Working in a restaurant kitchen is notoriously stressful. A daily routine filled with precise techniques, an ever-ticking clock, and the constant pressure of hundreds or thousands of people critiquing your work, needless to say, those that thrive in these conditions have a high-stress tolerance. However, that doesn’t mean BOH employees aren’t susceptible to the detrimental impacts of being stressed out at least 10 hours a day, so here are some skills and tricks to help manage the pressures of the kitchen.
The Stress Response
Before getting to management, to understand the importance of it, it’s best to understand how our bodies deal with stress. Check out the infographic below.
As shown above, if you’re chronically stressed, there can be some major consequences. This is why it’s so important to find constructive solutions to manage the intense pressure that comes with working in the back of house, so here goes.
Stress Management 101
After Hours Stress Relief
Working in the industry means having good, bad, and downright bloody ugly days. We’ve all experienced a shift after which we simply wanted to go home, crawl under a rock, and never come out. This is why everyone, especially those that work in restaurant kitchens, should have a way to unwind outside of work.
If you’re thinking that you do and it’s with alcohol, think again. Although alcohol may help us unwind in the moment, it actually keeps our bodies’ stress response in full swing. In fact, studies have found that alcohol increases the release of cortisol to levels higher than that of a true stress response. While a drink or two after a shift is perfectly fine, and even shown to be healthy in some cases, more than that will do you more harm than good.
Instead, try doing something that takes your mind off of work but keeps it engaged like an outdoor activity, watching movies, karaoke, video games, enjoying good conversation, reading, working in the yard, chess, working out, or anything else which you enjoy doing. The possibilities are endless.
Hope for the Best, Plan for the Worst
The typical plan of action usually covers what needs to be done on a normal day…here’s my menu, here’s my prep list, and this is who’s responsible for each station. However, as I’m sure you know first hand, even the best-laid plans fail (hello Murphy’s Law).
That’s why it’s never enough to make a plan solely based on what you need to accomplish. Your next step should always be to evaluate how that bastard Murphy could show his face and screw everything up.This is where always having a “plan B” just in case is the best plan of all.
Your plan B should provide a solution for things such as equipment failures, guests arriving late/early, being short-staffed, and covering for others just to name a few.
This will not only ensure that you keep your head in a crisis situation, but also keep your stress levels at bay.
Even knowing that if something were to go wrong, you’re prepared, will keep your anxiety low and stress in check. So, hope for the best, plan for the worst.
Seconds Save Minutes
A common stress trigger is time, or lack thereof, so finding places to save even a few seconds can be a huge stress management tool. If you can shave five seconds off of the service time of every dish you’re prepping or cooking, you’ll be eliminating several minutes work throughout service.
Not only will the speed of service increase, but the stress level throughout the kitchen will decrease.
Whether you’re in a lead role or just starting out, take a few minutes to think of the workflow in the kitchen to see if there’s anywhere you can find these precious seconds. This can be from changes in prep to reorganizing the kitchen.
Only Work for Management Whom You Like and Respect
All of us have worked under poor upper-level management. Whether it’s that imbecile manager who sets unachievable budgets and then tears you up for not being able to meet them or it’s the lazy operator that takes all the credit for your hard work, it’s not worth putting up with it for long.
Endure them only as long as you have to because their arrogance and stupidity will not change, but your stress will only build.
The bottom line is, if you are unhappy in your current position because of those in authority over you then it’s time to move on. Put in your year (for resume history purposes), do your job to the best of your ability, don’t burn bridges, and get out.
Deal With Problems… In a Constructive Way
Do not ignore problems… they rarely go away and usually only get bigger. Every position in the back of house has their own challenges based on their responsibilities and personalities. If you see a problem, deal with it immediately.
Decide what needs to be done, when you will do it, and what type of follow-up is required. Rip the bandaid off!
A Few More Stress Managment Basics
Schedule time to relax where you do nothing remotely work-related.
Learn a stress reduction method such as meditation, progressive muscle relaxation or guided imagery.
Follow a healthy diet.
Get an adequate amount of rest and sleep.
Exercise on a regular basis.
Speak to your supervisor if you feel stress building.
Whatever you do, don’t ignore the signs of chronic stress. If you’re not feeling or acting like yourself, take the time to find the right tools and techniques to manage your stress before it’s too late.
Staying in the same job offers comfort and consistency, but many workers outgrow their position, lack room for advancement and miss out on potential career opportunities. Could this be you? Read on to find out the 6 Signs That You Should Quit Your Job!
Whether you’re considering a taking a job in the service industry to make a few extra bucks, or if you’re thinking of turning it into a lifelong career, here are five things to keep in mind when applying for your first position.
The best bartenders get a kick out of knowing they’re helping people have a good time – but what if it goes too far? Should bartenders be to blame if someone drinks themselves into injury or illness?
Bartending is a profession dedicated to the art of hospitality, but working with alcohol is not a position of power that should ever be taken lightly.
While the cocktail sector is exploding with boundary-pushing innovation, it is imperative the industry does not become detached from the dangers associated with what is, after all, an intoxicating drug.
In numerous countries including the UK, the US and Australia, legislation has been put in place making it illegal to sell alcohol to a person who is obviously drunk, and similarly, to buy an alcoholic drink for someone you know to be drunk.
However, despite the foundation of such laws, questions abound over who is responsible for ensuring the industry is not plagued with a problem of over-consumption.
During recent months, the media has been awash with a string of high-profile tragedies involving the apparent “over-serving” of alcohol, a handful of which have had calamitous consequences.
In April 2015, Martell’s Tiki Bar in Point Pleasant Beach, Jersey Shore, US, was fined $500,000 and had its licence revoked for a month after allegedly over-serving alcohol to a woman who later died in a car crash.
Tragic incident
The incident unfolded in 2013 after Ashley Chieco, 26, left Martell’s in another person’s car, which collided with an oncoming vehicle, killing herself and injuring the other driver, Dana Corrar.
The survivor suffered two broken legs, broken ribs and will “never work again, never walk again normally and never be pain-free,” according to her lawyer, Paul Edelstein, a personal injury specialist. Martell’s pleaded “no contest” to the charge of serving alcohol to an intoxicated person in exchange for the fine.
“Businesses that profit from the sale of alcohol are well aware of its dangers, particularly when combined with people who then get into vehicles.”
Edelstein adds that “it is akin to a shop selling bullets and then allowing its customers access to a gun when they leave. Hopefully, the attention alone will make a bartender think twice before continuing to serve someone and inquire as to how they are leaving a location that does not provide access to mass transit.”
So when it comes to alcohol consumption where does the responsibility of the bartender start and that of the consumer end?
For some, all persons involved – the consumer, bartender and management – have a collective duty for the wellbeing of both patrons and staff.
“First and foremost, obviously the customer should know their own limits, however we all know that is not always the case. Bartenders should make safe service of alcohol a huge priority in day-to-day business and the owner of the bar should take a vested interest in the education of the staff about over-serving and the dangers and consequences.”
But for others, the responsibility rests with those in a managerial position who need to step up to their line of duties.
“Inevitably, the responsibility lies with the management chain – they are the licensees,” says British bartender and entrepreneur JJ Goodman, co-founder of the London Cocktail Club.
“In the UK we have an inherent history of binge drinking, so customers aren’t very perceptive to being told they’re not allowed another drink. When that sort of situation occurs, someone more senior and experienced needs to come in to handle it and command control as quickly as possible.”
Diffusing the situation
Similar snippets of advice surrounding this irrefutably sensitive subject are echoed throughout the industry.
Accusing guests of being drunk is deemed as the biggest faux pas, and a sure fire way to escalate an already testing episode.
Avoiding embarrassment, ascertaining a first name basis and gaining the aid and trust of any peers who may be present are all recommended methods when it comes to diffusing any drama involved with this task.
Various initiatives have been instigated to curtail irresponsible service and consumption. At the end of 2014, the British Beer and Pub Association launched a poster campaign in the UK to drive awareness among consumers and on-trade establishments of the law surrounding serving people who are obviously drunk.
“It’s not about getting more prosecutions; it’s about raising awareness.”
Brigid Simmonds, chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, continues by explaining that, “it’s important we don’t turn pubs and bars into fortresses – we want to encourage people to go to these socially responsible places. But we need to find a balance between staff responsibility and personal responsibility.”
Workplace culture, from how a business looks to employee attitudes and communication, reinforces how an organization, or team, operates. It’s a fundamental element that can have a huge impact, whether it’s positive or negative is up to you.
Key ingredients
Businesses that have strong and positive workplace cultures have two things in common:
1. The soft skill behaviors that are high-priority are clearly defined.
2. Those high-priority behaviors are shouted from the rooftops, loudly and often.
And this is no coincidence. By establishing and emphasizing the key soft skill behaviors that are at the core of the business, or team for that matter, employees have a clear picture of what is expected, which leads to better performance in the workplace– even the youngest, least-experienced employees.
These powerful cultures don’t just happen. They are the result of a company that knows exactly what its high-priority behaviors are, focuses on them relentlessly, and systematically drives those behaviors throughout the organization in all of its management practices. The message is crystal clear and on auto-repeat.
Where to start
When designing a positive workplace culture, first ask yourself what are the high-priority behaviors that are most important in your sphere?
For example, if I’m the bar manager at a popular fine-dining restaurant, the high-priority behaviors for my team might be attentiveness and professionalism, which are applicable to the restaurant’s staff as a whole, as well as cleanliness as a messy bar is off-putting to guests.
Once the soft skill behaviors are defined, it’s easy:
Make them the foundation of your culture. Focus on them relentlessly, and systematically drive those behaviors throughout your sphere in all of your management practices. This means leading by example
Then sing it from the rooftops—make it 1000 percent clear.
And start doing everything within your power to drive, support, and reward those high-priority behaviors with every employee within your sphere.
How managers fit in
Creating and sustaining a positive workplace culture is not solely on the shoulders of the owner or general manager; managers with small staffs are also responsible for propagating the message throughout their own spheres regardless of whether or not the organization as a whole has a strong culture. In this case, it’s up to the manager to design a positive culture that will drive performance.
If your organization has a strong positive culture by design, then you need to be in alignment. Ask yourself:
What are the high-priority behaviors?
What are you doing in your sphere to drive and support and reward those behaviors in everything you do as a leader?
If your organization has a less-than-strong positive culture, then it’s all up to you. You need to create your own culture within your own sphere—not just for the young talent, but for everybody.
You don’t need to start a revolution. But you can be a little bit of a maverick. You can certainly be a change leader.
Your results will speak for themselves because your team will stand out, not just in its business outcomes, but in cohesiveness, morale, and retention.
Common roadblocks to positive culture
When policy and message do not align:
Some organizations are all talk and no action when it comes to culture. They have great slogans, but they do not drive, support, nor reward key behaviors among employees that are in alignment with the messages. If employees have regular run-ins with customers because management has very strict policies against, say, exchanges and returns, then it really doesn’t matter how many placards there are in the store that say, “The customer is always right!”
When there is a call for immediate change in culture:
We all know change doesn’t happen overnight. Yet, there are organizations in which leaders get very serious about changing their corporate culture—all of a sudden. It’s as if these leaders have an epiphany and realize what they’ve been missing and decide they want a strong positive culture—and they want it now. They want culture change overnight, by decree: “From now on, our culture will be ___________!” Fill in the blank: “honesty!” “teamwork!” “innovation!” But you can’t force culture change overnight. It takes time because behavioral changes take time.
When the organization’s culture lacks cohesion:
Of course, plenty of leaders pay no attention to corporate culture whatsoever. Many senior managers have never considered workplace culture until now, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. This is what Bruce Tulgan, CEO of the management research and training firm RainmakerThinking, refers to as ‘culture by default’,
“Just because you have never paid any attention to culture, doesn’t mean you don’t have a corporate culture. It just means you have a culture by default instead of by design.”
That is your corporate culture is simply the combined web of prevailing shared beliefs, meaning, language, practices, and traditions that have developed over time between and among the people in your organization. Whether it’s overall nature is positive or negative, cultures that are developed by default lack cohesion. There is no central message that defines employees’ overall mission.
The idea of putting work into building a positive workplace culture is not a new phenomenon (because of millennials). In fact, it’s just common sense: happy employees are good employees!
The research, conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), revealed that over-consumption of alcohol cost the US economy approximately $2.05 per drink in 2010, a marked increase from $1.90 in 2006.
Equating to $249 billion overall, the majority of these costs were incurred through reduced workplace productivity, crime, and the cost of treating people for health problems caused by excessive drinking.
While the federal governement paid for just over 40% of these costs, the median cost per state was $3.5 billion, ranging from $488 million in North Dakota to $35 billion in California.
Furthermore, the study determined that excessive alcohol consumption causes approximately 88,000 deaths each year, including 1 in 10 deaths among working-age Americans aged 20-64.
Robert Brewer, head of CDC’s Alcohol Program and one of the study’s authors, shared his thoughts on the study’s findings:
“What surprised us in this study was the extent to which that public health impact was focused on working age adults.”
He also noted that “effective prevention strategies can reduce excessive drinking and related costs in states and communities, but they are under used.” This includes increasing alcohol taxes and limiting alcohol outlet density, among others.
The researchers compiled their cost estimates based on changes in the occurrence of alcohol-related problems and the cost of paying for them since 2006. However, the authors believe these costs have been underestimated because information on alcohol is frequently underreported or unavailable.
It looks like white wine may have gotten a bad health rep for no good reason. White wine lovers – rejoice!
Throughout the years, scientists have documented the benefits of red wine — for heart health, cholesterol control and possibly even cancer prevention. But what about the white kind? The short answer is that the evidence supporting white wine’s health benefits, while still limited, is growing.
While previous studies on the elixir have been mostly focused on testing in animals or on testing the components of the drink itself, two recently published clinical trials found good news for white wine enthusiasts.
The first study, called In Vino Veritas involved tracking 146 subjects half of whom drank pinot noir, and half of whom drank a white chardonnay-pinot over the course of a year. The findings were presented at the European Society of Cardiology meeting last year:
Those who worked out twice per week and drank wine — either kind — saw a significant improvement in cholesterol levels.
The second, published last Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine, tracked 224 volunteers with type II diabetes who were asked to drink 150 mL of either white wine, red wine or mineral water (the control) with dinner every day for two years. The findings were promising for both red and white wine:
Moderate intake of wine as part of a healthy diet among those with well-controlled diabetes moderately decreases cardiometabolic risk.
Another interesting finding was that sleep quality improved in both wine groups as compared to the mineral water group.
So, for all those white wine enthusiasts who keep hearing that red wine is better for you, stick to your guns because the white stuff may be just as good, if not better when it comes to health benefits.
