One of the biggest challenges in the food and beverage industry is hiring qualified and capable employees and keeping them around for the long run. The average day in the life of a food and beverage worker can be stressful, and using motivational techniques to inspire and support your staff will not only improve the quality of work but also increase the liklihood that they’ll stick with you.
Use these tips to incorporate a dose motivation into the daily management of your staff and watch them succeed!
Focus on the positive
Have you ever had a manager who put a spotlight on everything that was going wrong during the pre-shift meeting? Nothing beats people down more than only hearing about the things they have done wrong. The things that your staff needs to improve upon do need to be addressed, but addressing them in a constructive way is more likely to have a positive effect.
Try the “sandwich” technique. Begin by talking about some positive things you have seen in your employees. Maybe celebrate the successes of each individual employee. Then discuss things that need improvement. Then, conclude by thanking your staff for their hard work. By sandwiching the negative between two positives, your staff will feel encouraged, instead of discouraged.
Keep the acknowledgement coming
Have ongoing acknowledgement programs, like “Employee of the Month”. Designate an area in the back of the house where the successes of your staff members can be posted. If a customer writes a good review of your restaurant or the staff, post it there. Regularly update the postings, making sure to rotate through the whole staff.
Have daily goals
Create daily goals for your staff to work towards. Do you manage a steakhouse? Offer a reward to the server who sells the most of a certain type of steak. Does your restaurant specialize in fine wine? Set a wine sales goal for the server who has the highest wine sales.
The reward can be anything from a free meal to a gift card. Make it interesting by creating teams, and having your employees work together to achieve a goal.
Set monthly goals as well
If your daily goals are for a small reward, create a larger goal for the entire month. For example, set a goal for the staff member with the highest monthly sales, with nothing under a certain amount. The reward could be something like a $500 bonus or a paid day off.
Set up a continuing education program
If your employees feel like you care about them, it will show in the quality of their work. Investing in their future by offering further job training and education shows them you care, and it will increase the likelihood that they will stick with you long-term.
Provide opportunities to cross train within your restaurant, and if promotion is possible, try to do it from within.
Get your hands dirty
In a restaurant’s busiest moments, it’s easy for a manager to shout out for someone to cut lemons or roll silverware, but that may send the wrong message to your staff. Show them that you aren’t above tasks like these.
When it’s obvious a staff member could use an extra pair of hands, roll up your sleeves and help out. One of the characteristics of a good leader is to lead by doing not by telling.
Feed your staff
If you have ever worked as a server or cook, you know often it is that you go an entire shift without getting the opportunity to sit and eat. Provide these short breaks for employees to grab a bite if possible.
For shifts that are really busy, bring in breakfast, lunch, or dinner every now and then. This is another way to show your employees that you care, and they won’t have to try to get through a shift on empty stomachs!
The food and beverage industry is a stressful, but rewarding one. By following these tips, you’ll motivate your staff and encourage them to work towards being a valuable part of the team!
It’s not uncommon for there to be tensions between restaurants’ front and back of house staff. From opposing personality types to the contentious fact that only the FOH gets tipped, animosities can run high and ultimately cause the quality of service to suffer. However, it doesn’t have to. Although the BOH and FOH may never be besties, the two can work as a team so that service is at its best. Here are a few ways the BOH can help to make it so.
“The BOH needs to know the reality—a team effort between FOH and BOH determines the quality of service.” Adam Weiner, Culinary Arts Instructor
Have tastings of menu items and daily specials available for the waitstaff before service, so they can answer customer questions with first-hand knowledge.
Along the same lines, use a dedicated board to list the ingredients in the specials so the servers are informed in the case the case of questions and allergies. This way, the kitchen staff does not have to be bothered in these situations.
Instruct the servers on the focal points of each dish so they can place the plate slightly off the focal point and turn it to the proper position. Customers will notice the extra gesture and tips will go up.
When that happens, the servers will think the BOH staff are heroes.
Train FOH staff on how to proceed if a customer is unhappy with the food, whether that is notifying a manager or going straight to the chef. In this situation, Adam Weiner suggests having the chef personally talk with the customer as “doing this fosters loyal customers who bring in more new customers.”
This one is specifically for Kitchen Managers and Executive Chefs – be in the kitchen so that you’re seen by the FOH. Everyone seems to work harder, faster, better and more effectively when the KM or chef is in the kitchen—even if he or she isn’t doing anything.
Continuing with the tip above, take it a step further by dropping in unannounced. According to Weiner, “even when servers don’t report to the chef, they are better servers (and treat the kitchen staff better) when the chef is there or might come in at any moment.”
Don’t let servers hang out in the kitchen as they will inevitably slow down the BOH and potentially get hurt or cause someone else to get hurt due to lack of training.
FOH should only be present in the kitchens their jobs require. No more, no less.
Develop a discreet restaurant-wide hand signal or verbal cue for gathering staff to use in the event of conflict. This helps shield guests from embarrassing situations that might affect how they perceive your business.
The bottom line is that there needs to be an understanding between the front and back of house that personal differences come second to service, and that working as a team will only prove to help this cause.
U.S. employees spend an average of 2.8 hours per week dealing with conflict. Thus, no matter how laid back you are, it’s only a matter of time before you have to deal with some coworker friction. Here are the three major ways coworkers clash, and what you can do to solve it.
In the restaurant world, time is money. One of the keys to your business is to turn over tables quickly while still maintaining a great atmosphere for guests. But this responsibility goes beyond servers; managers, hosts, cooks and bussers will all need to do their part…
With a growing number of job opportunities, working in the hospitality industry can easily become a fruitful career. So, if you’re asking yourself if you should work full-time or part-time, the answer is pretty obvious and here’s why.
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!
Post your company’s jobs on Sirvo free for a limited time.
Sirvo is not your typical job board. We not only provide businesses with the tools to make better hiring decisions without wasting precious resources, but also do more to make sure applicants keep coming to you. Take advantage by creating your free business profile today! Offer expires Feb 10th, 2016!
Businesses on Sirvo have business pages where information and current openings are listed. A business’s page is essentially their hosted careers site; the page, as well as the job listings, are accessible to the public, so both users and non-users can discover open positions.
This helps companies increase their reach to job seekers. Businesses can easily advertise their open jobs on the web and social media by sharing their page’s link, and professionals can click on a job to get more information. This means businesses don’t have to worry about their jobs getting buried under an ever-growing list of more recent postings.
Multi-Location and Multi-Admin Functionality
Once a business page is created, the owner can invite additional administrators to help manage the page. Admins can do everything that the owner can besides grant admin privileges. This includes publishing and archiving job listings, reviewing applications, using the applicant tracking system, and messaging. So, whether hiring is done collaboratively or by expertise, it can be a team effort with Sirvo.
Sirvo allows users to create multiple business pages, which is ideal for businesses with several locations. By simply creating a page for each location, businesses are able to delegate hiring responsibilities, post jobs according to location, and give job seekers easy access to location information.
Applicant Tracking System
The application process, from applying to reviewing applications, is hassle-free on Sirvo. Job seekers apply in-app with professional profiles that include photos, work history, skills, and interests. Once submitted, applications are delivered straight to the applicant tracking system inbox and sorted by job listing, keeping them organized. Page admins can then review applications and sort candidates based on whether or not they’re in the running.
The ATS not only helps businesses manage applications but also makes it easy to hone in on the most qualified candidates so that when it’s time to make the call on who to hire, there’s confidence that it’s the right choice.
Messaging
Sirvo also provides a messaging hub to centralize communication. Each business page has its own message inbox accessible by all page admins from which messages can be sent and received. This gives employers and job seekers an easy way to get in touch with each other, whether it’s an invitation to interview or a question about a job listing while keeping everyone on the hiring team in the loop.
Added benefits of joining Sirvo
At Sirvo, we know that an easier hiring process is only half the battle. Businesses that are hiring also need to engage job seekers on a broader level. That’s why we send out our e-newsletters advertising your open positions, continually share your openings across our social channels and even post jobs to Craiglist at no additional cost to you!
Register your business today to access all of our great features free for a limited time! Offer expires 02/10/2016
“We have had success with applicants that have applied for all of our positions. Since Sirvo is new and hip I feel like it attracts people that are more on brand with our company than other staffing services available.” – Paulina Szafranski, Lotus Concepts
As a manager, in a restaurant or otherwise, it is your responsibility to ensure that business is running smoothly. This ranges from how staff is performing to business outcomes. It can be a heavy load. However, there are still many easy and inexpensive things you can do to make sure your establishment is running the way it should and to prevent problems before they occur.
Get involved
No one thinks of the phrase “absentee boss” in a positive context. Being in the establishment is a good start, but you need to get out of your office and on the floor and in the kitchen.
Be seen.
Even if the general manager and/or owner are not, you can be. In fact, putting in the effort to be available to your staff and customers will help you in the end. Employees will respect you all the more, making your job that much easier.
Drop in unexpectedly
When I was working in the industry, my manager would pop in and out all the time. She would tell us that she had an appointment the next morning and was coming in late, then show up early and say that the appointment was rescheduled. After I moved on, she let me in on her little secret and explained that it was her way of keeping everyone on top of their game. And it worked.
The first few times you do this though, it may catch a few off guard. Give them some slack the first few times, but if they don’t shape up, you’ll know and can then do something about it.
Stop by after hours
You know those restaurant ‘spy’ shows where they go undercover to find out who’s behind the business’s shortages? Well, one of the recurring things on those programs is that abuses are happening after hours; bartenders are throwing parties, chefs are using your place for a pop-up restaurant, etc. Well, even though those shows are overdramatized, they’re not off the ball.
To ensure this is not happening at your business, especially if you’ve noticed something suspicious, go in when the place is closed, and do it often. For many restaurants, a drive by will suffice. No lights on and no parked cars are both good signs when the place is supposed to be closed. A similar tactic is to check with your alarm company to see when the alarm was turned on and turned off.
Hire an experienced person for the role of mystery shopper
Again, those ‘spy’ tv shows are on to something here.Using a mystery shopper can help uncover that which you would not discover otherwise. This can be anything from poor service and inconsistencies in food/beverages to comps, and more.
It’s best if your mystery shopper is experienced in restaurant and hospitality operations and someone you’re familiar with, but you’re employees are not.
Also, having your mystery shopper visit regularly will allow him or her to form relationships with your staff, increasing access to what’s going on behind the scenes.
Do an accurate inventory, and do it often
Whether you’re responsible for both food and beverages, or just one or the other, don’t just do an inventory on one time of item or before placing weekly orders. If possible, aim to do a thorough inventory 2-3 times per week. While inventory should always be done when the business is closed, don’t do it on the same days every week.
This is a lot to take on, but there are tools that can help. It’ll be worth it in the end; you’ll not only be protecting the business from unnecessary spending but also ensuring that business operations are running as they should.
Rotate staff between units and shifts
The more comfortable staff is with each other the more likely they will get together to do things that should not be done. This is a tough tightrope to walk.
You need to have people together enough that they work smoothly with each other, but not consistent enough to become overly friendly.
The side benefit of this is that everyone starts knowing how to work with everyone else, which is a plus if you have to switch around people for special events, staffing shortages, etc.
The bottom line is that there are several small steps that you can take to tighten up business operations and ensure that everything is being run as it should be.
