Starting a new job is nerve-wracking whether you have experience or not, but we all have to go through it at one point or another. Here are a few first-day tips to follow that will boost your confidence from the get-go and impress your new boss, managers, and coworkers.
1) Come Prepared
Before starting your shift, make sure you’re both mentally and physically prepared to work. Don’t go out or stay up late the night before and be ready to do a lot of listening and learning. Get your clothes/uniform and anything else you’ll need (like a notebook) for work organized the day before you start. This will decrease pre-shift stress, plus it will save you time. This is key because, more than anything else, be on time, or even better, 10-15 minutes early. Showing up late to your first day of work doesn’t exactly send a great message to either your boss or new co-workers.
2) Make the first move
Whether it’s when you first walk in the door or in the middle of your shift during a slow period, ask what you can do to help. Being proactive will not only impress the higher ups, but it will also speed up the learning process, so you can go from training to tips that much faster.
3) Pay close attention
Even if you’re experienced and highly qualified for the position, there will be differences between past and present employers. From operations to expectations, you’ll have a whole new set of rules to play by, so listen to your trainer to get a lay of the land. Also, to help you remember the important details and also give you a resource to reference, take a lot of notes. Bonus: this will also show your trainer that you’re dedicated to learning the work-flow and getting in the swing of things.
4) Get your hustle on
Whether your new job is slower or faster paced than what you’re used to, make sure to work quickly and efficiently. Strolling around the establishment won’t help you excel at your job, nor will it do anything for your bank account. Commission and tips don’t grow on trees. Even if your paycheck isn’t directly tied to how many customers you have, hustling at work, during and post training, will impress your boss and make your coworkers happy that you joined the team.
5) Be friendly and polite
This applies to all parties: trainer, coworkers, and customers. With your trainer and coworkers, don’t talk back. Make sure you have your facts straight before calling someone out, which means having at least a few shifts under your belt. If nothing else, keep smiling, even if you’re not really feeling it. Not only will this keep your morale up, it will also have the same effect on those around you.
6) Ask questions
There are such things as stupid questions, but you should still ask them because it’s better than making stupid mistakes. Asking questions will only help your cause. You’ll learn more, avoid making errors in the future, and also show that you’re engaged in the experience and on point when it comes to training. So if you don’t know something or are confused, speak up so it doesn’t come back to bite you in the butt.
Keeping service industry employees engaged and committed to their roles can decrease turnover, increase profits and positively affect customer satisfaction. When employees feel like they’re a part of a team, they are more likely to take pride in their work and display interest in aligning with company goals. Here are four ways to jumpstart your efforts:
Simplify employee scheduling. Creating work-life balance can be challenging. Employees appreciate the opportunity to provide shift preferences and availability. Although you might not be able to grant all requests, exercise understanding. To centralize and provide structure for this process, think about updating your tech to automate scheduling from both your end and your employees’. Those programs allow for streamlined communication among managers and employees, as well as other administrative benefits.
Assign roles and positions. Service-related businesses offer many different types of jobs. Establishing scope for roles and providing ongoing cross-training shows employees you value their contributions and want to see them advance.
Encourage growth. Many employees strive to move up the industry ladder. When managers promote from within, they design a rewarding, positive atmosphere to which employees gravitate.
Seek feedback. Ask employees to share compelling customer responses. When management institutes an open-door communication standard, employees feel more comfortable relaying positive and negative guest comments, as well as their own observations. When you receive enough feedback to identify trends, thank the employees that helped you get to that point.
September is National Food Safety Month, so, in honor of good food practices, here are some best practices to follow when thawing frozen foods, holding them at the desired temperatures, and prepping produce.
Best practices for thawing food, by method
Refrigeration: Thaw TCS food at 41 ̊Fahrenheit (5 ̊Celsius) or lower to limit pathogen growth. Plan ahead when thawing large items, such as turkeys. They can take several days to defrost.
Microwave oven: You can safely thaw food in a microwave, but only if the food is going to be cooked immediately. Be warned: large items, such as roasts or turkeys, might not thaw well with this method.
Cooking: Thaw food as part of the cooking process.
Running water: Submerge food under running, drinkable water at 70°Fahrenheit (21°Celsius) or lower. Never let the temperature of the food go above 41°Fahrenheit (5°Celsius) for longer than four hours.
Tips on holding food at desired temperatures
Hold foods at their correct temperatures. TCS foods should be held at the correct internal temperatures. Cold food should be held at 41°Fahrenheit (5°Celsius) or lower, and hot food should be 135°Fahrenheit (57°Celsius) or higher.
Check temperatures regularly. Timing is essential. Make sure you check food temperatures at least every four hours. Toss food that’s not 41°Fahrenheit (5°Celsius) or lower, or 135°Fahrenheit (57°Celsius) or higher.
Use food covers and sneeze guards. Keep food covered to help maintain temperatures. Covers and sneeze guards also help protect the food from contaminants.
Use hot-holding equipment properly. Don’t reheat food in them unless they are built to do so.
Five rules to follow when prepping produce
Avoid cross-contamination by preventing fruit and vegetables from touching surfaces exposed to raw meat, seafood or poultry.
Wash produce thoroughlyunder running water before cutting, cooking, or combining it with other ingredients. Don’t forget to make sure the water is a little warmer than the produce, remove the outer leaves of leafy greens, and pull lettuce or spinach completely apart, and rinse thoroughly.
Don’t mix different items or multiple batches of the same item together if you’resoaking or storing produce in standing water or an ice-water slurry.
Store items, such as sliced melons, cut tomatoes and cut leafy greens, at41°Fahrenheit (5°Celsius) or lower.
Don’t serve raw seed sprouts if you primarily serve high-risk populations.
Sirvo is taking part in Denver Startup Week’s panel, Women Who Launch, alongside MeetMindful and Artifact Uprising on Monday, September 21st at 4:00 pm at Galvanize.
The panel of female founders will be discussing the finer details of their entrepreneurial ventures within the male-dominated tech industry. Step into the shoes of these three women, each at the helm of startups in different markets and stages of the business lifecycle (pre-rev, rev, and exit), as they share their unique business perspectives, journeys, and experiences.
Check out the bios of the panelists below:
Stephanie Maxwell, CEO & Founder of Sirvo (@gosirvo), has successfully brought her business vision to life, going from concept to product launch in under a year. As a sole founder, she has proven to be an effective leader and operator by managing a growing team of six and spearheading the product launch with even more planned in the near future. Prior to founding the company, Ms. Maxwell was the Marketing Director for Lotus Concepts, Inc., a nightlife and entertainment company, a successful model and later launched her own event staffing business.
Amy Baglan, CEO and Co-Founder of MeetMindful (@meetmindful), the #1 dating site for healthy, conscious singles. Five years ago, she left a mobile marketing startup she helped launch in New York City (acquired in 2012) and bought a one-way ticket to India to explore the world. A year later, she moved to Denver and started her first business, YogaDates—an events company for like-minded singles—which was the catalyst for MeetMindful. She’s now on a mission to evolve and re-inspire the dating industry by marrying the power of content with a niche social experience.
Jenna Walker, CEO and Co-Founder of Artifact Uprising (@artifactuprsng), founded the company 3 years ago – just 6 months after her second daughter was born. The team took the company from concept to scale without additional outside investment – successfully bootstrapping their way to acquisition by Visual Supply Company (@vsco) at the end of 2014. Today, the team remains based in Denver, Colorado where Jenna, along with Co-Founder and sister Katie, continue to work to quickly to scale their e-commerce company and mission in both the USA and Europe. Prior to founding the company – the founders were professional photographers and had no experience running a technology driven business.
