The phenomenon known as ‘The Great Resignation’ is poised to rip through the QSR industry in Australia, leaving already thinly staffed restaurants in a potentially disastrous situation. Many are looking for new ways to recruit and retain staff to help avoid a staffing crisis.

Worldwide, while many workers clung to their employment during lockdowns, as the world edges out of the pandemic, many are shunning their current roles and are quitting in droves in favour of organisations with better values and more impactful work.

Australian QSRs, with their already above-average employee turnover rate, are bracing themselves for impact and are putting in place strategies to mitigate the damage – keeping Australian workers engaged through enabling and encouraging career progression, positive culture changes and personal development opportunities.

Making recruitment easy is the first step – with many franchisees shunning inadequate and time-consuming onboarding processes as well as starting to hire for personality over experience.

Younger employees are also looking to be treated as individuals, to be mentored, given opportunities and invested in, and want to work with companies which align with their values. Encouraging employees to work towards promotions, goals and qualifications is a great way of encouraging them to remain invested with you, and to turn temporary staff into long-term employees.

Technology can play a part in maintaining employee engagement. Whether it’s apps which track personal development, technology which measures employee satisfaction, or other trackable metrics – a modern problem could be matched with a modern solution. And while encouraging and retaining staff is preferable, further innovations and automation in equipment could help mitigate the vulnerability of QSRs to staffing crises in the future.