Faced with worker shortages, savvy restaurant owners are coming up with innovative ways to overcome issues related to staff scarcity.

Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants shared how the company is solving the problem that is impacting the restaurant trade across the United States. The restaurant chain has started to share employees with neighboring businesses, which is proving advantageous to both employer and employee.

Restaurants Pooling Employees to Address Worker Shortages

Employees are increasingly looking for flexible work schedules and, by sharing workers with other businesses, Dickey’s can provide a greater level of flexibility employees demand.

Implementing innovative solutions to overcome pressing problems like labor shortages can be a lesson for small businesses of all sectors. Thinking outside the box and collaborating and working with other businesses can be a valuable way to solve issues that can impact business operations and ultimately profit.

The case also shows how much the modern workforce demands flexibility to gain a better work/life balance. By offering more flexible work schedules, businesses can enjoy a more loyal workforce, greater staff retention, and less labor shortage issues.

A Creative Approach

Laura Rea Dickey, CEO of Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants, commented on the creative approach to overcoming the labor shortage that has been impacting her business in recent months:

“We have gotten together in usually business districts where you have common attraction, common traffic…and we’ve actually started to pool with our neighbors, our fellow restaurants, any sort of retail to do job-sharing for folks that may want, not quite full-time work, but could work two part-time schedules,” said Dickey.

Overcoming Childcare Issues

The CEO acknowledged that childcare is another leading challenge of modern workforces and by offering a more flexible shared employment approach, businesses can help workers overcome child care issues.

Labor shortages have been heavily impacting the restaurant industry. According to Laura Rea Dickey, the labor force across her 550-plus restaurants is around 12% down across all positions, including part-time, management and corporate office roles.

As well as coming up with creative ways to ensure workers have the greater flexibility they demand, Dickey says the company recently adjusted their benefits package in a bid to attract and retain staff.

Dickey says the company has also always paid employees above the minimum wage to help alleviate staffing issues.

Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants’ business model confirms that by prioritizing the welfare and demands of staff is an invaluable component of business success.

Image: Depositphotos

This article, “Restaurants Sharing Employees to Combat Worker Shortages” was first published on Small Business Trends