Going beyond labor costs

A restaurant’s success isn’t just about good food. People will come back when there is efficient and warm service born out of well-trained and happy employees.

Tiong Bahru Philippines, the first overseas franchise of a popular Singaporean restaurant chain, believes that employees should be well taken care of, the same way it wants to take care of loyal diners.

Thus aside from tasty dishes and attentive service, Tiong Bahru Philippines is earning a reputation for looking after its employees by providing more than the minimum compensation and benefits. In other establishments, employees don’t get paid nearly as much as they deserve. The meager pay can lead them taking on long hours just to make ends meet. This could result in burnout or an imbalance of work and personal life.

This year, the management introduced a 14th-month pay for all employees, building upon last year’s addition of the 14th-month bonus. This incentive has become part of the employee package.

Beginning Sept. 1, employees got a comprehensive insurance coverage of up to P60,000 per ailment and P20,000 for outpatient expenses.

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The staffers in the dine-in section started receiving an average monthly take-home pay of P25,000 inclusive of service charges. Bigger outlets such as the 150 sqm-Tiong Bahru restaurant in Eastwood mall provide a salary of as much as P35,000.

The management believes that a healthy wage and an adequate benefits package will make the employees feel that they are valued. When a company provides for its employees, they will be more content. They will be motivated to be more productive and more dedicated to customer care.