Running a successful restaurant isn't just about serving great food—it’s about having a back-of-house (BOH) team that operates like a well-oiled machine. An efficient kitchen (BOH) is essential for keeping your restaurant profitable and ensuring that every dish is served with precision and care.

Without a well-organized BOH, you might find yourself dealing with issues like inconsistent food quality, excessive waste, or missed orders. These problems can quickly eat into your profits and disrupt the flow of your restaurant.

On the bright side, there are multiple strategies you can implement to optimize kitchen operations and ensure your team is set up for success.

What is a Back-of-House (BOH)?

The back-of-house (BOH) is where the heart of its operations lies. This includes the kitchen, storage rooms, refrigerators, and offices. It’s where staff prepare, cooke, and plate all food before servers bring it out to guests. 

Unlike the front-of-house (FOH), which is customer-facing, the BOH is the engine that drives the restaurant, ensuring that dishes are prepared correctly, on time, and profitably. Although most of the time, these spaces are out of sight to customers, it’s constantly bustling with rapid-fire instructions, sizzling pans, and supply fetches.

There’s a sense of urgency in a restaurant kitchen that requires constant communication, management of multiple timers, and restocking of ingredients. A strong BOH team is crucial for maintaining quality and efficiency in a restaurant as it directly impacts everything from the speed of service to food cost management.

Core Back-of-House Employees to Hire

Putting together a strong restaurant kitchen team takes time, with each member bringing with them their unique set of skills.

So who should be part of this team?

First, you’ll need someone to lead the kitchen operations. From menu creation and recipe costing to inventory ordering and administrative tasks, your Head Chef or Executive Chef will run the show. 

In the event that your Head Chef is unavailable, your Sous Chef will take over responsibilities, oversee operations, and ensure they’re running smoothly.

Various prep stations make up part of a restaurant’s kitchen whether it’s to grill, sauté, or chop ingredients. The people in action at these stations responsible for upholding preparation procedure standards will be your Line Cooks. 

In a restaurant kitchen, everything moves at a rapid pace. Staff prep ingredients, garnish plates, and fire up pans. Ensure staff can uphold their speed and maintain diner turnover with the correct and clean tools at their fingertips. That’s where the Dishwasher comes in. The kitchen’s Dishwasher is crucial in maintaining the cleanliness and readiness of all dishes, utensils, and equipment, ensuring that the kitchen runs smoothly and efficiently.

Each of these roles is critical to the success of your back-of-house operations, contributing to a well-organized and effective team.

4 Essential Skills Every Back-of-House Employee Should Master

A well-trained BOH team is your restaurant's backbone. Let’s explore which skills every BOH employee should master during their training

Inventory Management and Stock Rotation

Without effective inventory management, restaurants struggle to track food waste and control costs efficiently. 

Because stock control directly impacts a restaurant’s bottom line, every BOH employee should be familiar with food inventory best practices. ‍

Whether it’s logging waste events, taking regular inventory counts, practicing the FIFO method, or analyzing sales data from an integrated POS system, each BOH action plays a pivotal role in reducing COGS and avoiding over-ordering.

Recipe and Portion Control

Consistency is key in the restaurant industry. From service quality, staff training, right down to the ingredients that go into each recipe. 

The kitchen is a hectic environment where some inventory waste, like spills, is unavoidable. However, waste often occurs in more subtle ways, especially during prep work.

Precision is directly tied to profitability. Over-portioning, over-trimming, and over-production can lead to hidden costs that quickly add up if left unchecked.

To manage food costs and minimize waste, equip your BOH staff with a digital Cookbook that clearly outlines required ingredients, portion sizes, and step-by-step procedures for each recipe. 

By incorporating this tool into your training process, you ensure that your team has the resources they need to consistently prepare dishes that protect your bottom line. After thorough onboarding, you can rest assured that your staff can easily reference the proper recipes and techniques that drive your restaurant’s success.

Safety and Sanitation Protocol Understanding

Maintaining a clean and safe kitchen is non-negotiable. BOH employees should be well-versed in safety and sanitation protocols, including proper food handling, hand washing, cooking temperatures, and cleaning procedures. 

Provide a cleaning checklist to help those who are unfamiliar with certain procedures or are in need of a refresher.

Adherence to these standards prevents foodborne illnesses and ensures compliance with health regulations, keeping both your staff and customers safe. 

Equipment Operation and Maintenance

It happens—burners may not ignite, grease buildup causes backups, and blender blades become dull. While it’s not always possible to extend an equipment’s lifespan once issues arise, your team can prevent unexpected failures (and costs) with regular maintenance.

Kitchen staff members are team players who step in where needed and contribute to the overall success of the team. This includes inspecting their appliances, testing safety features, and deep cleaning debris.

Regular equipment checks and upkeep are crucial to preventing service interruptions and maintaining productivity. Not every check and deep cleaning task needs to be done daily. A comprehensive restaurant equipment checklist serves as a great tool for organizing the frequency of these activities.

3 Ways to Set Your BOH Team Up for Success

Setting your BOH team up for success starts with creating an environment where they can thrive. A positive and supportive work environment not only boosts morale but also enhances productivity, reduces turnover, and fosters a sense of teamwork. 

Investing in your team’s success ultimately translates into the success of your restaurant, creating a foundation for long-term growth and sustainability.

Implement Restaurant Employee Handbooks and Training 

Implementing a comprehensive restaurant employee handbook and training program is essential for maintaining consistency and efficiency in your BOH operations. Each role in the kitchen comes with its own set of responsibilities, making tailored training essential for every employee.

A well-structured restaurant training manual offers your team clear guidelines and expectations, covering everything from daily tasks to emergency protocols. Whether you use a restaurant training manual PDF, a training checklist, or employee management software, make sure these resources are easily accessible so your staff feels prepared and confident in their roles.

As your restaurant evolves, so will your training needs. Regularly update the materials to reflect the current demands of the business, ensuring that your team remains well-equipped to succeed.

Streamline Back-of-House Operations

Your kitchen setup from the number of storage areas, where you place the refrigerators, and the number of workstations you have will all affect the flow of operations. 

A well-thought-out kitchen, up-to-date recipe cards, and a simple, profitable menu will minimize the speed bumps that arise in a BOH staff’s processes.

Determine if these areas require updates by asking yourself:

1. Is my BOH staff frequently crossing paths or bumping into each other during service?
2. Is there a clear and logical flow from one workstation to the next?
3. Are any stations frequently under or over-utilized during peak hours?
4. Would reducing the number of items on the menu improve service speed and accuracy?
5. Is my kitchen staff able to consistently meet order times during peak periods?

Optimize Communication With Technology

Effective communication within the kitchen is crucial, but it doesn’t end there. 

By leveraging integrated technology, you seamlessly connect BOH operations with FOH activities. The consistent flow of data with your BOH restaurant management system enables you to harness the information you need, when you need it.

These real-time updates provide the insights necessary for making data-driven decisions, such as forecasting inventory demand with suggestive ordering, monitoring price fluctuations, and ensuring transparency and accuracy with reporting tools. This integrated approach allows your restaurant to operate smoothly and respond swiftly to changes.

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Eliminate manual tasks, automate inventory management, control food costs, and streamline all back-of-house processes with restaurant management software. MarketMan takes the guesswork out of running a restaurant and empowers restaurateurs to optimize daily tasks with advanced automation, reduce waste, and drive results with strategic insights. Book a demo today to discover how you can elevate your restaurant's efficiency and transform your business operations with MarketMan!