How to Motivate Taproom Staff
I absolutely love leading in-person trainings. Sure, it's great writing to all of you, and interacting via Zoom, but there's something special about being across the table from a team of great people connecting over the shared love of beer and education.
One of my favorites topics to dive into when leading training sessions is simply asking taproom staff what motivates them. As taproom managers and owners, it’s important that you understand why your staff is working at your brewery. Unfortunately, in most cases, these questions aren’t being asked. By not asking these basic questions, we are preventing ourselves from understanding the “why” and ultimately unable to successfully answer the “how can we best motivate our team” question.
For today’s example, I’d like you to ask yourself, “How can I get my taproom beertenders to sell more crowlers on Saturday?” If you’ve been reading past blogs, you know that the best way to increase to go sales is to ask your guests if they would like to take any home.
But how can you motivate your taproom staff to ask that question more frequently?
There are 3 types of motivation that we’re going to focus on:
Rewards
Recognition
Opportunity
Rewards are the most obvious strategy. This is where you may give a prize to the staff member that sells the most crowlers, growlers, cans, and/or bottles. This prize could vary from a gift card to a local restaurant, a few more low fills, or even a trophy - more on rewards shortly!
Recognition is a gold star. This is where you publicly state that Employee A did an amazing job selling beer to go last Saturday. This may actually come in the form of a real gold star on a wall or congratulating that employee at your weekly team meeting.
Opportunity could mean access to greater education and/or certification programs (i.e. Cicerone). Opportunity could mean that a particular employee wants to show you they can sell a ton of crowlers so that you consider them for a promotion. Opportunity could also come outside of your brewery, as in this employee may someday desire to open their own taproom and that future opportunity is contributing to their work ethic at your brewery.
Every person has unique motivating factors that are important for you to understand.
When hosting these in-person trainings I do what I find most breweries have not done, ask.
“Hey everyone, let’s go around in a circle and I want you to tell me what would motivate you to sell more crowlers on Saturday".”
The following are some of my favorite responses:
“A sandwich”
“A beer”
“$20”
“A $25 gift card to Chick-fil-A”
Yes, you read that correctly. All the highest bidder wants is a fancy chicken sandwich.
Moral of the story? After you finish reading this, ask your team what will motivate them to achieve your desired goals. Don’t just offer rewards based on to go beer contests. Get creative. Mix up the metrics you monitor and keep them engaged. While this article is focused on taproom staff, finding ways to motivate each person on your team, whether in the taproom to finance to brewing, is important. Additionally, not just beertenders should be rewarded. Even managers should deserve to recognized (that may be you!). I’ll let you take that up with those above you.
The ability to successfully motivate your team will result in happier employees, that stick around longer, that make your taproom run smoother (and your job easier). I’d love for you to reach out and let me know what motivates your team to be better.
If you’d like to better understand your team’s motivations, we are happy to conduct an anonymous Employee Happiness Survey for $0. Reach out if you’re interested.