PULLMAN, Wash. – The “secret ingredient” for success in the restaurant business is more likely to be found in the attitudes of those who serve the food than in the food itself, according to a researcher at Washington State University.
In an effort to explain why same-brand restaurants in similar settings can have significant differences in productivity and profit, Dennis Reynolds, associate director and Ivar Haglund Distinguished Professor at the WSU School of Hospitality Business Management, recently scrutinized financial information, operating statistics and employee and guest satisfaction data for a nationwide chain of 36 casual-theme restaurants.
What the research revealed was that employee satisfaction rather than more traditional operational variables such as perceived value was the most significant factor in predicting a restaurant’s customer satisfaction, and in turn, profitability.
Reynolds said the research demonstrates the close relationship between employee satisfaction, which has often gone untested in previous research efforts, and customer satisfaction, particularly given the face-to-face nature of the interactions between the two.
“Employee satisfaction resulted in better guest satisfaction, which boosted the bottom line,” he said. “This is really common sense, but it is allowing us to develop a holistic productivity model, one with variables not considered previously like job satisfaction as a determinant of productivity and guest satisfaction as an additional indicator of overall productivity.”
Reynolds said overall job satisfaction among restaurant workers, as with workers in virtually all industries and settings, results from a variety of factors which typically include compensation, organizational culture and fit.
“Previous research has demonstrated that employee pay is only one dimension of employee satisfaction,” he said. If employees are treated with respect, and if they enjoy their work, that satisfaction can outweigh their wages.”
While Reynolds’ research was based on a relatively small sampling of employees from the restaurant industry, it tracks well with similar research involving other professions, including a recent nationwide
“That study concluded that job satisfaction is important in both recruitment and retention of faculty,” Reynolds said. “And it’s not unreasonable to conclude, just as we found in our research of the restaurant industry, that satisfied faculty and staff are also a significant component of productivity in academic and a wide variety of other settings outside the hospitality industry.”
Reynolds, who holds a doctorate in hospitality management from
A summary of his research on the relationship between employee satisfaction and restaurant productivity and profitability will be published this spring in the “International Journal of Hospitality Management.”
