streamlines every aspect of the scheduling process, giving you more time to focus on building and maintaining a happy, healthy, and productive culture.

The Sling app is free, easy to use, and will help you spend your time more efficiently so you can concentrate on building the intangible aspects of your team — like company culture, your management style, and your business as a whole.

For more free resources to help you manage your business better, organize and schedule your team, and track and calculate labor costs, visit GetSling.com today.