Preparing Your NEW Team for Your Reopening

For some it is time to open for the very first time, but for most it’s time to reopen your facility!  Most likely you will be bringing on a combination of rehires and new hires, but ALL will be coming back to work in a very different operating environment from the past.  You might be tempted to just let everyone come back to work and pick up where they left off.  We certainly would advise against that and would instead encourage you to take a fresh new look at your new team member onboarding for ALL regardless of their previous tenure.  Remember, this truly is a 2nd chance to make a 1st impression with your guests and it starts with the guest experience your team members will deliver.  

Before we discuss the recommended onboarding of your team members, lets step back and take a look at why team members leave to start with.  

In a recent survey of employees who left their job within the first 6 months of employment, the following top three reasons were identified.

1. New employee did not like the company culture.

2. Actual job differed from what they expected.

3. Company’s Onboarding program was non-existent or non-effective.

   1. 31% - company DID NOT have one

   2. 23% - only lasted 1 day

The results of the survey have nothing to do with bowling and everything to do with the fact that small businesses struggle with having resources and time to conduct onboarding of team members.  Thankfully, Bowling University has resources available for members to use to assist in your onboarding efforts. We have developed an Onboarding Checklist in the resource section that gives you a proposed outline of bringing back your Team Members and making sure they are prepared to take care of guests and deliver the desired guest experience.  

Through the Bowling University OnDemand program it is recommended that the following onboarding courses be taken by ALL team members regardless of tenure.

• COVID-19 Prevention

• Bowling Center Safety 

• Safety & Security Series (Active Shooter, Robbery Preparedness, Incident Response & Reporting)

• Intro to Service Standards

• Navigating and Reducing Customer Complaints 

• Introduction to Promoting Sales Inside Your Center

• Food & Beverage Sales & Service (Food Service Team Members)

The resource section also provides you with best practices, checklists and procedures for cleaning and sanitation going forward.