Quick Tips for Boosting Morale in Your Professional Kitchen

Working in hospitality can be a fast-paced and stressful career at the best of times, but for those who are stuck in a hot and steamy kitchen for hours on end, the pressure can rise quickly. It’s no secret that working as a professional chef can be very stressful, and although they might not be face-to-face with customers most of the time, the pressure to get meals out on time and serve the correct dishes according to diner requests isn’t always easy.

With tensions rising in the kitchen, it can quickly become a toxic environment to work in, and this can impact morale in a big way. Therefore, it’s important to look at ways you can improve this as a restaurant manager/owner to create a more positive environment for your kitchen staff. Here are a few suggestions you may want to try.

Make Sure the Kitchen Is Efficient

A good place to start is to look at the layout of the kitchen and see how efficient this is when it comes to workflow. Speak to your head chef and discuss this with them, as they will have a better idea of what should be where to help their staff work at their best. 

Discuss with them if any equipment needs replacing and see how you can fit this into the budget to make sure that they have all the necessary tools to make preparing meals easier and safer for the kitchen team.

Quick Tips for Boosting Morale in Your Professional Kitchen
Quick Tips for Boosting Morale in Your Professional Kitchen

Give Them Perks

Perks can be a great way to help employees feel appreciated in their roles, and when you are running a restaurant, it’s not unusual to offer staff discounts on food for their breaks, or if they come in to dine with their families, etc.

Even better is offering staff a free meal for their breaks, and this should extend to your kitchen staff as well. Other perks you can include, where possible, are things like vouchers to spend on their favorite brands – particularly items that they might need for work, like chef’s knives, work shoes, etc.

Quality Uniforms

Working in a kitchen will require certain attire to help keep the kitchen staff comfortable in the heat and protect their clothes and maintain a professional image. Your teams might bring in chef uniforms from home, but if you want to show them your appreciation and give them a boost, think about purchasing some items for them to wear.

For example, stylish and high-quality aprons at www.chefworks.com/aprons could be a nice touch and a gesture of goodwill between you and your kitchen team. It might also inspire a sense of teamwork between them, too, especially if they’re kitted out with similar pieces in a uniform style.

Share Tips with Kitchen Staff

Another way you can help boost morale with your kitchen staff and show them your gratitude is to allow them a cut of the tips made throughout the night, particularly if you charge gratuity on the final bill.

While the waiting staff also deserve this for their hard work, the kitchen team can often be forgotten about as they are working behind the scenes, but they are working just as hard. Therefore, they deserve to get a cut of the gratuity as they are contributing to your customers’ overall experience, too.

If you want to help boost morale in your kitchen teams, consider these tips and see how they could help.

Marie Foster
Marie Foster
Marie Foster is a reporter based in UK. Marie has also worked as a columnist for the various news sites.

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