KRAs for the kitchen
Kitchen KRAs should reward consistency and control, not just speed. For a sous chef or chef de partie, measure food cost against the menu target, wastage from the waste sheet, hygiene audit scores, ticket time from order to pass during peak service, and dishes sent back. For a commis, keep it simple: mise en place ready before service, hygiene checks passed and the station clean at close. A dishwasher's goals are breakage, pot area hygiene and finishing on time.
- Food cost against the menu target
- Weekly wastage from the waste sheet
- Hygiene audit score
- Ticket time during peak service
- Dishes returned by guests
KRAs for the floor and QSR crew
For captains and stewards, look at guest feedback, complaints settled at the table, average spend per cover and table turns on busy nights. Upselling is a fair goal for a captain and less so for a trainee steward. QSR crew are measured on speed of service, order accuracy, station readiness at shift start and mystery audit scores. The outlet manager carries sales against budget, labour cost as a share of sales, food cost, audit scores and staff attrition, because those are the levers only the manager controls.
A weighted score for an outlet manager
ZeniaHR lets you give each goal a weight and a type, whether KPI, OKR, KRA, competency or task, and it works out weighted progress for each person. For a restaurant general manager, weight sales against budget at 35, food cost at 20, hygiene and brand audit at 20, labour cost at 15 and attrition at 10. If the manager fully meets sales and audit, reaches 90 percent on food cost, 60 percent on labour cost and fully meets attrition, weighted progress is 35 + 18 + 20 + 9 + 10 = 92 percent. The weak labour score is where the review conversation starts: too much overtime, or too many staff on quiet weekdays.
Review rhythm and recognition
Run a monthly cycle for crew, stewards and commis, tied to the month's audits and guest feedback, and a quarterly cycle for chefs and managers, whose numbers need a season to settle. The annual cycle drives increments. Joiners pass through the probation cycle with a 1 to 5 rating from their manager before confirmation. Recognition matters in a hot kitchen: praise with badges such as Team player or Above and beyond after a hard Saturday, and the monthly leaderboard shows the whole chain who carried the rush.
How to set it up in ZeniaHR
- In Performance, create monthly cycles for crew, stewards and commis, and quarterly cycles for chefs and outlet managers, each on a rating scale.
- Give each person weighted goals typed as KPI or KRA, with food cost, hygiene audit and ticket time for kitchen leaders.
- When a cycle closes, line up each outlet's weighted progress figures and the cycle summary side by side.
- Route every joiner's probation review through My Team, where the restaurant manager rates it from 1 to 5.
- Encourage chefs and managers to give praise with badges after peak services, and share the monthly leaderboard.
Read more about performance in ZeniaHR.
Roles this applies to
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What are the KRAs of a chef de partie?
Typical KRAs are food cost for the section, wastage, hygiene audit score, ticket time during peak service, dishes returned by guests, and training of the commis on the section. Weight food cost and hygiene heavily, keep the list to five or six items, and review monthly with the sous chef using the kitchen's own records.
How do you measure restaurant staff performance?
Use measures each role controls: food cost, wastage and hygiene for the kitchen; guest feedback, complaints settled and spend per cover for the floor; speed and accuracy for QSR crew. Weight them, review monthly, and compare each person with their own past months as well as with colleagues, since outlets differ in footfall.
How often should restaurant employees be reviewed?
Monthly for crew, stewards and commis, whose work shows in each month's audits and guest feedback, quarterly for chefs and managers, and yearly for increments. Probation reviews come before confirmation. Short monthly conversations after service, backed by numbers, suit a restaurant better than a single long annual appraisal.