How to Build and Retain a Strong Foodservice Team

Ask anyone about their first job, and there's a good chance that it will have been in a foodservice role. Which means it's where they first learned about teamwork, showing up on time, or keeping their cool with a cranky customer.

Indeed, 2 out of 3 U.S. adults (67%) have worked in a restaurant at some point in their lives, which means more people have worked in restaurants than in any other industry.¹

It also means most people who apply for a job with you already have a pretty good sense of what a good (and a not-so-good) foodservice job looks like because they have friends and family who have worked in restaurants. And the people you hire will shape every customer visit, whether you run a drive-thru or a hospital cafeteria. That's why a strong team is the backbone of any foodservice operation, which makes best practices in foodservice hiring worth a fresh look.

The state of hiring today

There has been a lot of focus on foodservice hiring in recent years, but what does the job landscape look like right now? Luckily, things have calmed down a bit. Only about a third of operators (32%) say they don't have enough employees to support customer demand, according to the National Restaurant Association's latest workforce research.²

That means many operators may have a little more room to be selective, and a better flow of applicants may allow them to prioritize quality over speed.

But that doesn't necessarily mean that hiring has gotten easy. More than 6 in 10 operators (62%) call recruiting and retaining employees a significant challenge.²

Meanwhile, in one midyear survey, the share of operators who named recruiting and retaining staff as their single biggest challenge jumped from 18% at the start of the year to 33% by midyear.³

That matters, because running a short-staffed operation is costly. Nearly 8 in 10 short-staffed operators say it significantly limits their ability to grow.⁴

Among understaffed restaurants:⁴

• Nearly half couldn't operate at full capacity.

• 43% postponed expansion plans or modified their menus.

• 34% reduced their hours.

• 1 in 5 closed on days they'd normally be open.

What makes the job stressful?

What's the hardest part of working in foodservice? The answer may surprise you.

According to one survey of more than 1,000 restaurant workers this year, being short-staffed ranked as their top stressor, ahead of difficult customers, peak-hour rushes, and poor communication from management.⁵

And that stress can turn into a vicious cycle. When a team is stretched thin, the people who are left burn out and start looking for another job, which leaves the team even more short-handed.

Managers play one of the biggest roles here. Difficult managers are tied with low pay as the top reason restaurant employees quit, and 73% of workers say their relationship with their manager affects their job satisfaction.⁵

When hiring for management roles, operators say they prioritize:⁴

• The ability to build team culture and morale (87%).

• Enhancing the guest experience (84%).

• Financial acumen (75%).

Hiring for the right roles

Did you know there are more than 70 different roles that the restaurant industry offers?⁴ Understanding the exact role that you are hiring for can make it easier to find the right candidate and ensure their skills and qualifications match.

Most roles fall into three broad groups:

• Front of house: hosts, servers, bartenders, cashiers, bussers, etc.

• Back of house: line cooks, prep cooks, dishwashers, chefs, etc.

• Management: shift leads, kitchen managers, general managers, foodservice directors, etc.

Knowing the type of role you're trying to fill can also help you prioritize. Back-of-house and management roles tend to be the hardest to fill. Operators heading into this year expected trouble finding experienced managers and chefs.⁶

Those management roles also take an average of 46 days to fill, compared to only 16 days for hourly positions.⁴

So it can help to keep collecting applications for back-of-house and managerial roles even when you're fully staffed.

Smart hiring

Before you even post a job listing, start with the people you already have. Ask your team what they like (and don't like) about working for you. You can use the positive attributes that they mention in your job posting and solve for any issues they're having before someone is hired.

They can also be your best recruiters. A referral bonus that you pay out after a new hire has stayed for a set period can give your employees a reason to recommend good people who will stick around.

What do workers value the most overall? Research has found some clear gaps between what operators provide and what workers want:⁵

• 72% of restaurants offer free meals, but only 24% of employees rank them among their top three benefits.

• Paid time off and paid sick days are what employees want most, yet fewer than 40% of employers offer them.

• 75% of employees prefer 1-2 weeks' notice on their schedules, but 28% get their schedules only a few days ahead.

In hospitality hiring, speed matters too. Today there are numerous automated hiring tools that can cut hiring timelines from weeks to just a few days. The best candidates are probably applying to a lot of different jobs, so anything that you can do to snag them first can help.

Smart interviewing

Why do you want this job? What's your greatest weakness? We've all heard the standard interview questions, but do they really tell you how someone will handle an angry customer or the Friday night rush?

Ask more behavioral questions, like how a candidate has dealt with specific situations in the past. They're often a better predictor of how a candidate will actually act on the job, whether or not they have specific foodservice experience.

Consider these:

• Tell me about a time you went out of your way to help someone.

• Describe a time when things got hectic at work or school. What did you do?

• Tell me about a disagreement you had with someone, like a coworker. How did you handle it?

Sticking to the same set of questions also means you can compare candidates fairly. And considering that team relationships are the most important daily motivator for restaurant workers, even ahead of financial incentives, you may even want to consider having a trusted team member sit in on the interview or at least meet the finalists.⁵

The first 90 days

Every new hire is an investment, and it takes time for that investment to pay off. According to the National Restaurant Association, an hourly employee earns back your investment after an average of 31.8 days, while managers and salaried staff take an average of 72.2 days.⁴

So those first 30 to 90 days are critical. At its simplest, onboarding can mean pairing a new hire with an experienced team member for the first few weeks. But structured onboarding, mentoring, clear development paths, and consistent check-ins from managers can determine whether a new hire stays or goes.⁴

Indeed, for the first time in recent memory, training has now overtaken pay increases as the top employee retention strategy operators have put in place.³

A well-placed “thank you” matters too. Nearly three-quarters of workers (71%) say recognition and feedback affect their job satisfaction, yet 1 in 5 say they rarely receive positive feedback from managers.⁵

Take the pressure off

Although staffing is back at the top of operators' worry lists, only 16% of operators say staff enhancements are their top investment priority for the year, a three-year low.³

Here is where your menu can actually help. Time-saving ingredients take some of the most tedious and skill-intensive prep off your team's plate, so newer cooks can turn out consistent dishes while experienced cooks focus on where they're needed the most. Simplot RoastWorks® roasted vegetables, fruits, and potatoes, for instance, deliver fresh-roasted flavor without all the peeling, chopping, and roasting. You'll find even more ideas in our roundup of 10 Simplot Products That Save You Time.

Successful hiring in foodservice doesn't have to be complicated. Predictable schedules. Managers who build a strong culture. An onboarding plan that sets your staff up to succeed. A kitchen that isn't constantly running short. These are the ideas that can help you build a foodservice team that sticks around and keeps your guests coming back.

Looking for more ways to support your team and total operation? Join Simplot+ to find recipes, trends, and resources tailored to your segment.

¹ National Restaurant Association Launches ‘Made in Restaurants’ to Celebrate Industry's Role in Building America, National Restaurant Association ² Restaurant Hiring Conditions Improve, Though Gaps Persist, Foodservice Equipment & Supplies ³ 2026 State of the Restaurant Industry: Mid-Year Report, Restaurant365 ⁴ The Hiring and Staffing Dividend: How People Power Restaurant Profitability, National Restaurant Association ⁵ What Restaurant Employees Want, 7shifts, June 2026 ⁶ 2026 State of the Restaurant Industry, National Restaurant Association, February 2026