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employee relations
Jim Urdiales
BEYOND THE
numbers LOYAL EMPLOYEES = THE BEDROCKS OF SUCCESS
| BY KATHLEEN FURORE | Not everyone is
abandoning ship. While The Great Resignation has seen employees leaving their jobs in record numbers, creating a much-touted labor shortage, many restaurants are touting the loyal employees who have remained steadfast during these challenging times. el Restaurante reached out to several readers, who shared their thoughts on The Great Resignation and discussed what they’ve done to retain their most loyal employees. Jim Urdiales, chef/owner, Mestizo Louisiana Mexican Cuisine, Baton Rouge, Louisiana Before Covid we had 27 employees. We were able to pivot quickly to the to-go model, which allowed me to bring some employees back. It became obvious early in 2021 that no one was applying to work, especially in the kitchen. We did add 401k and health insurance benefits to any employee who maintains 30 hours a week for half-pay for insurance and the ability for a 3 percent match on 401k. We also brought all employees’ pay up, even servers. We built a system for servers to go directly to $4 an hour after training and then graduate them up to a max of $7.25 an hour, which allows us to maximize out tip credit allowance at the end of the year. We are back up to 28 employees, but I have had to increase prices twice in the last year due to labor and now food costs. I am fortunate that my customers are willing to pay higher prices, but I also think each restaurant also has to validate those extra costs in the customer’s
mind. For example, we were already going through a remodel, so I elevated the look in the restaurant to validate my new price point. Jose “Pepe” Stepensky, owner of several restaurants including MargarJose “Pepe” Stepensky ita’s Kitchen & Cantina, San Diego and his wife Deborah During the Great Resignation we lost some of the new employees who either had been with us for a very short period of time or lived in Tijuana and worked in San Diego and were restrained at some point to keep crossing or didn’t want to take the risk of traveling and getting infected. We are very fortunate to have very loyal employees who have been with us for many years — we have some employees who have been with us for as long as 25 years! Even when we had to close two of our restaurants by government mandate for We are very fortunate more than three months, they stayed and are to have very loyal still with us. What we did was to pay them employees who have in advance sick time, and vacation time. And been with us for many in some cases, depending on their economic situation, we gave them loans and bonuses years — we have some that we never asked to be paid back. employees who have We were in contact with them all the time been with us for as long to find out how they were doing, and we gave as 25 years! them updates as to when we were opening – JOSE “PEPE”STEPENSKY again. In our two locations that never closed, we kept paying everyone. Employees took turns working and they were wonderful. We JULY/AUGUST 2022
| el restaurante
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