If you’re on the lookout for some great restaurant training software options, this is the place to be!
Restaurant training programs struggle to provide effective manual employee training. But with the increase of technology in restaurants, we’ve seen learning management systems that effectively train employees and improve operations without costing a fortune.
If you’re interested in adding a restaurant learning management system (LMS) to your training program, here is everything you need to look for and our recommendations for the best restaurant training software.
What is Restaurant Training Software?
Restaurant training software, or a learning management system (LMS), helps restaurants effectively train and onboard new employees. The online training platform often offers blended learning methods that cover a variety of training materials.
Benefits of Restaurant Learning Management Software (LMS)
There are major benefits to using an LMS to train your restaurant employees. Let’s discuss these!
Frees Up Employees
One of the biggest issues in the restaurant industry is giving up valuable restaurant workers to the training demands of new employees. You want to ensure your new employee learns from the best, so you train them by the best. But this takes valuable time away from your employee and your restaurant.
An LMS takes care of the staff training, freeing up both restaurant staff and managers to continue with their duties. This also lowers training costs and overtime, proving to be a cost-effective manual training alternative.
Removes Human Error
Human error is inevitable. But, with an LMS, restaurants can create, edit, and foolproof custom training modules. Course tracking and assessment management also preserves training quality and ensures all employees are on the same page.
Employee Engagement
One of the biggest reasons employee training fails is a lack of engagement, which is often caused by being overwhelmed with nerves and information in a short time.
Because of flexible timeframes, blended learning, and low-stress environments of online training, trainees stay engaged. This improves knowledge retention and increases the quality of their performance on assessments and in practice.
What Should You Look For in Restaurant Training Software?
Not all LMS are created equal. Here are the features that will improve employee training and ensure the best possible experience.
Automation
Training restaurant employees with an LMS should be a set-it-and-forget-it experience. The software features should work as completely or nearly completely independent training programs. The goal of the software is to free up employees and managers to continue bringing in revenue without stopping to train new employees.
Customizability
Advanced customizability will let you tweak existing training modules or create your own. The software needs to be able to adjust to your restaurant's training needs without sacrificing the quality of the software.
Interesting
To increase engagement and improve knowledge retention, the software needs to keep employees engaged. Whether through leaderboards, gamification, or social learning, the software must be interesting.
Smart Analytics
An LMS collects data on employees and your restaurant. A great learning management system will use smart analytics to create actionable insights that improve employee training and restaurant functions.
Integration
If you already have restaurant management software, look for software that can integrate with your other systems. This is especially important if you want to integrate your LMS with scheduling or accounting software.
Comprehensive Training Functions
A good learning management system will have robust training options. This should include food compliance and other restaurant-specific training courses alongside general training modules.
Online Functions
Online or cloud-based training software makes the training process much easier. It makes it easier to store and access online courses from multiple devices and locations. It also allows for better course tracking and assessment management.
6 Best Restaurant Training Software
Here are our top choices for restaurant training software.
1. Yelli
Yelli was developed by a waitress who spent years serving Los Angeles diners and luxury establishments. Using the knowledge accumulated over years of training, Yelli was created to organize, manage, and improve the training experience.
One of the biggest draws of Yelli’s training software is that it is very simple to use while remaining engaging. The company’s main goal is to help restaurants create well-trained employees and to retain them.
Main Features
- Highly customizable
- Allergy and safety guidelines training
- Team messenger
- Quick view profiles
- Engaging learning systems
- Automated training updates
- Auto training
- Real-time tracking
- Course update notifications
- Course authority
Possible Cons
- Yelli customer data and reviews are lacking.
Pricing
Yelli starts at $99 a month for 7 features and there is a free trial available. There is no free version.
2. Waitrainer
Waitrainer is an online restaurant training platform that focuses on training and restaurant management. Users only pay one fee for one location and are granted unlimited access to their archive of training content.
The training is divided into three sections, fast casual, table service, and informal dining, with specific training programs for each.
According to the Waitrainer mission statement, it aims to simplify the training process for both trainees and restaurant management.
Main Features
- Food handlers training
- Customer service training
- Tax integration
- Table and mobile learning options
- Beverage LMS
- Regularly updated training manuals
- Location-based rates
Possible Cons
- No tracking or analytics functions.
Pricing
Waitrainer is $139 a month. They also charge a $299 setup fee. Waitrainer charges a fee per restaurant location. Users then have access to the entire software training catalog and features.
3. TalentLMS
TalentLMS is an employee and team training software with a focus on providing powerful tools and an easy-to-use interface. The software aims to democratize learning.
Another key point for TalentLMS is customizability. The software is fully customizable, making it especially useful for restaurants that require flexible training programs.
Main Features
- Fully customizable
- Course authoring
- Easy-to-use user interface
- Versatile features
- All-in-one dashboard design
- Sign in automation
- Learning gamification
- Reporting and analytics
- Social learning
Possible Cons
- Customer service is not reliable.
- Users can’t add content from mobile phones.
Pricing
TalentLMS pricing starts at $89 a month and there is a free trial available. There is also a free version of the software.
4. iSpring Solutions
iSpring Solutions is a software company that provides a variety of e-learning solutions for restaurants. All of their solutions are relevant to employee training, but iSpring Learn is the closest to a traditional LMS.
While their LMS has all the functions you’d come to expect from employee training software, the biggest advantage of the software is the large network of compatible iSpring software. It’s a big ecosystem that users can use to run many aspects of their restaurant.
Main Features
- Customizable
- Scalable
- Built-in e-learning editor
- Automated enrollment
- Course authoring
- Unlimited storage space
- Mobile friendly
- Analytics and Reporting
- iSpring ecosystem
Possible Cons
- The software requires updated software frameworks.
Pricing
iSpring Learn charges $2.87 per user, per month. There is a free trial but no free version of the software.
5. ExpandShare
ExpandShare is a cloud-based training platform that allows restaurants to quickly and easily create training courses. It gamifies the training process to increase employee engagement.
Main Features
- Drag and drop features
- Easy to use
- Smart learning that automates training
- Gamification
- Reporting and analytics
- Customizable library
- Course authoring
Possible Cons
- Not enough ExpandShare customer data or reviews.
Pricing
ExpandShare starts at $132 a month. There is no free trial or free version of the software.
6. Wisetail
Wisetail is a training platform that focuses on empowering employees and teams to build company culture. It’s a robust system with many compliance, training, and onboarding features.
Main Features
- Course authoring
- Communication tools
- Trainee monitoring
- Customizable test builder
- Social learning
- Cloud-based
- Easy-to-use user interface
- Trainee course input and rating system
- Activity reports and student metrics
- Analytics and reporting
Possible Cons
- The software does not support big file uploads.
Pricing
While you’ll need to contact Wisetail for a quote, not that there is also no free trial or free version of the software.
Conclusion
Restaurant training is an easy way to free up employees, improve training standards, and save money.
Now that you know what to look out for in restaurant training software, you can browse our top picks and find the software option that suits your needs and your budget. Why not strive to improve restaurant operations and employee quality from day one?
To improve restaurant operations even more and increase revenue, use Perfect Venue to manage your events. Try the free trial and experience the power of event management software.
