Driving Engagement to Increase Retention in Restaurants | Modern Restaurant Management | The Business of Eating & Restaurant Management News

In Today at Work 2025, Issue 2, ADP Research crunched five years of ADP payroll data to identify turnover trends. Chief amongst the findings was that employee turnover jumps in the summer months between June and August. During this time, the turnover rate climbs to 3.56 percent from the 3.14-percent rate seen during the non-summer months.

In the leisure and hospitality industry that includes restaurants, summer turnover is especially pronounced. Here, summer turnover sits at 5.04 percent, the highest amongst all industries analyzed by ADP Research. This rate is an increase of .76 percentage points compared to non-summer months, which is the second highest increase falling behind only the education industry.

For restaurant business owners, what are some talent strategies to consider in order to increase retention not just during the summer months, but consistently?

One very specific area to hone in on is worker engagement. Previous research from ADP Research found engagement…

Amy Freshman

Now in her 30th year with ADP, a global leader in HR and payroll solutions, Amy Freshman, Senior Director, Global HR at ADP, joined HR in 2012 and has largely been involved in work connected to the employee experience and building a work environment that fosters engagement and creates a caring workplace culture.

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Amy Freshman