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Iconic former Duke University basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski once said, “Growth creates complexity, which requires simplicity”.
Yet, simplicity is often overlooked as the first step towards achieving growth. In restaurants, that can include activities such as streamlining operations, reducing complexity and focusing on core strengths. Engaging in these simplification actions prior to pursuing a growth agenda can help restaurant operators increase efficiency, achieve better customer satisfaction and ultimately free up resources for business expansion. For suppliers, understanding where their chain account customers are streamlining and what that effort requires, is critical to providing support and to being a best-in-class partner.
Under the Kinetic12 Simplification Model, there are four levels of simplification activities: Rationalizing, Streamlining, Mechanizing and Mainstreaming. Each of these levels becomes more challenging for the operator to implement because they require additional resources, a greater time and financial commitment and seek to redefine ingrained ways of working.
Stripping away the unnecessary allows you to focus on your core. To restaurant operators, this means:
Kinetic12 Simplification Model, 2024
Operators started the menu and pantry rationalization process during the pandemic to save money and cut costs – it’s the first step most operators take to simplify their operations.
Next, re-engineer existing processes to make them more efficient. This includes:
Streamlining focuses on taking existing processes and reconceiving of them to be easier and more efficient to execute.
The third level of simplification is a form of streamlining processes but employs automation to make processes more efficient and take human labor out of the process. Examples include:
Mechanizing your operation allows you to redeploy your valuable human capital to focus on value-added customer-facing activities and look to machines, systems or apps to handle the non-value-added activities in your operation.
Once you’ve streamlined and mechanized your processes, investing in staff training and communications is essential. It is particularly important in today’s high-turnover labor market to cross-train staff to perform multiple roles. Unclear job responsibilities and processes lead to inefficiencies, lost productivity and job frustration, which translates into higher costs for the operator. According to Kinetic12’s Emergence Survey, training and development is seen by over half of operators as a high priority activity meant to improve a restaurant’s culture and ultimately improve employee satisfaction, which plays a role in reducing staff turnover rates and managing labor costs.
Food and equipment manufacturers can play a crucial role in helping restaurants simplify their operations and menus by offering tailored products, support services and innovative product solutions to operators, including:
Growth through simplification involves a relentless focus on core competencies, operational efficiencies, customer experience and streamlined processes. By simplifying - reducing complexity and focusing on what truly adds value - restaurants can achieve sustainable growth and profitability and enhance long-term customer satisfaction.
Jennifer Brizzolara is a partner at Kinetic12 Consulting, a Chicago-based Foodservice and general management consulting firm. The firm guides multiple best practice projects and forums, and consults with leading Foodservice suppliers, operators, PE firms and associations on strategic initiatives. Her previous leadership roles at Foodservice manufacturers provides a valuable perspective and insight into how the industry is evolving and what must be done to stay relevant.
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