Restaurant Leadership Tip: Get SMART
At any time during the day, you can encounter “pop-ups” – unexpected events that steer you away form your current course of action. Stacked side by side, they disrupt your daily, weekly and monthly plans. Before you know it, you’re caught on a treadmill, running as fast as you can but getting nowhere.
To get your operation moving forward again, it’s paramount to set goals supported by well-defined, written objectives. They specify what needs to be done, how it will be measured, who will be responsible, when goals will be reached, and what the overall impact will be. They get your operation off the treadmill and back on track.
In the hectic, high-turnover environment of a restaurant, however, goals and objectives can seem impossible to manage on a consistent basis. It’s easy to slip into a reactive mode, responding to things that have already occurred. It doesn’t take long to realize the need for long-term planning. When it comes to establishing goals and objectives, one proven acronym can help you remember the process: SMART – Smart, Measurable, Attainable, Results-oriented, Timely.
Want more real-world solutions to becoming a better restaurant manager? Check out Get A Life: Running Your Restaurant without Running Out of Time
Steps You Can Take to Prevent Sexual Harassment in Your Restaurant
What’s harassment… and what’s humorous? What’s threatening… and what’s flattering? It depends who you ask… and who’s complaining. As a manager, your job is to err on the side of what an employee could be feeling. Don’t try to read what your employee is thinking, ask. And act.
When sexual harassment is reported in your operation, you have to react quickly, appropriately and definitely. Follow your company guidelines – or check out the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for legal procedures – as soon as the first complaint is made. In the meantime – before problems occur – implement these steps to prevent sexual harassment in your workplace:
- Study, post and train employees on your sexual harassment policy. Communicate to your team that you are taking a “zero tolerance” approach toward sexual harassment and ask them to sign the policy, acknowledging that they have read and understood its contents. (If you have employees whose primary language is not English, have the policy translated.)
- Train, train, train. There are countless sexual harassment training options out there. Some are even specifically focused on the hospitality industry. Find the program that works best for your operation and make sure all employees participate.
- Make it easy for employees to complain. Provide a few people (team leaders, managers, etc.) who an employee can confide in. Give the option for a male or a female and make sure all employees know who they can talk to if they’re being harassed.
- Conduct a survey. Ask employees to anonymously complete a questionnaire that asks if they’ve been sexually harassed in your operation. Often this simple tool will let you know that there’s a problem, even if nobody’s talking about it.
Protect your operation with a solid anti-harassment training program such as Harassment in Hospitality. Click here for more details and check out an excerpt from the DVD below:
If You Think You’re In the Restaurant Business, You’re Wrong
If we asked you to define what business you work in, you’d probably say the “restaurant” or “hotel” or “bar” business. And do you know what? You’d be wrong! That’s not the business you’re in. We’re in the business of retail sales, not the “quick-service,” “restaurant,” “bar,” or “hotel” business.
A restaurant or bar is not merely a “place to eat or drink,” but rather a building designed to accommodate, facilitate and promote the retail sales of food and beverage to customers through service. We provide service as a way of making sales to those customers. The restaurant or bar is a physical space. Our business is designing and using that space to make sales. Why do you think we call our restaurants “stores”?
Once the analogy between foodservice and retail sales is understood we can then differentiate between what we do and what we should be doing. First, we begin by making a distinction between our business’s function and our goal.
- Our function as a business is to acquire and maintain customers.
- Our goal is to be profitable.
If you agree with this, you must ask yourself: “How do I successfully manage my business’s function every day so that we will make money? The answer is quite simply: TRAINING.
Restaurant Management Tip – Take a Lap
Few actions can place you in a positive light better than leaving on a positive note at the end of each working day. As you depart for the day, take a lap around your entire restaurant, shaking hands and thanking employees, by name, for the good efforts and support.
Keep it light and sincere, mentioning noteworthy performances. It’s crucial to leave your followers with the knowledge that you appreciate what they do. Citing specific examples demonstrates your awareness and ability to recognize desirable shift behaviors. Thanking employees communicates that you’re approachable.
Need more ideas to improve management in your restaurant? Check out Leadership Now: Achieving Restaurant Management Excellence In 30 Days.
Restaurant Management Training: Turn Managers into Leaders
You may be new to the ranks of management. Or taking the helm after relocating to a different store. Or just looking for a fresh start in your current position. Whatever the case, you can achieve restaurant management excellence in just 30 days.
During this period, the things you say and do, the tests of will you encounter, the decisions you make and the bonds you develop all will contribute to how quickly your employees follow your lead. Remember, your followers make you a leader, not the other way around. Although your title as manager carries a certain level of distinction and authority, it no longer supersedes the need to earn respect and establish credibility with your employees.
It’s critical to make every day count, which is why your plan to leadership success should be broken down into daily leadership activities and a weekly action plan like this one:
Week One
- Be Approachable
- Get Organized
Week Two
- Implement Change
- Make Sound Decisions
Week Three
- Surround Yourself With Great People
- Be a Great Counselor
Week Four
- Build Your Team
- Make Things Happen
Are you ready to take action? C’mon, Big Kahuna, it’s time to stop bossing and start leading.
For a detailed action plan to restaurant management success, click here to check out Leadership Now: Achieving Restaurant Management Excellence in 30 Days.
Your Restaurant’s Internal Customers Key to Economic Survival
Competition for the customer has sky-rocketed. Operators are introducing value pricing and loyalty programs… anything to keep their focus on getting people through the door. While these efforts are indeed necessary, micro-focusing on the needs of external customers often takes energy away from an equally important group of people – internal customers.
The concept of internal customers is nothing new. Most people understand and agree with the general theory. Happy and satisfied employees lead to happy and satisfied guests. When it comes to achieving a successful relationship between managers and staff, one fundamental concept stands above the rest: appreciation.
When employees feel that their hard work isn’t taken for granted by their managers or their co-workers, they are much more likely to go above and beyond the call of duty, both for guests and for each other. As the economic climate continues to test operators’ abilities to adapt to the changing needs of customers, don’t forget to spend time focusing on internal customers. How they’re treated is a direct reflection on guest satisfaction – and guest loyalty.
Employee-Friendly Policies
When establishing policy in your operation, think “employee-friendly” rather than “law of the land.”
Sick policy. Consider your employees’ needs and family responsibilities. Sick days may be needed to care for sick children or aging parents.
Eating on the job. Consider starting a 15-minute “family meal time,” during which employees sit down and eat together. Serve inexpensive dishes (lasagna, for instance) rather than allow ordering from the menu.
Personal phone calls. Doctors or sitters may need to be called or consulted. Again, think of employees’ lives outside the walls of your restaurant.
Tardiness. Listen to the reasons for late arrivals, and judge each on a case-by-case basis. Deal with repeated tardiness as needed.