As every day passes, food trucks and mobile vending services are rapidly growing across the country. There are more companies and jobs being created within the industry, and with this fact comes a certain level of professional treatment that needs to be followed by the vehicle owners in regards to keeping high morale in their trucks.
Many food truck owners have worked in a commercial kitchen before, and because of that, they know that there can be frequent disputes between the service and kitchen staff. This issue does not change once the kitchen has become mobile. In many cases a food truck will have staff members that do both service and kitchen work, however there are still instances where those tasks are split up.
Unlike most restaurants, where these issues can be handled back of house, food trucks do not have this advantage and these arguments can show your customers how disorganized your business is.
Keeping High Morale In Your Food Truck
Building relationships
The first way to keep high morale in your food truck is to build strong relationships with your staff. Good relationships aren’t hard to build. You should look at factors such as psychological, culture, lifestyle, and experience differences. Not everyone can be bullied to perform, and some require a subtle approach. This can and should be everyone’s job, however, the food truck owner or manager is ultimately the person responsible for it.
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Do your research
Analyze your cooking or service staff for problems, and look into each situation. Give opinions, ideas and advice. Your staff needs attention, think of the best way to solve their problems and come up with a win-win solution.
Attend personally to problematic customers
Attending personally to problematic customers will give your staff a place to send them, and allow them to help the next customer in line. Those with authority should always be around to prevent unruly customers from verbally or in some cases physically attack your staff.
Reward your staff after a hard day’s work
A busy food truck isn’t just about being a money maker for the owner. You should also care for your staff. After a hard day’s work, when appropriate, give them a piece of your appreciation. Handling an employee a cash bonus of $50-$100, or even a paid day off will give them even more reason to bust their hump for you every day. Think of this cost as a marketing tool.
Keep your morale high
Nobody will question your morale if you do it appropriately. Make sure to do your job well even if conditions are not right, make the right decisions, and always think positively. A positive leader will always keep themselves in a positive mindset. In the long run, this will help to generate more creative ideas, a happier working environment, and even in some cases an increase in food quality.
The Bottom Line
There are many more ways to help your truck’s staff keep high morale but these are a few tips you can use to start with. As the owner of a business you need to be the boss. Eventually, if it isn’t already, you can keep high morale on your team high.
How do you keep high morale in your food truck? We’d love to hear any additional suggestions. Share your thoughts on this topic in the comment section or social media. Facebook | Twitter