The restaurant industry faces one of the highest turnover rates in the workforce, averaging 75% annually, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. While many operators blame low wages, long hours, or generational work ethic gaps, the root cause often lies closer to home: leadership. Employees don’t leave companies—they leave poor managers. In restaurants, where high-pressure environments and team dynamics directly impact performance, strong leadership is not a luxury—it’s essential.
At The Gilkey Restaurant Consulting Group, we’ve worked with hundreds of restaurants to reverse turnover trends by transforming leadership practices from the inside out. When operators commit to training, developing, and supporting strong managers, they create workplaces where people want to stay, grow, and thrive. This guide outlines the foundational elements of leadership-driven retention and offers a pathway toward building a resilient, loyal, and high-performing team.
Why Leadership Is the Cornerstone of Retention
Every frontline restaurant employee—from line cook to bartender—experiences the culture of the business through their immediate supervisor. That individual sets the tone, reinforces values, manages communication, and resolves conflict. Poor leadership leads to disengagement, stress, and eventual resignation.
Leadership Behaviors That Influence Retention:
- Empathy and active listening
- Fair and consistent expectations
- Recognition and affirmation
- Conflict resolution and emotional control
- Developmental feedback, not just correction
Insight: According to Gallup’s State of the American Manager Report, 70% of team engagement is directly attributable to the manager. In restaurants, where teamwork and pace are vital, that influence is even more amplified.
If managers fail to support and empower employees, even the best training programs or compensation packages won’t prevent turnover.
Train Managers to Lead, Not Just Manage
Many restaurant managers are promoted for their technical skill, speed on the line, sales savvy, or opening/closing reliability. But being a great team leader requires more than checking boxes. It involves soft skills, emotional intelligence, and the ability to coach.
Core Leadership Competencies to Teach:
- Communication and tone management
- Team motivation and morale building
- Accountability without micromanagement
- Adaptability under pressure
- Feedback that drives improvement
Restaurant leadership training should be structured, not ad hoc. At The Gilkey Group, we design multi-week programs with hands-on coaching, shadowing, and scenario-based learning to develop management teams that foster loyalty and performance.
Stat Insight: Restaurants that invest in manager training programs report up to a 40% reduction in annual employee turnover, according to a 2024 Technomic Labor Study.
Establish a Leadership Culture at Every Level
True leadership is not positional—it’s cultural. To build retention from the top down, the entire restaurant must embrace a leadership-first mindset. This means GMs, shift leads, and even senior line staff must act as culture carriers who demonstrate values through daily actions.
How to Build a Leadership Culture:
- Set core values and train every leader on how to demonstrate them.
- Hold managers accountable for turnover, not just revenue.
- Conduct 360-degree reviews to capture employee feedback on management.
- Recognize leadership behaviors in all-hands meetings and shift huddles.
Employees stay in environments where they feel respected, heard, and supported. A strong leadership culture normalizes those experiences and helps employees visualize a future within the company.
Quote from the Field: “When my managers believed in me and helped me grow, I gave everything I had to the job. That’s the kind of leadership that changes careers.” – Jordan M., Sous Chef and former Gilkey client team member
Support Managers With Tools and Resources
Managers are often expected to lead without being given the tools to succeed. This results in inconsistency, burnout, and reactive decision-making—all of which erode team morale. To retain employees, you must equip your leaders.
Key Tools to Provide:
- Training guides and SOPs for onboarding, coaching, and discipline
- Daily or weekly check-in templates to monitor team morale
- Technology platforms for scheduling, labor tracking, and communication
- Budget and resource access for team incentives and development
Providing structure doesn’t mean restricting creativity—it means empowering managers to lead with clarity, direction, and confidence.
Gilkey Best Practice: We recommend implementing a Manager Resource Portal with templates, shift tools, leadership micro-trainings, and access to HR policies—digitally available 24/7.
Empower Managers to Build Career Paths for Team Members
One of the most effective ways to retain restaurant staff is to show them what’s next. Employees stay longer when they see a future. Managers play a pivotal role in identifying talent, encouraging growth, and helping employees envision upward mobility.
Leadership-Driven Career Development:
- Conduct stay interviews to ask employees about goals and motivations
- Assign stretch roles or responsibilities (e.g., training new hires, leading prep)
- Create internal promotion pipelines from line to supervisor to manager
- Publicly celebrate progress and tenure milestones
Managers who act as mentors, not just supervisors, create teams built on trust and long-term ambition.
Data Point: According to The National Restaurant Association, restaurants that promote internally and showcase career advancement paths retain hourly employees 27% longer on average.
Make Emotional Intelligence a Manager Requirement
In high-volume environments, stress and conflict are inevitable. What differentiates great leaders is emotional intelligence—the ability to regulate their emotions, read others accurately, and respond with intention.
Core EI Competencies:
- Self-awareness
- Empathy
- Impulse control
- Conflict de-escalation
- Constructive confrontation
Training managers on emotional intelligence isn't about being “soft”—it’s about being strategic. A calm, collected leader inspires confidence, especially when the kitchen is backed up or a guest is escalating. Gilkey consultants often incorporate roleplay and situational coaching into our leadership programs to build these core behaviors.
Study Insight: A 2023 Hospitality Workforce Trends report found that 64% of hourly restaurant employees cited emotionally intelligent managers as the #1 factor in their decision to stay in a job.
Building a great restaurant team starts with building great leaders. Leadership is not a trait—it’s a learned behavior that, when supported, has the power to transform workplace culture and retention outcomes.
The Gilkey Restaurant Consulting Group helps restaurants develop custom leadership training programs that boost morale, reduce turnover, and build lasting team loyalty. Whether you’re building a management team from scratch or investing in your next generation of leaders, our solutions are designed to create a workplace where people stay, grow, and succeed.
Schedule your Leadership Training Strategy Session today and discover how investing in your managers is the most effective way to retain your team.