Three Answers Your Food Truck Employees Need After Big Changes

Understanding your food truck employee reactions to big changes such as layoffs can help you understand what employees need, not just in stressful times, but every day. How can you expect your staff members to do their jobs if they don’t know who they report to, how they will get paid, and precisely what their job is?

After Big Changes: The Questions Employees Need Answered

Do I have a job? One of our most basic needs is to feel secure, but this isn’t just about job security. Employees want role clarity and an understanding of how their work makes a difference to your food truck business.
Who do I report to? Dotted lines litter most org charts these days, even in small businesses in the mobile food industry. Make it clear who employees report to (even if it’s more than one person), by whose metrics they’ll be evaluated, and whose opinion matters to their work. If you’re looking to increase productivity, start with clarifying the line of authority.
How will I get paid? Please note that this is not how much. How much actually matters less than how. Intangible benefits such as mentorship, long-term opportunities, and a belief that what they’re building will last all matter more than the paycheck.

Vendors need to be clear with everyone that big changes will be part of the job and see what they need to succeed in that environment. You need to explain this clearly to prospective job candidates. This is because not everyone thrives in this type of environment, and you want candidates to opt-out early if it’s not for them.

The Bottom Line

It may be tempting to ignore asking these questions, but that would be overlooking the real value of this exercise. Answering these three questions after big changes in your food truck helps with employee retention and morale. If you can’t answer them, it’s time to figure out acceptable answers.

Do you have any additional questions that need to be answered after big changes in a food truck? Share your thoughts in the comment section or social media. Facebook | Twitter

About the Author: Richard Myrick

Richard Myrick is an architect by degree (Lawrence Technological University, Southfield, Michigan) who began his career in real estate development and architectural planning. In September of 2010 he created Mobile Cuisine Magazine to fill an information void he found when he began researching how to start a mobile hotdog cart in Chicago. Richard found that there was no central repository of mobile street food information anywhere on the internet, and with that, the idea for MCM was born. Richard also wrote the "Running a Food Truck for Dummies" available in bookstores everywhere and Amazon. You can reach out to Richard by email at: [email protected].