Set your staff up for success with this customizable restaurant training manual template.
Whether you have a staff of 5 or a staff of 50, a restaurant training manual can help to ensure a smoother onboarding and training process for restaurant employees. To help you create your very own training manual for your staff, we’ve put together a handy restaurant training manual template and our top tips for filling it out. Keep reading to find out how to get started.
What is a Restaurant Training Manual?
First things first, let’s start with the basics: what is a restaurant training manual?
A training manual serves as a single source of truth for your restaurant policies, procedures, and onboarding. This document not only gives employees an overview of their role, but it also helps staff navigate different aspects of their restaurant job, such as how they interact with guests and how they use different restaurant technology.
While this document is primarily used to onboard new staff, a restaurant training handbook is also an incredibly handy resource for managers and existing staff as well. This is because even long-term staff may sometimes need a refresher on your restaurant’s training program, including health and safety policies, employee communication practices, and job-specific requirements and expectations. Ideally, staff should have access to both a restaurant training manual and a restaurant employee handbook.
Training Manual Templates: What’s Included
Now that you understand just how beneficial having a training manual can be, it’s time to dive into what’s actually included in a standard restaurant training manual.
Introduction & Mission Statement
Every restaurant training manual should start with a great introduction. In our restaurant training manual template, you’ll notice that the introduction includes sections for your restaurant mission statement, your company values, and a short history of your business. Ultimately, this section should give a general overview of your restaurant and invite staff to keep reading through your entire document.
Restaurant Training
Your Training section should follow after your introduction and should provide details about your restaurant’s specific training program. Not only should you explain why your training program exists, but you should also cover specifics such as expectations, timelines, and safety procedures. You’ll notice that our own restaurant staff training manual PDF lists specific examples of expectations you may have for your staff and onboarding timelines such as 30, 60, or 90 days.
Detailed Roles & Responsibilities
After building some excitement for your brand and outlining your training plan, the next section of any great restaurant training manual template should be the Roles and Responsibilities section. In this section, you can outline each restaurant job description and the core responsibilities. Our own restaurant training manual PDF also suggested letting staff know how they’ll be evaluated during a performance review.
Training Manual for Technology
The next section of your training manual should outline the technology you use. This should include everything from your POS to your staff scheduling software. In this section, you may also want to highlight which pieces of technology are essential to which roles. For instance, your bartender training and server training will likely revolve around the POS, while your back of house staff may require more training on your KDS.
Employee Training on Health & Safety
Following your Technology section is the Healthy & Safety section. This is where you should share your restaurant’s health and safety guidelines to ensure the well-being of your staff, guests, and vendors. In our restaurant training manual template, you’ll notice that this section includes emergency procedures, as well as everyday cleaning processes, which are also necessary to create a safe and healthy workplace.
Handbook Conclusion
Lastly, every restaurant training manual should end with a conclusion. In this final section, express a warm welcome and show your excitement about them joining your team! Let staff know who to contact if they have any questions or need clarification on their role expectations or company protocols.
How to Use This Restaurant Staff Training Handbook
As mentioned, you can get started on your new training manual right away by downloading our restaurant training manual template for free.
As outlined above, our fully customizable restaurant training manual PDF helps you document everything staff need to know, including expectations, responsibilities, and standard procedures for each role. Just like a training manual, the template is organized into seven sections, each of which can be filled out based on your restaurant’s unique processes and procedures.
When you’re finished filling out the restaurant training manual, you can simply delete the instructional text and save the document. The restaurant training manual is designed for Word and Pages, so you can save and access the document in either program, or even as a PDF. You can also print your restaurant staff training manual pdf as a helpful reference for every member of your team.
If you’re ready to dive in, download our restaurant training manual template for free today!
