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| Waiter Training Newsletter |
Books & Manuals Restaurant Training Manuals Training Book for Waiters & Waitresses
Struggling With a Limited Staff
The topic of dealing with a limited pool from which to choose your staff has come up several times in recent months. I’ve trained in some of those places and it can be discouraging when an owner wants to open an upscale restaurant in an area that considers the local “Ed’s Dining Room” to be fine dining. While there isn’t anything wrong with Ed’s Dining Room, some owners would like to bring a level of class and sophistication to the area and raise people’s expectations when going out to eat.
The staff must be hired from the people who work at Ed’s, Denny’s or Village Inn. Again, there isn’t anything wrong with these restaurants; they serve wonderful food in a casual atmosphere. They simply aren’t fine dining with cloth napkins and polished silverware.
What usually happens with a limited staff pool is that you get a few people who really shine when compared to the other staff members, who just seem to get by. The complaint that I hear most often, strangely enough, is that the same people who really shine on the floor are the same people that are consistently late, have attitude problems and never complete their side work. Yet when they're on the floor, guests love them.
Meanwhile, your other staff members are wondering why “Terri” can get away with being late and they can’t. There may be a bit of jealousy involved on their parts; they also have a valid point. Why should they get penalized for tardiness or not completing side work, yet Terri seems to be the golden child and never hears a word about her tardiness and failure to complete assigned tasks?
You do have a dilemma. On the one hand, you want to use Terri as a shining example of how the rest should perform on the floor with the guests; on the other hand, you would like her to make your job easier and just be on time and not be a side work slacker.
Guess what? It’s not her job to make your job easier. It’s your job to create the guidelines for your staff to make your job easier. Set the boundaries immediately. When you hire people, give them the rules in writing. Offer periodic orientation sessions so you and your staff can go over the rules together. Questions and misunderstandings can be taken care of at that time.
If you are a business that is currently operating and are in the described situation, change your rules. You’re the owner or manager – you can change the rules at any time! Hopefully, you don’t abuse that privilege; sometimes it’s necessary to change the rules to save your business. Incorporate training manuals into your training and orientation sessions. Make the rules very clear that ignorance of the rules will be excused twice, and after the third time, an employee will either be counseled, suspended or terminated, depending on the situation and severity of the problem.
Establish that these rules do apply to everyone. You might even want to take Terri aside and inform her that these rules do apply to her, as well. No one is exempt from the rules and the consequences if not followed.
If an employee can’t abide by the rules and you’ve given her every opportunity to do so, perhaps you need to realize that she is not a good employee for your business. If she isn’t following your basic rules, there may be other things that she disregards as being not important enough or beneath her talents.
If you terminate a less popular employee for consistent problems and not Terri, you could leave yourself open to a lawsuit. Demonstrate to your entire staff that you mean business and follow through on the consequences of your rules. It may be painful to let an outstanding, customer service-oriented person go; you can always train others to be as caring.
You can’t train your people to have great personalities. You can only train them to follow the techniques you believe lead to great customer service. Hire great personalities and train them well. Incorporate phrases like, “The (restaurant name) Way.”
Yes, it’s my way of reminding you that I do travel and conduct training seminars on-site! It’s a shameless plug for my business! There’s nothing I like better than excellent customer service, except maybe sharing with others some of the ways to provide outstanding service.
I have training manuals available for sale, as well as my new book, “A Waiter’s Training,” for the individual server who wants to learn more about his/her career and improve on skills. You can visit my store at http://www.waiter-training.com/order.html.
Training and information is the key! Contact me, Susie, at Waiter Training, either by phone or email. My business number is (720) 203-4615, and web address http://www.waiter-training.com.
Susie Ross has been involved in the hospitality industry for ten years
. She has just written a definitive work on front of house customer service and techniques for waiters and waitresses. For more information about Susie's book, "A Waiters Training," her training manuals and training seminars please visit her at http://www.waiter-training.com or email her at susie@waiter-training.com.©Waiter Training 2003
Excellence is an act won by training and habituation.
We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence,
but rather we have those because we have acted rightly.
We are what we repeatedly do.
Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.- Aristotle
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