Common Sense Has Left The Restaurant Industry

My brother came over this morning and he started telling me about his date Saturday night...well not so much about his date but about the great experience he had at The Yard House...the exceptional service, truly well prepared food and did he mention the awesome service...which got us on to this jag about the state of "service" in our Industry...not a new one to us or anyone else who decides to go out to eat in a full service restaurant these days.

We are all aware that the day of the 6000-15000sf restaurant is largely a thing of the past...even the popular casual dining chains have lessened their footprints to 3000-4500sf. The reason...Labor Dollars...it takes a large staff and the willingness to spend on employees to properly staff a large building in order to give good, much less great service.

In addition to downsizing the units the corporations kept growing and the need to pay the higher corporate costs put pressure on the the units...so in their infinite wisdom the concept of "Minimal Staffing" was enacted and budgets were made accordingly...in order for anyone to make a bonus, not to mention keep their jobs, the focus turned from the dining room to the clock...and this friends was the end of service as we knew it!

Now, with their heads buried in the books and corporate ass saving, the people in charge have forgotten that by definition they are THE "Service & Hospitality" Industry, where exceptional service is what brings people back again and again...it's what differentiates... Now we are in the business of cutting labor to meet a budget in order to pay people at the top large bonuses....

As to the Guest...well the corporate attitude is "there are plenty of people where they came from... hey we can throw out some coupons and discounts that will not affect our labor dollars...lets do that to get new people...and don't forget...people are stupid...they'll come back anyways..."

(Coupons...that's a whole other rant...)

When we came up in the Industry we all had budgets...every business does...but when the organizations get so large that in order to sustain them the individual unit's labor budget is cut to the point that service is an altogether thing of the past...and then to make it worse...EVERY year the labor budgets are less than the year past...

Lets look at a simplified example of how this works...

#1 Rule in the Industry - Hot Food Served Hot

- need an expeditor to organize the food coming out of the kitchen in order to not get cold

- need a food runner to take the food out to the dining room

- need a server to take order, bring drinks, serve food and care for guests

In order to save labor dollars most companies have directed their units through aggressively cut budgets, to eliminate the Expeditor and Food Runner and have the servers pick up the slack...and hey...while we're at it, let's get rid of the Pantry Person and the servers can make the salads as well...hey and we really don't need to have a hostess on all the time...let's have the servers watch the front door and answer the phone as well...now let's tell the managers that they need to work harder to displace labor in case it's needed...but be available to pick up coupons from every table and don't forget to "touch every table"...and make sure that you call the supervisor to explain why your labor is off....

THE RESULTS... (in any order you like)

• Servers are busy away from the dining room when the guests have needs Food is sitting in the kitchen getting cold while servers are getting drinks, making salads, answering the phone, seating people, etc
• Managers are giving out coupons and comping meals because the food is cold and "that's the worst service I've ever had"
• Servers are fed up and to make it worse...mgmt tells then to turn their table to another server because they need to save labor and "...your loss of income is not my concern"

NO ONE is making money Business/Management/Staff

NO ONE is happy Business/Management/Staff/Guest

NO ONE wants to return Management/Staff/Guest

...and we wonder why it's hard to find talented people to work in our Industry....

Our Conclusion...this is way messed up...(technical jargon)

The easiest solution is to take the words Service and Hospitality away from the the Restaurant Industry...at least we can't complain that our expectations haven't been realized...

But the long term fix...well that's another story...in our present economy it is very difficult to convince a corporation that they will need to spend money on "proper" staffing levels and REAL HOSPITALITY SERVICE TRAINING in order to not only survive but profit in the coming years...

It's going to take a forward thinking company to "DO THE RIGHT THINGS";

Get rid of the bureaucracy and redundancy

Train Management and Staff;

• How to speak
• How to act/react
• How to anticipate needs
• How to be nice (require please & thank you)
• How to get satisfaction from Happy Guests & Happy Staffs
• How to Lead/Follow
• How to Understand Others
• How to Find your Hospitality Spark
• How to Kill the Guests with Kindness
• How to Kill the Guests with Sincerity
• How to Kill the Guests with Thoughtfulness

WHEN THE GUESTS COME IN AND SAY...

"WE COME HERE EVEN IF YOU DON'T TAKE COUPONS"...

YOU KNOW YOUR STAFF IS GIVING GREAT SERVICE!

Bob & Mike
"Brothers since 1984"
...the last thirty years in the Hospitality Industry - as owner/operators, concept developers, business startup consultants...not to mention the years bussing/serving/cooking/bar tending (we liked that) and managing...
Semi retired now...we enjoy writing and offering our expertise to select clientele as we are inclined...