Wait... There's Also Data?

When employees are happy, guests notice.

And they spend more money.

THE DATA ON GUESTS

1

When employee wellbeing increases, customer satisfaction increases.

By combining Glassdoor employee reviews and ratings from the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) which records the opinions of 300,000 U.S. customers, a 2019 Harvard Business Review study found there is a strong statistical link between employee well-being and customer satisfaction. This link more than doubles in industries where there is close contact between workers and customers, including retail tourism, and restaurants (Chamberlain, et. al., 2019).

2

When employees are happy to be there, guests are more likely to return.

A similar study from the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science supports this finding – when employee satisfaction is high, customers are more likely to re-patronize the business and become regulars (Wolter et. al., 2019).

3

When customer satisfaction improves, financial performance follows.

A 2006 study published in the same journal found that with each 1% improvement in the ACSI customer satisfaction scores, there is a statistically significant 4.6% boost in the company's overall stock market value (Fornell et. al., 2006).

THE DATA ON EMPLOYEES

1

Happy workers are more productive, and they sell more.

A 2009 study from the University of Warwick showed evidence for the link between human well-being and human performance. The study showed that happy employees are up to 20% more productive than unhappy employees. This impact is even greater for salespeople, raising sales by as much as 37% (Oswald, et. al., 2009).

2

Employees who feel connected with their organization’s culture stick around.

According to recent research from Gallup, those who strongly agree with the statement “I feel connected to my organization’s culture” are 68% less likely to feel burned out at work very often or always and 55% less likely to be watching for job opportunities or actively looking for another job.

3

Restaurant employee turnover is a major (and costly) problem.

As of August 2023, monthly hospitality and food service labor turnover sits at around 5 percent, more than twice the national average (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2023). The Center for Hospitality Research at Cornell estimated the average cost of employee turnover at around $5,864 per employee. This includes the costs of orientation and training (14%), recruiting (20%), and highest of all, the cost of lost productivity (52%).