In any restaurant your staff are your frontline. They have impact on both sides of the equation, they effect revenue and they effect cost. The well being and attitude of your staff then becomes an important issue and staff incentives are one of the ways in which any restaurant operation might make sure that productivity among the staff is always high.
Lets look at revenue generation first.
Sales incentives are without question the way to go. Probably the most reliable way to set up a sales incentive will be through a combination of total revenue from each waiter and average check. A month is the best period because it gives the manager or supervisor time to move various staff through various sections allowing them to assess the abilities of each of the staff and giving every member of staff fair opportunity to come out on top. Number one all established service standards must be maintained. Staff should sacrifice no standard in an effort to win a sales incentive.