How Embracing Technology Can Improve Training, Development, and Communication

Christopher J. Ramirez, EVP Marketing, Dog Haus

With the ongoing labor shortage across the country, employee retention is of the utmost importance – especially in the service industry. Today, prospective team members are more selective and meticulous about their career choice. Employees are looking for positions that offer comprehensive training, continued development, and transparent, streamlined communication between employer and employee.

In the restaurant industry, team members are on the front line of the guest experience. Franchisors, Franchisees, and operators must accurately educate their employees about the brand’s culture, values, menu staples, LTOs, and ongoing supply chain issues.

And doing this correctly and effectively goes back to prioritizing training. At Dog Haus, our corporate team and operators have gone all-in on technology, from innovative training tactics to audience listening and communication partners.

An essential addition to our tech stack is 1Huddle. We use their game builder to make team member onboarding engaging, simple, measurable, and highly effective. Team members enjoy playing games on their mobile devices while embracing their competitive side. 

We’ve had team members at locations across the country tell us how the location-specific and companywide leaderboard motivates them to play frequently, which leads to better on-the-job performance through faster and more effective learning. It’s a win-win-WIN for the team member, operator, and corporate office.

“You must view training tech as step one of any strategic plan”

Our 1Huddle games focus on everything from back and front of haus procedures to franchisee and general manager leadership development, plus heavy doses of Dog Haus attitude. In addition to our training tech, we provide hands-on training for soon-to-open locations. And, upon request, corporate trainers provide ongoing training for open locations. In our opinion, a combination of traditional shoulder-to-shoulder training and technology-based coaching is the perfect mix to yield chemistry-focused, effective results.

Dog Haus has long embraced technology for reputation management, audience listening, and guest feedback. Technology is the new secret shopper. We leverage our tech partners' expertise to stay up to date on discoverability and our customer's journey to gain insight into what our guests remember and prefer.

 Using these insights, Dog Haus reports unprecedented e-mail and SMS opening rates. In a recent campaign, we saw a 66% redemption rate, and we credit a big part of our success to our technology partners' ability to collaborate and develop their products to meet our needs.

Training technology is mission-critical, just as order management, POS, CRM, and CDP are to your business. For restaurant brands that may not have the budget to build a comprehensive tech stack, we believe you must at least begin building up your team. 1Huddle is a great place to start. Thoroughly transferring your brand’s culture and values is critical to deepening your brand's relationship with customers and retaining employees. You must be sure that every employee represents your brand. You can’t view training tech as a supplemental purchase that comes later as your brand grows. You must view training tech as step one of any strategic plan.