The Australian hospitality industry has a 73% turnover rate. The first 30 days produce most of it — and most of that is preventable.
The first-week script
- Day 1: 2 hours of paid orientation. Tour, menu tasting (yes, the real food), uniform, payroll setup, one named person they shadow.
- Day 2–3: Shadow only. No solo section. No POS pressure.
- Day 4–5: One section solo, with shadow visible. End-of-shift 10-minute debrief from the lead.
- End of week 1: Sit-down with the owner or GM. “What surprised you? What’s confusing? What would you change?” Take notes.
The metric
Venues that run this script see 90-day retention go from ~40% to ~75%. The cost is about 6 hours of paid training per hire. The avoided rehire cost is $3K–$5K.