How to Motivate Fast Food Employees

People who work in fast-food restaurants often choose this employment as interim employment while they pursue education or other employment. Because the fast-food industry experiences one of the highest turnover rates, managers and owners in this industry often search for ways to motivate fast-food employees. Use incentives and other methods to get employees motivated to produce higher quality and more productive work results.

1. Observe your employees to learn about specific desires, motivations and dislikes. Once you understand your employees more completely, you can use this information to help motivate them to produce higher quality and quantity results. For example, you might discover employee skills that you can encourage by assigning extra tasks. As employees complete extra tasks, you can recognize this extra effort in various ways.

2. Institute an open dialogue policy between employees and management. Encourage employees to share ideas, goals, and both negative and positive feedback. When you listen to employees’ ideas and give weight to feedback, employees feel valued and important. Employees who feel important usually feel motivated to perform high-quality work.

3. Respond to problems and issues when employees communicate. When employees see you work to correct problems and solve issues, they are more likely to trust the management and they are more likely to feel like a valued part of the company.

4. Create a system of hierarchy in the restaurant with an abundance of titles. Titles help employees feel successful as they advance up the ladder of hierarchy in the restaurant. Even if you do not have the ability to provide a salary increase with each rung of the ladder, you might be able to motivate employees to perform and advance with regular promotions.

5. Look for employees with first-rate skills and enterprising attitudes. Give additional responsibilities and work with these employees to promote them into management positions.

6. Deliver regular performance reviews of all employees. Provide constructive feedback and encourage employees to continue to work enthusiastically to receive positive performance reviews.

7. Use salary increases in conjunction with positive performance reviews. After a set period of time -- every three to six months, perhaps -- employees with exemplary performance reviews can expect some kind of salary increase.

8. Institute an incentive such as naming an employee of the month. Each month, management should select an employee who shows exceptional leadership skills or energetic work habits. Hang a photograph of this employee in a prominent position. Provide the employee with a special parking space during the month, furnish the employee with free meals and provide the employee with a paid day off.