Hospitality has a reputation for people leaving within weeks of starting. Often it isn't the work that drives them away; it's a confusing first week. Nobody explained the routine, they were thrown into a Friday rush on day two, and they never felt part of the team. A simple, planned first week costs you a few hours and saves you hiring the same role twice.
Before day one
Good onboarding starts before the first shift. A week ahead:
- Send a short welcome message with the start date and time, where to come, who to ask for, what to wear and what to bring.
- Prepare the paperwork: contract and anything else your country requires.
- Add them to the rota, staff group chat and payroll.
- Have a uniform, apron and locker ready. Small, but it says "we were expecting you".
- Choose a buddy from the team to look after them for the first week.
- Tell the team who's starting and when.
The first week, day by day
| Day | Focus | By the end of the day they can… |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Welcome, tour, team, house rules, safety basics, a tasting of the menu | Find everything, name the team and explain the concept |
| Day 2 | Shadow their buddy for a full shift | Follow the opening and closing routine |
| Day 3 | The core tasks of the role, with support | Do the main tasks with a little help |
| Day 4 | Core tasks with less support, plus a first feedback chat | Run a section with the buddy nearby |
| Day 5 | An independent shift and an end-of-week review | Work their role confidently and know who to ask |
If you can, schedule the first days on quieter shifts. Day one on a Saturday night teaches panic, not your standards.
Train skills, then sign them off
Write down the skills each role needs and tick each one off when the new person can do it alone. For the kitchen that might be the opening and closing checklist, storage and labelling, prep lists and portions, recipes and plating, and equipment use. For front of house: greeting guests, menu knowledge and allergens, taking orders, payments, handling a complaint, and the cash-up routine.
A sign-off sheet makes training visible: the new person sees their progress, and you see the gaps before they cause problems. Add any training that's legally required where you are, such as food hygiene, and keep a record of it.
The end-of-week review
Ten minutes, three questions:
- What went well?
- What was confusing?
- What do you need from us?
Write two or three notes and agree the next step. Then listen to the answers: new people notice things the rest of the team stopped seeing long ago.
The 30-day check-in
A month in, sit down again. Ask what's going well, what's been harder than expected, what they still don't feel confident doing, what you could do better as managers, and what they'd like to learn next. This is the conversation that turns a new hire into someone who stays.
Everything ready to edit
The Staff Onboarding Pack has it all as editable Word and Google Docs templates: four job descriptions (head chef, line cook, kitchen porter and front of house), a welcome letter, the before-day-one checklist, the first-week plan, training sign-off sheets for kitchen and front of house, and a 30-day check-in form.
Related
- Read: What Labour Cost % Should a Café or Restaurant Run At?
- Read: Restaurant Opening Checklist
- Also useful: Hiring Kit, everything before the first week: job ads, interviews, trial shift and offer
Every template in Restaurant Notes is in the Complete Restaurant Collection: 25 tools in one download.