Barista Burnout

[OzarkB]

I'm looking for ideas on how to keep your Baristas from burning out. We've noticed that after about nine months, our morning Baristas will start to suffer from burnout. We have a morning "back-up" Barista (either myself, my husband or another Barista) so no one has to handle the morning rush by themselves (which is now impossible anyway). I think we're going to offer some paid vacation. We've also thought about letting our morning Barista switch with an afternoon Barista once a week so she can sleep in an extra morning.

Any other ideas that have worked for you?

As always, your input is appreciated.

 

[cafemakers]

If by "burning out" you believe that your employees are being overworked, perhaps you should considering hiring more (or different employees). How many hours is your average employee working in a shift? How many shifts per week?

 

[NW JAVA]

how about having a Massage therapist come for a sitdown massage? Every now and then. My Barristas love that. And it's keeps the tense shouldrs complaints down.

 

[deferio]

Hi...
Ozark eh?...I used to live in NW Arkansas for a bit...anyhow.
As for Burn out...it seems to me that it's a combo of two things...what is expected of the Barista and their attitude....oh...also...Are they into the -vision- of your shop and are you helping them understand what you excpect etc.
Communication and teamwork along with positive re-enforcement will keep a Barista from burning out...unless too much is expected of them. Or they just have a bad attitude. No"Fire and Desire" as Chef Charlie Trotter would say. In that case it's time to hire more help......to replace the current Barista.
-So long-
-Chris Deferio

 

[jpscoffee]

A difficulty that may be inherent with a smaller shop (and fewer employees working at a time) is that an employee is needed to work the bar for longer periods of time. Switching your employees from register to dishes to barista to whatever will help.

Also, most employees will lose interest and burnout if they have no vision. As owner we must give them vision or the opportunity for vision. Helping them see the big picture of store operation, giving them more responsibilities, giving them resources to improve their craft, and other things that help them see beyond just 'one more latte'.

Burnout is internal not external. Give a person something to believe in and they will cross the Himalayas to accomplish it. They will suffer much to do what they have in their heart. If their heart isn't in it, all the raises in the world won't create in them a good attitude.

 

[AnarchyBoy]

Hi there!
I'm a barista in Starbucks for two years and was beginning to feel burn-out myself. I talked to my boss about it and we came up with a solution that's worked pretty well so far. First, he gave me a few jobs off the sales floor to do each week. It's nice to get a break. Why not let your baristas do the ordering, retail turns, the schedule... working in some capacity other than ringing on the register. Which b rings me to my second problem:
Bar Hogging. It's the worst. Usually we have two people working, one on the espresso machine and one on the register. If you're the one on the register, you essentially have the same conversation with people again and again all day. All week. It's very boring and very frustrating. So make sure your employees are taking turns so no one is stuck in the same position for more than a couple hours.
Hope this was helpful.