How to Work Your Way Up and Climb the Restaurant Ladder

How to Work Your Way Up and Climb the Restaurant Ladder

by | Dec 16, 2016 | Career, Management

Many of us have been presented the opportunity to move up to management in a restaurant. Some seek it out, while others seem to kinda just stumble into it. Regardless, the reality is that the opportunity does exist for those who wish to pursue it further. Every restaurant has their own process, some being more formal/professional than others. Here are a few pointers for anyone who is working in a restaurant and has entertained the idea of becoming a manager.

Use your voice

Restaurant management is constantly looking at their staff to identify who should be approached about a leadership role. If you are wanting to move up the ladder, then that should be communicated at the very beginning. Have a conversation, be it in the interview process or at some point during training. It also helps if you communicate it to the right person, i.e. the GM, Chef or Owner. Don’t worry if you seek a management role later in your tenure, just don’t expect anyone to be able to read your mind.

Take every opportunity to refine your talents and expand on your skill-set.

Become a trainer

Trainers are the staff leaders of the restaurant and are usually the people that are the most knowledgeable about product and service. They are also who the management team goes to for feedback and suggestions. If you are wanting to be taken seriously as a true leader within the restaurant, this is a role you must obtain and perform well in. Being able to work with new staff not only helps them learn, but it also allows you to develop your skills as a teacher. Think of trainers as the “elders” of the tribe, they are the ones that pass on the traditions and culture of the company. 

Lead by example

Nobody likes someone who is a know-it-all or is bossy, so don’t be that person. A true leader leads by example and sets a positive tone for others to follow. Whether you notice it or not, people are looking at you to see how you react in different situations. Keep a calm and cool demeanor during high-stress moments and lend a helping hand when needed. You don’t have to be everyone’s friend, but they have to know they can count on you when the going gets tough. If you cannot be recognized as a leader amongst your peers, don’t expect it later when and if you enter a management role.

Think of trainers as the “elders” of the tribe, they are the ones that pass on the traditions and culture of the company.

Develop professionally

Take every opportunity to refine your talents and expand on your skill-set. Being a leader is difficult, even for those who have “natural” ability. A lot of companies will offer training throughout the year or will even pay for classes or certifications that help you grow professionally. Often being the boss just means you have been deemed the one responsible for everything, which is a heavy burden to bare. In order to make a real impact, you must bring more to the table. How’s your wine knowledge?  What areas of the restaurant are you most unfamiliar with? Identify where you can improve and seek out ways to do so.

Obviously, there are multiple ways to move up the ladder and many different routes can be taken. These are just a few methods we suggest utilizing to move up the ranks. It is a totally different scenario for one to be hired into a management role as opposed to someone working their way up. For people without management experience, working your way up is the best option. Head to our job board to see what entry-level opportunities await you or if you already have a management background click here. 

 

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Restaurant Minimum Wage – What Now?

Restaurant Minimum Wage – What Now?

by | Dec 12, 2016 | Business Toolkit, Management

The Colorado Restaurant Association has been doing great keeping us all up to date in regards to Amendment 70 and how that affects our industry, here is the latest new brought to you by our friends at CRA.

Regardless of how you felt about Amendment 70 (Colorado’s minimum wage ballot initiative), most of you will be impacted by it. We have received many questions from our members about how other restaurants plan to react.

First, to clarify, Amendment 70 is a constitutional amendment that increases Colorado’s minimum wage to $12/hour and the tipped wage to $8.98/hour by January 1, 2020. The passage of this amendment raises Colorado’s minimum wage as follows:

  • January 1, 2017: $9.30/hr. Tipped Wage = $6.28
  • January 1, 2018: $10.20/hr. Tipped Wage = $7.18
  • January 1, 2019: $11.10/hr. Tipped Wage = $8.08
  • January 1, 2020: $12.00/hr. Tipped Wage = $8.98

After that time, wages will increase annually according to the Boulder/Denver/Greeley CPI. They will not decrease in the event of a recession.

What are restaurants doing to cope with these increases?

Each of you will have to determine the right mix of how you will manage this increase. When we surveyed our members on a similar increase in 2015 they responded as follows:

  • 89% will increase prices
  • 72% will reduce hours for employees – ex: keep a smaller staff for traditionally slower times
  • 71% will reduce # of employees – Some restaurants have told us that they are eliminating bussers or runners for example
  • Some may decide to add a service charge
  • Some have mentioned trying tip pooling as a way to help with pay equity

What is a service charge? What is a tip? What is a tip pool? How can I use them legally?

Under both Colorado and Federal law any charge that is automatically applied to the bill and the customer must pay, even automatic gratuities for large parties, is considered a service charge. There are very distinct differences between tips and service charges, here are just a few.

Tips:

  • Are given freely from the customer to the employee, where the customer, in his/her sole discretion, decides whether or not to tip and how much belong to the employee, not the restaurant
  • Management cannot direct the use of that money
  • Sales tax is not applied to a tip

Service Charge:

  • Is anything automatically applied to the bill
  • Is considered revenue of the business
  • Management can determine how the money will be used
  • Funds can be given to the employee but must be done through the payroll system
  • Any money given to the employee from the service charge cannot be counted towards a tip credit
  • Restaurants must collect appropriate sales tax

Tip Pool:

  • Employers may run a tip pool but they must comply with certain requirements
  • The employer must provide written notice to all employees who will be participating in the tip pool prior to their participation
  • Only employees who customarily and regularly receive tips can participate in the tip pool. According to federal law, servers, counter personnel, bussers, and service bartenders can clearly participate.
  • Those that can’t participate are owners, managers, supervisors, janitors, dishwashers, chefs, cooks, and food prep personnel
  • If you are thinking about organizing a tip pool, please contact the CRA to ensure you are administering it correctly

Is there a chance that we can correct the flaws with amendment 70 by altering the tipped wage or adding a learning wage?

We believe that to be nearly impossible. Only one time in the last 100 years was something added to our constitution and later removed – prohibition. In order to change the constitution – as we saw with amendment 70 – we would need to raise millions of dollars just to get it on the ballot – and another several million to educate the public.

For this issue – many of our members who were adamantly opposed to it didn’t give to the campaign to defeat this. Meanwhile, the unions who initiated this have very deep pockets and would fight it heavily.

Going forward…

While this will be a difficult adjustment for a lot of businesses, it is what it is and those who have already started the process will be ahead of the game. It is always a struggle to balance the cost of doing business and providing a fair and liveable wage. We want our staff members to have a good quality of life, but we also want to make sure our doors are open to do so. These are interesting times right now for the industry and despite it all, we will go forward.

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New Ruling on Tips in Colorado

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A recent Tenth Circuit Court case decision changes the rules on tips depending on if you take the tip credit or not. Our friends at The Colorado Restaurant Association are on top of the story but due to the complexity of this issue, we suggest you read the full story here before acting!

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Developing Your Restaurant HR Strategies

Developing Your Restaurant HR Strategies

by | Dec 6, 2016 | Business Toolkit, IndiTips, Management

With the new year just around the corner, it’s time to review the numbers from the last 12 months, identify where to improve and set goals and expectations for 2017. As you look at this past year, metrics relating to human resources, including hiring, scheduling and the like, will most certainly be under the microscope, as they should be. The hospitality industry as a whole suffered from a 72% turnover rate in 2015 and while numbers haven’t been compiled yet for 2016, we anticipate an increase for a sixth year in a row.

With this in mind, your HR strategies moving forward need to be optimized and that’s why we’re laying out a few of the best digital solutions to help you make this next year a great one for business.

Restaurant Accounting Solutions, Inc. (RASI)

RASI’s goal is to free operators from behind-the-scenes activities, such as payroll and inventory, so that they can focus on their guests and employees. RASI has a variety of digital solutions, HR and otherwise, that can help ensure the success and financial wealth of their clients.

Their HR-related software includes payroll and taxes as well as staff performance and knowledge, which ranges from onboarding and training to HR compliance. RASI’s tools can optimize your staff-related programs so that your customers are satisfied and your cash register full! Check out their restaurant solutions here.

ZUUS Dynamic Scheduling

As the name suggests, ZUUS’s software is focused on staff scheduling with the main goal of reducing your customer wait times and driving profit. ZUUS not only provides restaurant and hospitality employers with a staff scheduling tool but does so by incorporating customer and sales demand forecasts for ultimate precision.

ZUUS also includes performance management reporting so you can optimize regardless of business changes. ZUUS can help improve staff morale, reduce staff turnover and maximize revenue. Learn more about their platform here.

HyprLoco

HyprLoco is all about personalizing the customer experience by understanding who is in your store in real-time, then providing staff with intelligence so everyone is treated as a regular, whether it’s their first or hundredth visit. HyprLoco’s software analyzes customer data and integrates with your POS systems, mobile apps and digital menu boards enabling team members to provide personalized service from upsell items to promotions.

This not only delivers an exceptional guest experience but also sets your staff up for success and successful employees are happy employees! Find out how HyprLoco can help your HR strategies here.

Sirvo

While RASI, ZUUS and HyprLoco provide solutions for current employee strategies, Sirvo focuses on securing your future employees. With the goal of increasing employee retention and reducing cost per hire, Sirvo provides hospitality-related businesses with intuitive and robust recruitment services.

On the Sirvo platform, hiring teams can post open positions to their media-rich company pages, which are automatically distributed across Sirvo’s partner networks including Indeed, Glassdoor and Zip Recruiter, ensuring your jobs have high visibility. In addition, employers are able to source potential hires by utilizing the search candidates feature, maintain a streamlined process with the applicant tracking system and speed up candidate communication via the messaging hub.

Beyond the app, Sirvo can also turn your website and Facebook page into recruitment tools with a custom career page and Facebook jobs tab add-on. See what Sirvo’s hiring services can do for your restaurant, retail or hospitality business.

Regardless of your specific HR goals for the year ahead, utilizing these software solutions can help your business achieve its bottom line. From hiring and onboarding to scheduling and performance, there is always room for improvement so why not make this upcoming year one in which you optimize your strategies and grow your company!

Learn how Sirvo can help you!

Cut costs and increase employee retention with Sirvo’s tools and services.
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Recent News on Federal Overtime Regulation

Recent News on Federal Overtime Regulation

by | Dec 5, 2016 | IndiNews, Management

U.S. District Judge Amos Mazzant in Texas has placed a temporary injunction on the Department of Labor’s new federal overtime rule postponing its implementation until a ruling is made or the federal government appeals the injunction. This is welcome news for thousands of business owners across the country and unwelcome news for millions of salaried workers. 

New rule and injunction

In short, the new overtime regulations set to go into effect December 1, 2016, would have raised the threshold for overtime pay from $23,660 per year to $47,476 per year, requiring employers to pay overtime wages (40+ hours) to salaried employees who made less than the new threshold. There were about 12 million salaried employees who would have benefited from this regulation.

It gave the employer three options:

  • Raise minimum salary threshold above $47,436
  • Or pay overtime when a salaried employee worked over 40 hours per week
  • Or limit salaried employees’ work hours to 40 hours per week or less

In addition, the rule also provided for triennial adjustments based on the 40th percentile of weekly earnings of full-time salaried workers in the lowest-wage Census region. A few days after consolidating two lawsuits challenging the rule, Judge Mazzant granted the request for the injunction to halt implementation. Click here for more information about the lawsuits.

What now FAQ

Do I as a business owner need to do anything come December 1st?

No, it is business as usual and no payroll needs to be adjusted at this time.

What should I do if I have already made payroll changes to accommodate the new rule?

If you have already reclassified employees to nonexempt status or increased employee salaries in order to maintain their exempt status, experts advise keeping this in place as it would be difficult to take back.

Can the Department of Labor challenge the injunction?

Yes. The department said in a statement that it is currently considering all of its legal options.

Is there still a chance that the new rule will go into effect down the road?

As this is a temporary hold, the same rule or a revised rule could still be implemented. Things are a bit unpredictable with a new administration set to take office January 20th, 2017.

We suggest that you stay up-to-date on any new developments and to make sure you have a plan of action coordinated with your payroll department, be that in-house or contracted. To gain a full understanding of the overtime regulation, click here. As always, we here at Sirvo are dedicated to keeping our users informed about all things hospitality.

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Pro-Tips to Get Hired on Sirvo

Pro-Tips to Get Hired on Sirvo

by | Nov 14, 2016 | Career, IndiTips

Welcome to the inside track on how to best use Sirvo to get hired. Don’t worry, it’s not rocket science and it won’t take much effort at all. Just a few tricks of the trade that will increase your chances of finding that great job that you’ve been looking for!

Upload eye-catching photos

While there are several ways to distinguish your profile from others’, one of the most effective is to include unique profile and cover photos that showcase your personality. If you are a chef who is passionate about food, use a photo of a dish you created and want to show off. Perhaps you are an adventurous individual and enjoy rock climbing, diving or hiking, then add photos that highlight those interests.

Not everything on your profile has to be industry related; it should be a well-rounded representation of who you are.

Not everything you do on your profile has to be industry related; the employers on Sirvo are looking for those who will fit in well within their company’s culture. And, isn’t that what you’re looking for too? You want to find a job with a team you’ll jibe with and at a company that supports who you are. This is the whole point behind profiles and business pages; to help provide more insight into culture and personality so that you find a great job that you love!

Sure, experience in the industry is important, but it’s not everything. Employers want to hire unique individuals who will add an interesting dynamic to their teams.

Pro-tip: To further highlight your personality, complete the interests section on your profile. Having a common interest with the person who may hire you can be very beneficial.

Speaking of experience…

Yes, one can simply list their past experience within the industry and leave it at that. Or, you can choose to go into more depth about your previous positions and explain exactly how you contributed and what you learned in the process. The latter will definitely do more for you in the long run because it shows employers that you not only take pride in your work but you’re also passionate about what you do.

Don’t limit yourself by only including a few past jobs.

Also, don’t limit yourself by only including a few past jobs. Restaurant and hotel managers aren’t just looking to fill the positions they have listed, they are often looking for candidates that may one day ascend to mid to upper-level management positions, HR positions and marketing positions.

Use the experience section to highlight why you are best the candidate for the position for which you are applying and also for the position that could quite easily jump-start your career.

Pro-tip: Including your job title in the profile header as well as completing the skills and certifications sections can help you get recruited by employers via candidate search.

Utilize our search features

New jobs are posted daily, which means that more tenured posts move further down the list, but you can easily hone in on the type of position you’re looking for by using a keyword. Whether that’s a specific job title, restaurant section (like FOH or BOH) or shift, your search results will appear in seconds!

Maybe you already have a decent job, which you’d only leave for a position at certain company or concept that you’ve been wanting to work for. Easy! Simply toggle the Search Companies tab, type in that company’s name and head to their business page to see all of their open listings.

If you’ve had your eye on a certain company and you’re just looking for a way to get your foot in the door, this the perfect tool to take advantage of.

Sirvo was designed so that both employers AND job seekers can throw out the big net.

Apply to more than one position

The more jobs you apply for, the higher the chances are that you’ll get hired. This is a competitive market right now and there are many qualified candidates these days who are applying for the same positions you are. It’s possible (and even probable) that someone got to the punch before you did. Or, maybe you weren’t the right fit. Whatever the reason, one application may not do the trick.

The great thing about Sirvo is that it was designed so that both employers AND job seekers can throw out the big net; your profile makes it fast and easy to apply for several positions at once and, if you’ve uploaded a resume, Sirvo saves it so you don’t have to keep attaching it to every application.

The point is that it doesn’t hurt to apply to as many positions as possible even if they aren’t exactly what you are looking for. The industry is suffering from a 70% turnover rate, which means there is always the opportunity for upward mobility. You never know when that Barback position may turn into the Bartending position you were originally gunning for.

Unlike other hiring platforms, anyone can start a conversation on Sirvo, including you!

Message employers directly

Unlike other hiring platforms, anyone can start a conversation on Sirvo, including you! Perhaps you have questions about the position or simply want to send a message expressing gratitude for consideration. No matter the subject, this is a great way to separate yourself from the pack.

When the opportunity arises, just click Send Message from the company’s page and reach out with any questions or comments. All business pages on Sirvo are managed by those responsible for interviewing and hiring, so your message will be read. Whether or not it stands out is on you.

Sirvo is a great resource for anyone looking for a job within the hospitality industry. We have all kinds of job listings, from entry level to management, with some of the most renowned companies in town. Thanks to the partnerships we’ve formed with the Colorado Restaurant Association (over 4,000 members) and EatDenver (Denver’s Independent Restaurant Network), we have the inside scoop on Denver’s best jobs!

Click on either link above to see open listings from partner members specifically or head to our job board to see all of our listings and start applying today.

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