The Restaurant Biz Blog

Is Your Work Listening Optimized?

Did Lee Iacocca, former turn-around CEO and Chairman of Chrysler, capture how to create a great team in one influential remark? "Start with good people, lay out the rules, communicate with your employees, motivate and reward them. If you do all of those things effectively, you can't miss." Perhaps yes, or no, but who can argue with those principles?

When you really look at it, isn't his point: build great relationships? Motivations and listening are a key part to any relationship. Based on the right rewards, employees become motivated to perform. Perhaps they are monetary, or more intrinsic, such as a feeling of importance. To know any of this, listen. Without listening how would you know what motivates an employee to work that extra shift or, more importantly, add creativity to a guest experience that results in pleasurable dining. According to Inc Magazine, being more effective in an organization, requires active and engaged workplace listening. So, are you as engaged in actively listening all of the time? Hard for some of us, but we have an app for that...

The growth of workplace productivity tools has turned the once unknown project or process into the known. We can now listen to the dining room remodeling process, by engaging gantt charts via project management tools. We can communicate with vendors about orders on upcoming special events (I guess they listen in this example). But what about your employees? How can a busy restaurant operator listen "to it all of the time"? The trick is employee engagement. Below are just a few examples of how to engage your employees, through listening... 

• Pass it on... Managers should be ready to listen to employees and should not be reluctant to pass any grievances or problems faced by their employees to their superiors who have the authority to take the necessary actions.
• Speak your mind and heart... As a manager, speak up and say what you think. As obvious as this point seems, people have a difficult time articulating their needs, wants and desires.
• Actions speak louder than words... an employee’s experience of your organization’s actions influences them much more than communication, but communication creates the linkages and can play a central role in many of those experiences.

Next Blog: The secret is listening to your data

RESTAURANT EMPLOYEES EMBRACE ONLINE SCHEDULING SOLUTION

WhenToManage uncovers communication trend: web-based scheduling application fosters increased collaboration and productivity in the restaurant industry

WhenToManage, the leader in real-time, online reporting and integrated point of sale (POS) business analytics solutions for retailers and restaurants, released the results of a nation-wide user survey proving the critical value of online labor scheduling. Operators, faced with multiple employee scheduling demands, using the web-based communications and scheduling technology, can now more effectively optimize employee-to-management information sharing through a fundamental improvement to the labor scheduling process.

The 2010 Survey of WhenToManage Online Employee Scheduling Users, a national web-based survey of over 700 online restaurant employees conducted throughout June and July, found that 90% experienced improved communications to the point where they would highly recommend the application to employers. Over 70% of respondents stated the seamless communications, enabled by the application, increased productivity through improved workforce collaboration. The survey findings highlight new thinking about personnel management in the restaurant and retail industry. The data posits that increasing employee engagement through seamless and interactive scheduling technology makes for more productive employees and efficient scheduling procedures.

“We were very pleased at the overall survey results. The fact that 90% of employees would recommend WhenToManage to future employers says volumes about our tools. Many of them commented saying that it ‘totally opened up communication,’” said Jeff Schacher, CEO of WhenToManage. “We discovered that many of our employee users ended up being the power-users of our technology. They are one of the driving forces behind adoption at their restaurant. Frankly, because WhenToManage is so easy to use, we believe it will reduce the headache of employee management now and in the future. Some personnel matters will go away leaving more time for essential management duties resulting in happier employees to boot!” said Schacher.

Employees using the application can review their schedules and manage availability requests from either the internet, email or mobile text messages. Using secure log in functionality, employees interact with the system by requesting days off, set preferred shifts, update availability and swap shifts with other employees. Employee requests are then sent back to the store manager for approval. “With employees having less time to accomplish more, the online scheduling application addresses key productivity challenges by opening up communications and encourages employees to work together. This key development keeps the entire operation running smoothly.” Said Schacher.

Demanding Customers - How Does a Server Cope?

Have you noticed that the average customer has become a bit more demanding? A couple of weeks ago we went out to eat and the table next to us was one of those demanding customers, I felt so bad for their server.

To start off with, they ask if the kid's meal comes with drink, of course the parents were drinking the soda, not the water they ordered and must have had 6 refills during their meal. Every time the server delivered a course they would always ask the server to bring something. They didn't ask for this all at once, when the server would bring them what they first asked for then they would say, "Can you please bring some more butter". The poor server would make 2 to 3 additional trips every time they visited their table.

The general public is wary of the economy and what it means for the future and discretionary spending has been replaced by saving. So, when the unique opportunity presents itself to enjoy a meal outside the home, patrons want their experience to be well worth the money they are deciding to spend. I'm sure the tips are smaller as well.

Demands, like the customer I described made, may at times seem a little outrageous. And, with this increase in demands, it can often really affect an employee's morale as they are striving harder for increased customer satisfaction. Managers have to be really careful to protect the interests of the customer and the employees. This is not always easy, but you can accomplish both by first focusing on the needs of the employee. Their improved outlook on work will increase the likelihood of continued focus on customer satisfaction, which in turn, keeps the customers coming back.

Here are a few suggestions:

• Recognition: Build a system whereby your patrons have the opportunity to recognize an employee for a job well done. This is often accomplished with feedback cards. Recognition from management is always good, but when hearing directly from the customers, you know exactly how they felt about the experience.
• Give praise: One of the easiest and best things you can do for an employee is to recognize their contributions to the team.
• Rewards: This doesn't have to be big we are talking about an extra shift off, a free meal, or an employee-of-the-month, the reward for a job well done is appreciated and remembered.
• Vent Sessions: Some individuals find that the greatest release of the associated pressure is to vent to others about the experiences. Give your employees a place where they can do this but make sure its facilitated to it remains a venting session and not a customer bashing session. They can let out their frustration, identify with others who had similar situations, and learn how others handled it.

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Recipe Costing for Profit

In a previous blog post, I wrote an overview on recipe costing, since this is so important we are going to expand on this further.

When you ask a restaurant owner/chef about recipe costing, the usual answers are: "We don't have time to do that" or "By the time we get done it won't be accurate any more" or "How will that help, we're doing okay". All of these responses beg the questions: has the potential, ideal or theoretical cost been established? What is it? What method was used to determine the projected cost?

Proper recipe costing is a somewhat tedious and time-consuming task; however, when compared with the potential dollars lost through undetected high food cost, it is time and money well spent. Large restaurant operations frequently prepare budgets without thorough research into the various components that constitute the overall food cost.

Before attempting to cost out recipes, it is necessary to run yield tests not only on the center-of-the-plate items, i.e., meat, fish and poultry, but also the vegetables, starches, sauces and garnishes. It is important to note that when doing butcher tests and fish tests, not only is the net cost of product of interest, but so is the time necessary to do the preparation.

This is especially true if the chef or the sous chef or some other highly trained, highly paid individual is doing the butchering. That person's time, while not part of the food cost calculation, is part of the labor cost, and one must ask if that is the best use of time and talent. It is appropriate at that time to study the total cost of doing the butchering in-house vs. buying portion-controlled products, taking into consideration the ability to use the byproducts, quality control issues, consistency of yield and net cost of the plated product.

The time spent cutting meat, fish and poultry also has a direct relationship to the sales abstracts when preparing production charts for the kitchen staff to maximize utilization of labor hours. Too often, operators take shortcuts by attempting to cost recipes using the gross cost of ingredients, resulting in artificially low costs - and then wonder why they cannot achieve their cost objectives.

Costs must also be included for tabletop gratis items such as bread, butter, relish trays or any other complimentary items included with a given meal period function. Random checking of plated items must be done to determine if the production staff is adhering to established portion guidelines.

ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS - Key information needed for recipe costing:

• Date recipe was costed
• Meal period
• Recipe name
• Last update
• Yield
• Portion size
• Cost per portion
• Profit per portion
• Suggested selling price
• Food cost percentage at suggested selling price
• Ingredient description
• Purchase price
• Per unit
• Recipe unit of measure
• Cost per unit of measure
• Extended ingredient cost
• Total recipe cost
• Suggested selling price to achieve specific food cost goals, i.e., 25 percent, 30 percent, 35 percent
• Plating instructions
• Garnishes

Once each recipe is properly costed; a review of the sales is needed to determine how the mix of sales will affect the overall theoretical cost. Then each recipe's cost and selling price are entered into a spreadsheet, the only ongoing task is to enter the mix of sales for the period under review to determine the food cost potential for that period. This period can be by day-part, by day, by week or by month.

Any time the cost of recipe ingredients changes radically, recipes are added or deleted from the menu, special pricing is offered to clients or there is any other factor that could change the relationship among recipe costs, revenue and sales mix, you should calculate a new theoretical cost. You must remember that this "ideal" cost assumes there is no waste, over portioning, pilferage, spilled food, employee consumption of food, etc. In reality this does not exist in day-to-day operations; however, well-run operations frequently can maintain costs within one or two percentage points of potential through diligent cost-control systems.

Without the knowledge gained through recipe costing and the subsequent application of those individual costs to the sales mix to determine what costs should be. It would be nice to say that recipe costing would solve all the problems; however, it is only one piece of the puzzle, an important one, that constitutes the total picture of any well-run food and beverage operation.

Before any management team can determine what it wants its food costs to be in the future, it must determine what they are today and then decide the most prudent approach to achieving its food cost goal. At the same time it must continue to provide guests with perceived value for their catering dollar. Recipe costing is a necessary first step to that end.

There are also many inventory software solutions on the market today that can help automate this process and give you accurate and timely inventory costing reports.

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Restaurants, Dining Experience and Marketing

Restaurants are a common new business venture but unfortunately, they also have a high rate of business failure.

We ask ourselves... what are the reasons people go to restaurants? Dining out is more than just going for food. In many situations, dining out means a social event or an entertainment experience. The overall atmosphere within the restaurant has a large impact. The manager or owner of a restaurant needs to have a focus on the customers' entire dining experience.

Many times, dining experiences are designed to impress someone, say a new date, a prospective client, or friends. A restaurant manager or owner should consider adding little things that the customer does not expect. The enhancement a restaurant gives its product or service before offering the product to customers. For instance, some restaurants that have targeted children have done an excellent job of creating a theme. The same is true for adults. The mood that is set by the restaurant has a significant impact on our perceptions--wall colors, lighting, furniture, background music etc., all impact the dining experience. The important thing for the restaurateur to understand is that the restaurant success depends as much about the experience as on the food. Central to marketing efforts is the concept of creating the experience that you desire the customer to have.

Every person who enters a restaurant has expectations--here are some of these:

• Clean facility--food and restrooms. 
• Prompt service attention--many times people are going to a restaurant for convenience, speed of service and to be cared for.
• Friendly service--people want to feel welcome and appreciated.
• Convenience--food delivered in a certain amount of time.
• Food quality--consistency.
  
• Quick resolution of the bill.

Every restaurant should have service standards. And training is a big key. The business owner must establish the standards of performance in the business. Left to chance, it will probably not be as desirable as if the business leader creates the experience.

Develop a list of measurables within the restaurant, develop standards for each one, provide training to ensure staff is prepared to meet the objectives and, finally, provide a method for measuring and reporting actual performance in relation to desired performance. Additional reinforcement in behavioral science, the presentation of a stimulus following a response that increases the frequency of subsequent responses, whether positive to desirable events, or for this type of program can be provided by linking feedback or bonuses, both financial and non-financial, to actual performance.

A restaurant grows by generating positive word-of-mouth advertising. Dining establishments develop a reputation, which is the ultimate indicator of future success. No amount of radio, TV and newspaper advertising can overcome a bad reputation. A great reputation, properly maintained, is a fortress that will protect the success of a restaurant.

Word-of-mouth advertising, or buzz, will develop on its own. However, the most proactive approach is to plant the seeds of a great reputation. Here are some strategies to accomplish this.

• Attract influential people (local celebrities, early adopters, leaders)
• Emphasize events and celebrations with special programs
• Offer gift certificates--use them to cross promote the business.
• Get the media involved--get some good press.
• Spark lunch traffic with local businesses and organizations in your local area, think about a "Company Day" where you offer a specific discount to company employees on a specific day.
• Do "date night" promotions--work in conjunction with other businesses to offer a more complete package (i.e., dinner and an movie, etc.).
• Use coupons effectively. If not done effectively they can hurt your business instead of helping your business
• Develop a "valued customer" database to prompt recurrent/forming dining habits.

And don't forget about using Social Media to help promote this, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, Linkedin and YouTube to name a few. Social media marketing has become one of the most advantageous avenues by which a business can attract new customers while also maintaining strong relationships with existing clients. By creating a more personal relationship with these customers and clients through social media outlets your restaurant can develop greater brand awareness, build strong networks and establish a loyal following.

While social media does require a time commitment the benefits of exposure it will generate for your business followed by increased traffic and new opportunities is well worth it.

Restaurant Energy Saving Tips

Earth Day 2010 is fast approaching so lets take a look at ways to save our natural resources as well as saving you money.

Most restaurants are energy intensive facilities where significant energy-saving opportunities exist through wise operation and equipment selection.

Use the following tips to help reduce your restaurant's demand for energy. Some of these tips require capital investment, while others require only changes in operation and maintenance. Most of these tips are based on two principles:

Turn it off if it does not need to run. For example, by eliminating one hour per day of broiler idle, you can save $200 annually.

When it is time to purchase new equipment, choose the most efficient equipment that you can. Look for the ENERGY STAR label on appliances and lighting.

Lighting

• Switch to fluorescent lighting. Fluorescent lights use 1/4 to 1/3 of the energy that standard incandescent lights use, saving up to $34 per year per lamp on your lighting bill. And, because fluorescent lights do not generate heat like incandescent lights, for every watt saved in lighting, you can also save a watt on air conditioning. If kitchen areas have old four-foot, T-12 technology fluorescent lamps and magnetic ballasts, they should be replaced with more efficient electronic ballasts and T-8 lamp technology. Your local utility may have incentives to assist with this.
• Use compact fluorescent lighting. If you use dimmable swag lamps at the tables, consider replacing them with dimmable compact fluorescent lighting. Dimmable compact fluorescent lighting costs more initially, but will last as much as ten times longer than incandescent lighting and is available in a variety of color temperatures to enhance the look of the table service.
• Convert exit lighting to LED technology. Replacing your old incandescent exit lighting with a low energy LED retrofit kit can save $22 per year per sign, a savings of up to 88 percent.
• Install lower wattage lamps. In areas where it is impractical to use fluorescent lighting, consider relamping fixtures with high efficiency halogen lamps that use lower wattage. Switch to high-pressure sodium or low-wattage metal halide lamps for outdoor lighting.
• Install occupancy sensors, timers and photo sensors. One of the best ways to lower your energy costs is to turn things off when not in use. Install occupancy sensors in non-essential areas such as walk-in coolers and storerooms, photo cells on parking lot lighting and timers on other outdoor lighting.

Water Heating

• Fully load the dishwasher. It takes as much heated water to wash a partially full dishwasher as it does a fully loaded one. Install low-flow pre-rinse spray nozzles.
• Set the water heater thermostat no higher than it needs to be: 140 F for hand washing. Consider using chemical sanitizers instead of higher water tempratures in dishwashers.
• Consider gray water heat recovery. If your dishwasher is a continuous fill and drain, consider installing a gray water heat recovery system. This system will recover some of the heat from the drain water and use it to reheat the supply water to the appliance.
• Monitor water bills for sudden rises in use, and contact your water company should this occur.
• Regularly check for, report, and repair leaks.
• Install low-flow faucet aerators and showerheads.
• Use dry methods for outdoor cleanup.
• Install toilets that use 1.6 gallons per flush or less.

Kitchen Ventilation

• Retrofit exhaust hoods with a two-speed blower. When the entire grill/fryer is not being used, you may be able to lower the ventilation rate over the appliance and reduce both make-up air and the energy needed to condition it.
• Locate exhaust hoods on walls. Wall-mounted exhaust canopies require lower air velocities to do the same job. Lower air velocities mean smaller fan motors and less make-up air to heat or cool.
• Install "smart" exhaust hood controls. Most kitchens operate at less than 25 percent capacity during the day, but the exhaust hood runs at 100 percent capacity. These controls sense when the exhaust hood needs to be on, based on exhaust air temperature and smoke load using a temperature and an optical sensor.

Heating and Cooling

• Use the thermostat factory set points. Leave the thermostat settings at 76F for cooling and 68F for heating. Each degree of heating or cooling can cost an additional four to five percent in energy costs. Leaving the thermostat at the factory set points will maintain comfort without breaking the bank.
• Use the "night setback" feature of the thermostat. Set the thermostat to bring your restaurant to temperature no earlier than needed.
• Conduct regular maintenance on heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) and refrigeration systems at least twice a year.

Maintenance

• Clean air conditioning and refrigeration condenser/evaporator coils every three months.
• Check the refrigerant charge and fix leaks if necessary.
• Regularly clean or replace air filters on ventilation and heating/air conditioning equipment. Clean grease traps on ventilation equipment.
• Check freezer and walk-in seals for cracks and warping. Replace if necessary.

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How Great is Your Customer Service?

When guests come to your restaurant, you should treat them as if they are friends visiting your home. Treating your guests with care and providing an exceptional place for them to enjoy a meal is part of the reason they will come back to your restaurant again. They also expect quality in every aspect of the restaurant. Guests are looking for a value in the things they see, taste and touch, and so providing them with exceptional quality will certainly leave a good taste in their mouths; here are a few tips.

Food Quality

Food and beverages are probably the biggest indicator of quality that a customer notices. Food quality is not only important to the customers' impressions of the overall restaurant experience, but it is important for the their health, as well. Guests' health should never be compromised. Although not all restaurants can boast the best quality food in town, they can still take measures to ensure that food is stored and prepared safely. Take the following considerations when assuring food quality in your restaurant:

• Be sure to follow proper first-in, first-out (FIFO) rotation with all food products.
• Properly label and date all food products.
• Never serve food that has expired.
• Prepare products safely, avoiding cross-contamination with dangerous bacteria or cross contact with allergens.
• Wash hands before and after handling food products.
• Prepare and serve foods at proper, safe temperatures.
  

Quality Atmosphere

When guests enter your restaurant, they should feel as though they are in a special, comfortable place. Try these suggestions to create a superior ambience in your restaurant:

• Consider your concept, and be sure the strength of the light suits the tone you wish to portray to your guests.
• Make sure the volume of your music is audible but not distracting. Music should help create the ambience rather than overwhelm it.
• Decorate your restaurant with a special, unique theme or focal point.
  
• Even a quick-service restaurant needs to demonstrate a high standard of cleanliness for customers to feel good about the quality of food.
  
• Maintain a comfortable inside temperature in your building. 70°F is usually acceptable. Minimize drafts or hot spots from lights as much as possible.

Memorable Service

Perhaps even more important than food quality is the service the customers experience from the time they enter the restaurant until the time they walk out the doors. Although restaurants thrive because of sales, the sale should never be put before the customer's needs.

How to Speak with Customers

In any restaurant or food service environment, speaking to customers should always involve the utmost respect and courtesy. This goes for all workers, from drive-thru attendants to servers at fine dining establishments. This is rather idealistic. However, restaurant workers should follow these general guidelines when speaking with customers:

• Use respectful titles, such as "sir" and "ma'am."
  
• Be optimistic, and speak with a smile.
• Never interrupt or talk over guests' conversations if you can help it,
• Know your menu so you can speak intelligently to educate guests.
• Listen with respect and care to what the customer has to say.
• Be sure you ask questions to clarify a customer's order if there is any confusion.
• Be honest and straightforward with customers at all times, especially if there is a problem.

How to Serve and Clear Food

Serving etiquette varies depending on the restaurant serving type. The restaurant types where this matters the most are upscale or fine dining restaurants. Managers should train their servers in proper table etiquette if they are unsure of how to proceed in a serving or clearing situation. The following tips describe the basics:

• Service order is usually an important standard upheld in fine dining restaurants or formal banquets. In these dining establishments, it is appropriate to serve the guest of honor first, then the female guests and then the males. In less formal restaurants, it is acceptable to simply serve women before men.
• Servers should serve and clear food from the diner's left side. Some formal restaurants advise serving with the left hand for these tasks. Serving from the left is best since most diners are right-handed. Politely excuse yourself if you find that you are interrupting or reaching.
  
• Serve or pour beverages from the diner's right side since that is usually where the glasses are set on the table.
• Serving food, servers and food runners should not call out entrées to see whom at the table claims the dishes. Servers and food runners should have a system to identify which plates correspond to which guest without having to mimic an auction house.
• Good service extends beyond the meal to the entire length of time the party is inside the restaurant.
• Unless otherwise requested, clear all plates and empty glasses at the same time, and before presenting the check.

Caring for Upset Customers

Now and again there are bound to be problems. A customer may be dissatisfied with his meal or may find the quality to be below his standards. Sometimes guests will find the need to vent anger or annoyance before the problem can be resolved. Be sure to train servers the proper ways to handle customer complaints. The manager should also visit the customer to ensure the resolution met their expectation. Retaining upset customers can be a challenge. When you put in the effort and respect to recover distressed customers, you may be able to convince them to return to your establishment in the future.

 

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Building Effective Employee Feedback Sessions

Employee feedback surveys often identify the need for more one-on-one time between employees and their managers. An easy way to fulfill this is to hold regular one-on-one feedback meetings. This simple idea gets overlooked or bumped by supposedly more important priorities. Yet making time for one-on-ones can eliminate communication problems, boost morale and productivity, and guarantee higher scores on your next employee feedback survey.

Here are a few reasons why this tool is so important:

• Regular feedback and coaching will make your job as a supervisor/manager easier when employees build their skills and independence

• Feedback and coaching also increases productivity, the quality of work and the effectiveness of the work group

• Employees' motivation and initiative is increased with effective feedback and coaching

• Creativity and innovation in problem solving increases with effective feedback and coaching

Now for a few tips for providing effective ongoing feedback and coaching sessions.

Planning - Schedule one-on-one meetings at mutually agreed regular times and frequencies

Timing Is Important - Make sure you are giving the feedback when it is needed. Giving feedback too long after there is need will dilute the feedback.

Privacy - Keep this meeting as a private, one-on-one opportunity between yourself and your employee. By keeping it this way, you demonstrate respect and the importance of this time together.

Set Clear Expectations - For a more effective session together, define and agree upon each other's roles for these sessions. Knowing what to expect from each other helps build trust.

Plan The Content - Both the manager and subordinate should prepare agenda items to be discussed. That way, there are no surprises and each of you can be better prepared.

Make It Two-Way Session - Remember that the focus for these one-on-one meetings is to improve both individuals' performance, the manager and employee. It shouldn't just be the manager directing comments, so be willing to receive valuable feedback, too.

Block Out Adequate Time - Provide sufficient time for these meetings and feel out what is best for both of you. Allow at least one hour in the beginning and be flexible to situational needs.

Keep It Simple - Focus on making improvements at work with your specific job tasks and on better interpersonal relationships skills. Provide feedback on the progress being made each time you meet.

Follow Up Is Critical - A key agenda item should be following up on previous meetings' action items.

Positive Motivation - While constructive feedback and concerns may be necessary, make sure to section some time to give praise and acknowledgement within the meeting.

Ask For Feedback - Encourage the other person to give you feedback on your feedback. This may clear up any misunderstandings. Also, it shows that you value the other person's opinion.

Setting The Stage - At the end of each meeting, review the generated action items established in the session for each person's benefit before leaving the office. Let them know that you appreciate the efforts they are making.

Managing employee performance every day is the key to an effective performance management system. Setting goals, making sure your expectations are clear, and providing frequent feedback help people perform most effectively. While it may seem like an added responsibility to managers already "full plate," the payoff is well worth it.

Re: Why Are Restaurant Operators Such a Hard Sell?

I just read Michael Atkinson's post on Fohboh.com called "Why Are Restaurant Operators Such a Hard Sell?" He was talking about how resistant restaurant operators are to adopt new technology and processes.

That really got me thinking about the very question he asked. Why is it that way? I have a theory, let me know what you think.

The Management Mind Life Cycle

• Stage 1: Party Time - a new restaurant opens or a new general manager comes in to an existing restaurant and they are energetic and ambitious to grow their business. They throw money and time at different ideas to get people in the door and drive revenue (managing costs often isn't even worried about until later). 

• Stage 2: Party's Over, Now What? - the party can last a week, a month, or a year. But when it's over it's over. Staring  at an empty restaurant, the operator looks back at their success and says, "I either have to spend more time and money doing what I was doing or I need to try something new."

• Stage 3: Rinse and Repeat and Repeat - owners and managers will try and try new things in an effort to repeat their previous success. (for some science behind this behavior look at "schedules of reinforcement" - I know I'm a geek)
  
  After each failure they become more and more cynical of trying new things and eventually they just resist any kind of change because the last 10 things they've tried haven't had any benefit.

The Big Secret
Well it's not that big, and it's not that secret, but the secret is MEASURABLE ROI!!! The only way to know the return on your investment is to measure the effectiveness of your investment. Of course people get burned out and defeated trying to repeat prior success if they don't really know why they were successful. Maybe the money spent the first month didn't actually bring anyone in the door, but it was the fact that their nearest competitor was closed for renovation. Imagine how empowering it would be to know why something is working or not working. It makes business decisions so much easier.

So I think the only way to really attack the problem of the resistant operator is to educate them or re-educate them on ROI. With all the new web-based software companies, an operator can try a new solution for very little investment of time or money and quickly see if it solves their problem or not. 

I am hopeful that these sluggish restaurant operators can be re-energized and empowered with a few chats on ways to follow their money out the door and ways to watch if it comes back in.

 

Motivating Your Employees

The best employee-driven operators ask themselves, "What do we want to be famous for with our employees?" Is it favoritism, mercurial moods, daily doubles, endless closing-opening shifts? Or do you offer moral leadership, fairness, energy, equity, balance, challenge and fun? The best operators know that they're not just selling food and beverages, they're selling the server's smile, energy, knowledge, attitude and empathy. The care and maintenance of both your internal and external customers is the key to both guest and employee retention.

Understand that you cannot "motivate" anyone. You can, however, create an environment in which your employees are self-motivated. To do what? Improve performance, profits and productivity. Effective incentives are a key factor to help create a self-motivated wait staff and kitchen crew.

Here are a few ideas you might find helpful to motivate your employees.

• The wall of fame - Showcase an employee of the week, the month, and an employee of the year. Have weekly, monthly and annual award ceremonies. It's important to have both management and employees make the selections. Remember, compensation is a right. Recognition is a gift.

• Employee meals - Employees who have the opportunity to enjoy items on your menu become excellent marketers for your food--a sincere, personal recommendation is the most effective up selling strategy. Make menu items complimentary or available at cost.

• Crew feedback cards - Asking for server feedback sends the message that their opinion and perspective is valuable. It also creates a team-oriented work environment and promotes professionalism. 

• Happy birthday cards - Here's a real easy one: Hand-written, personalized birthday cards signed by the owner and/or General Manager of your restaurant will generate tremendous good will. The employee will be surprised that you even knew it was their birthday let alone receive a card.

• Know your employees - Spend some time during each shift talking one-on-one with an employee about a hobby or interest-anything non-work related. The employee feels important and special, and employees who feel good about work, take better care of your guests. This will help you understand your employees what motivates them.

• One-on-one's - At a minimum you should have sit down one-on-ones with your employees every 6 months but on their hire date anniversary make it special, have lunch or dinner with them. Ask questions, listen to ideas, show appreciation, and let them know they are a valuable asset. You will be surprised how much you will benefit from this as well as the employee.

Today's labor force wants the same things you wanted, and your parents wanted from work: a pleasant environment, fair compensation, appreciation for a job well done, and training to develop skills for advancement.

Keep focused on the basics that have always attracted good employees. And don't forget to ask them what they want. You might be surprised at what you hear.

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