Hello Everyone,
It has been too long since my last posting. I had a fun visit to one of Los Angeles's newest restaurant concepts. Start ups are fun. You always seem to be playing catch up, despite your best efforts. The never ending stream of work keeps coming! Training, Turnover, P&L accuracy and GL double postings.. Not enough time in the day to achieve and develop people. Days bleed into each other. You look at your watch and your DM is due to arrive.
You would think this would be about how a General Manager can organize his/her day around this crazy stream of work that continues to be pushed. Its actually not, not at all... This posting is about your boss. Thats right Mr. DM, Regional, VP. My experience at the LA eatery tells me that things in the industry have not changed too much. Here is the poor General Manager with his AGM in tow walking around the restaurant with his DM, getting lambasted. The look on his face was predictable and the process was painful to watch. With check list in hand (I Pad) he led them across the dining room floor to that table that only the managers sit and started to pour over all of his opportunities and things that were not being done. The Seagull has landed..
Why do I use the Seagull analogy for this drama being played out? (Now there are some great multi unit people out there.) I would like to think i was one of them. Unfortunatley there is no structure for the Multi Units as far as training. My first Time as a Multi Unit DR was humorous. I literally was given keys to all of the units with security codes and told good luck we are all counting on you! Most DM's were high performing GM's and treat their current GM's with a very firm grip. You hold them to your standards that made you sucsessful. Too bad your charges are nothing like you. They need to be developed, taught, coached.
THE BIRTH OF THE SEAGULL: The DM flies into the location craps over everything and then flies away to the next location. The GM learns nothing and does the best he or she can with the list the Seagull just gave. Wash, rinse and do it again at the next location. It's okay as long as the numbers continue to be acceptable. The Tenured GM will even call the other area stores to be on the look out for the Seagull! He is out there... Somewhere...Lurking..
To become a high performing DM you need to do the following:
1. Know your people and their struggles
2. Know their staff and issues.. Roll those sleeves up. Be a Director
3. Always teach.. Be a Coach at heart. Always look for teachable moments
4. Know and teach the matrix. IE FC, Labor and BC. Don't Assume anything.
5. Always go into a location with a plan. What's the old saying? "Plan your work, work your plan.
6. Reward behavior: Don't be reluctant be consistent.
7. Leadership is a choice not an hourly position.
8. Be collaborative "Many Voices" Approach
Please add more to this list :) Hey I am interactive...
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Restaurant Operations: QSC, QBP, KRA.. Happy New Year!
Happy Holidays Resto Pro's,
Have you ever noticed there are copious amounts of acronyms flying around in restaurants today? From G.E.T (Guest Experience Times) To G.E.M (Guest Experience Measurements). I Had a GM one time when I was a Regional Vice President say: I noticed on my QSC my G.E.T did not reflect my G.E.M scores. Should I include the scores on my QBP or on my KRA? If a non restaurant person overheaerd that conversation he or she would have said WTF! My most effective Restaurants were those who mastered the nuances of these three lettered game changers. In short the QSC is Quality Service Check, QBP is a Quarterly Business Plan and KRA is Key Result Areas. Every Restaurantuer in the World should be Executing all three of these on and around the first of the year. If you are thorough you will set yourself up for the first six months. I recommend doing them twice a year and measure. It goes Like this: Walkthrough and Examine (QSR), Measure and Record (KRA), Goal set and Correct (QBP).
QSC: Is a focused Walk Through of your entire business. From Food-Guest Services to P & L and Sanitation. You will discover that you have done somethings very well and some things not so. You may find that you did very well with guests and not so well in labor. Your food quality may be the finest in the company yet last in running costs. Your sanitation and cleanliness could be lacking but sales were great. Take your time while investigating your restaurant, it will seriously astonish you and have a huge impact on your bottom line. Make sure you include your managers on this project. It is way to large for you to do your self. This will help their development and create a culture of watchers and doers. All this information has to be written out and recorded or they end up in the circular file. Look, you have to measure your results. We call it the KRA (Key Result Areas)
KRA: Your Profit and Loss is a great place to start because all your measurable line items are right there for you to look at. You will have a - sign or a + sign next to each line item. Remember sucsesses and opportunities need to be listed. What you did right and what challenges you have. The rest of the KRA will be filled out from your findings on your QSR. Complaints from guests about your Lamb. Perhaps your Metro Racks in the Walkin does not reflect new product? Service times may be slow due to improper training of the hosts.. ETC.. This is all listed on your KRA... Everything! Do not hold anything back.. You can't fix what is not recognized. On top of that what a great training tool for your Junior Managers. Call meetings to address your findings create the plan. I love using the QBP (Quarterly Business Plan) to implement my changes.
QBP: You remember your initial Business plan don't you? It's the one with your Mission Statement, Core Values and Pillars. You probably remember your Executive Summary as well... You know the one that said I am going to do this and that, to get this. Dust off the old plan and use the same format to address your new issues. I put all of my KRA's into this format called the Quarterly Business Plan. Every three months the Key Areas in which you described in your QSC and KRA re-examined. The QBP is the bible of your business. It is a running diary of changes you need to make as a restaurant. It is here where you will find your goals and your results. It is brought out at every meeting, one on one's and used surgically during Manager Reviews. 99% of restaurant issues are behavioral. These three tools can help change behavior, focus and goal setting. if you can commit to these three, three letter words great things can happen. If you cannot commit to these and you have issues then you are S.O.L.. there's one more for you.. J
Have you ever noticed there are copious amounts of acronyms flying around in restaurants today? From G.E.T (Guest Experience Times) To G.E.M (Guest Experience Measurements). I Had a GM one time when I was a Regional Vice President say: I noticed on my QSC my G.E.T did not reflect my G.E.M scores. Should I include the scores on my QBP or on my KRA? If a non restaurant person overheaerd that conversation he or she would have said WTF! My most effective Restaurants were those who mastered the nuances of these three lettered game changers. In short the QSC is Quality Service Check, QBP is a Quarterly Business Plan and KRA is Key Result Areas. Every Restaurantuer in the World should be Executing all three of these on and around the first of the year. If you are thorough you will set yourself up for the first six months. I recommend doing them twice a year and measure. It goes Like this: Walkthrough and Examine (QSR), Measure and Record (KRA), Goal set and Correct (QBP).
QSC: Is a focused Walk Through of your entire business. From Food-Guest Services to P & L and Sanitation. You will discover that you have done somethings very well and some things not so. You may find that you did very well with guests and not so well in labor. Your food quality may be the finest in the company yet last in running costs. Your sanitation and cleanliness could be lacking but sales were great. Take your time while investigating your restaurant, it will seriously astonish you and have a huge impact on your bottom line. Make sure you include your managers on this project. It is way to large for you to do your self. This will help their development and create a culture of watchers and doers. All this information has to be written out and recorded or they end up in the circular file. Look, you have to measure your results. We call it the KRA (Key Result Areas)
KRA: Your Profit and Loss is a great place to start because all your measurable line items are right there for you to look at. You will have a - sign or a + sign next to each line item. Remember sucsesses and opportunities need to be listed. What you did right and what challenges you have. The rest of the KRA will be filled out from your findings on your QSR. Complaints from guests about your Lamb. Perhaps your Metro Racks in the Walkin does not reflect new product? Service times may be slow due to improper training of the hosts.. ETC.. This is all listed on your KRA... Everything! Do not hold anything back.. You can't fix what is not recognized. On top of that what a great training tool for your Junior Managers. Call meetings to address your findings create the plan. I love using the QBP (Quarterly Business Plan) to implement my changes.
QBP: You remember your initial Business plan don't you? It's the one with your Mission Statement, Core Values and Pillars. You probably remember your Executive Summary as well... You know the one that said I am going to do this and that, to get this. Dust off the old plan and use the same format to address your new issues. I put all of my KRA's into this format called the Quarterly Business Plan. Every three months the Key Areas in which you described in your QSC and KRA re-examined. The QBP is the bible of your business. It is a running diary of changes you need to make as a restaurant. It is here where you will find your goals and your results. It is brought out at every meeting, one on one's and used surgically during Manager Reviews. 99% of restaurant issues are behavioral. These three tools can help change behavior, focus and goal setting. if you can commit to these three, three letter words great things can happen. If you cannot commit to these and you have issues then you are S.O.L.. there's one more for you.. J
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
The General Manager's Iceberg Theory
Happy November,
No I am not celebrating winter by talking about huge floating mountains of ice. I am certainly NOT writing about the titanic and the unsinkable Molly Brown or even wonder how or why it won an Oscar? What i want to talk about is those Iceberg's you have in your restaurants. My simple point is this: Most icebergs only show 10% of thier mass. The rest of the iceberg (90%) lie under water. You would need a submarine to see the whole picture. In other words that 10% is enough to sink you. You would have to eradicate the entire mountain of ice not to sink.
Ok..so what does this have to do with running your restaurant? So lets give a simple example that happens to restaurants all over the United States. It is the middle of your shift on Thursday night and all of your front of the house employees are complaining about not having enough silverware. You just bought a ton on the first of the month. Servers blame Bussers, Bussers Blame Servers for not Pre Bussing their own tables, Both blame the Dish Washer. Your managers want them to dig the dumpster for not paying attention. This happens periodically and it never changes.. For the time being you have been running up against the tip of the Iceberg and it is winning because you have not dealt with the entire issue. Guess what? You have ten other ones out there lurking waiting for you to step in it.. Lets reduce it.. Address it as a system issue. Look at the entire picture: You have no procedures or systems to reduce silverware loss. Your communication and Manager Development is lacking. Your ordering systems and Declining Budgets are missing. Now you see the whole BERG.. And its you Because the Buck stops here!! Accountability begins with you..
As the GM of your restaurant you are the both the problem and solution. As the problem you only recognize that you are out of silverware once again. If your only solution is to go to Smart and Final for silverware and wash repeat and rinse then you are the problem. If you see the rest of the iceberg as a system issue and lack of leadership and communication by YOUR team you have taken the first step. Every issue you have in your restaurant is due to a lack of leadership or failure to adhere to systems and people development... Think about it.. Guest Service issues (Training Systems and Development), Produce Issues (Food Cost Systems, Ordering and Shelf Life Systems), Labor Issues (Management Development and Labor Systems).
Restaurants in general are loaded with tons of moving parts and problems are a by product. If you can grasp the Iceberg Theory in management you will thrive. I am hoping you are a champ and not a chump because if you are the Iceberg you wont last. With that said... Happy Thanksgiving!
No I am not celebrating winter by talking about huge floating mountains of ice. I am certainly NOT writing about the titanic and the unsinkable Molly Brown or even wonder how or why it won an Oscar? What i want to talk about is those Iceberg's you have in your restaurants. My simple point is this: Most icebergs only show 10% of thier mass. The rest of the iceberg (90%) lie under water. You would need a submarine to see the whole picture. In other words that 10% is enough to sink you. You would have to eradicate the entire mountain of ice not to sink.
Ok..so what does this have to do with running your restaurant? So lets give a simple example that happens to restaurants all over the United States. It is the middle of your shift on Thursday night and all of your front of the house employees are complaining about not having enough silverware. You just bought a ton on the first of the month. Servers blame Bussers, Bussers Blame Servers for not Pre Bussing their own tables, Both blame the Dish Washer. Your managers want them to dig the dumpster for not paying attention. This happens periodically and it never changes.. For the time being you have been running up against the tip of the Iceberg and it is winning because you have not dealt with the entire issue. Guess what? You have ten other ones out there lurking waiting for you to step in it.. Lets reduce it.. Address it as a system issue. Look at the entire picture: You have no procedures or systems to reduce silverware loss. Your communication and Manager Development is lacking. Your ordering systems and Declining Budgets are missing. Now you see the whole BERG.. And its you Because the Buck stops here!! Accountability begins with you..
As the GM of your restaurant you are the both the problem and solution. As the problem you only recognize that you are out of silverware once again. If your only solution is to go to Smart and Final for silverware and wash repeat and rinse then you are the problem. If you see the rest of the iceberg as a system issue and lack of leadership and communication by YOUR team you have taken the first step. Every issue you have in your restaurant is due to a lack of leadership or failure to adhere to systems and people development... Think about it.. Guest Service issues (Training Systems and Development), Produce Issues (Food Cost Systems, Ordering and Shelf Life Systems), Labor Issues (Management Development and Labor Systems).
Restaurants in general are loaded with tons of moving parts and problems are a by product. If you can grasp the Iceberg Theory in management you will thrive. I am hoping you are a champ and not a chump because if you are the Iceberg you wont last. With that said... Happy Thanksgiving!
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Roadmap For the Line Servant Leader
Evening Everyone..
Everyone needs people like them. They rub off on everyone. When YOU are filling out your roster and He/She's name is on it you know it is a guarantee. Your shift will flow perfectly and everyone of your bullet points that you have as goals will be achieved. You know this person, it may be your Heather or Josh or Jose and Amber. They have incredible instincts with people and situations. The entire staff knows who to ask when things need to get done. They are the building blocks to your unit. The work you put into them was difficult but well worth your time and energy. So why do we lose them? Is it Money? Or is it something a bit more? Below are suggestions that hopefully will inspire you to create a atmosphere of retenion. KEEP YOUR PEOPLE!
PERFORMANCE REVIEWS... A very powerful communicative tool that is very under utilized in our Industry. People always dred them because they are uninspiring to Managers and Line Staff alike. Remember this: Your top people need them! They need to understand where they stand. They want to know they are doing satisfactory and what they need to improve. You can attach a wage increase to it if that is what you custimarily do. Where they stand is more powerful than money. In my companies the Performance review is key to introducing the ROAD...
A CLEAR ROADMAP... Your top staff who mean the most to you leave in many instances because they have nothing else to do or worse yet anyplace to go. They have had there share of adulations and back slaps and at the end of the day they go home. It is human nature for people to expand and grow. Titles are sign posts to just that. Top Staff want to know...Is there anything else? They want to be a part of something bigger.. Where do I GROW from Here?
SUPPLY THE MAP... Your top people Crave more responsibility and posess a very important element in your organization, CREDIBILITY. Staff members look up to them and respect their work ethic. I have seen the energy in units go sky high when you are able to harness this energy. Their road map could be the Store Captain (Training). The store captain can be involved in all aspects in Human Relations.. Captains can give interviews, schedule orientations and have training classes. It has a major impact in your key staff members Physche. You recognize their commitment to you and the location. You give them a new task and guidance to continue to thrive. The boredom that they have felt is in the past..
WE NEED MANAGERS.. If you ask any top rated HR person in any major company they will always tell you, we are currently building our bench. Captains who continue to thrive could be entertaining a move into your MIT program. Most companies love the idea of being proactive in their hiring. It is fairly easy to move Solid Captains into MIT areas. Captains understand the Culture and the right ways to do things. Finally, this is the part of the map that continues individual growth and achievement.
Hopefully this quick post will help you retain your top folks! It is very simple to execute and should be a part of your single Restaurant or multiple locations. Give your top people a place to go.. Watch as your retention numbers go way up....
Everyone needs people like them. They rub off on everyone. When YOU are filling out your roster and He/She's name is on it you know it is a guarantee. Your shift will flow perfectly and everyone of your bullet points that you have as goals will be achieved. You know this person, it may be your Heather or Josh or Jose and Amber. They have incredible instincts with people and situations. The entire staff knows who to ask when things need to get done. They are the building blocks to your unit. The work you put into them was difficult but well worth your time and energy. So why do we lose them? Is it Money? Or is it something a bit more? Below are suggestions that hopefully will inspire you to create a atmosphere of retenion. KEEP YOUR PEOPLE!
PERFORMANCE REVIEWS... A very powerful communicative tool that is very under utilized in our Industry. People always dred them because they are uninspiring to Managers and Line Staff alike. Remember this: Your top people need them! They need to understand where they stand. They want to know they are doing satisfactory and what they need to improve. You can attach a wage increase to it if that is what you custimarily do. Where they stand is more powerful than money. In my companies the Performance review is key to introducing the ROAD...
A CLEAR ROADMAP... Your top staff who mean the most to you leave in many instances because they have nothing else to do or worse yet anyplace to go. They have had there share of adulations and back slaps and at the end of the day they go home. It is human nature for people to expand and grow. Titles are sign posts to just that. Top Staff want to know...Is there anything else? They want to be a part of something bigger.. Where do I GROW from Here?
SUPPLY THE MAP... Your top people Crave more responsibility and posess a very important element in your organization, CREDIBILITY. Staff members look up to them and respect their work ethic. I have seen the energy in units go sky high when you are able to harness this energy. Their road map could be the Store Captain (Training). The store captain can be involved in all aspects in Human Relations.. Captains can give interviews, schedule orientations and have training classes. It has a major impact in your key staff members Physche. You recognize their commitment to you and the location. You give them a new task and guidance to continue to thrive. The boredom that they have felt is in the past..
WE NEED MANAGERS.. If you ask any top rated HR person in any major company they will always tell you, we are currently building our bench. Captains who continue to thrive could be entertaining a move into your MIT program. Most companies love the idea of being proactive in their hiring. It is fairly easy to move Solid Captains into MIT areas. Captains understand the Culture and the right ways to do things. Finally, this is the part of the map that continues individual growth and achievement.
Hopefully this quick post will help you retain your top folks! It is very simple to execute and should be a part of your single Restaurant or multiple locations. Give your top people a place to go.. Watch as your retention numbers go way up....
Monday, August 1, 2011
The Recession Proof Restaurant "A Work Of Art"
Good Evening Everyone,
We all Know the Story.. The Real Estate Bubble was over valued and mortgages were given out like BOGO's in the mail. It didn't matter who was credit worthy or not. It doesnt even matter anymore who was to blame (Insert Theory Here)! It literally destroyed our financial institutions and jobs. Three and a Half years later with 10% Unemployment and a flatlined GDP you are still here. For some reason the Recession did not choose your place to close or lay you off. Congrats from me to you! I think you have made it through the worst of it. Rejoice in the fact that you have done something right! It is the purpose of this post to inspire you to become the operator you can be. Today let's talk being Basically Brilliant in the area of Smart Labor Staffing..
Two weeks ago on a Thursday I decided to go to my favorite mid level casual eating restaurant for a quick bite and a beer. It was 645 PM the restaurant was half full and had a healthy wait at the door. The servers were stressed no hostess was present. So I waited with another guest who was a shopper for the company. When asked why can't we sit where all those empty seats are we were met with a "Corporate wants us to watch our Labor"! Some of the Guests left I decided to stay and knew how it would end. The BOH guys who were grossly understaffed took 40 minutes for me to get a burger AND a salad.. The burger was Overcooked I choked it down anyway. The overwhelmed sweaty server thanked me as I left. THIS DOESN"T NEED TO HAPPEN..
The truth is that it shouldn't happen...It can NEVER happen again! If you are thinking you are saving money on your labor line you are crazy!! You just Lost Guests, Employees and food product because you do what alot of operators do..CUT..CUT.. "I don't care how you do it".. Here is your fix! Go back to your Aloha or Your Micros and print out: Sales per Hour (1 Month) (Average Wage) (Per Capita)..
SALES PER HOUR..Number don't Lie.Over the last month you have aquired statistics on how busy you are during the course of a day. You peak in (Number of) guests and sales every night at 630 PM..1230 During the day..
YOUR AVERAGE WAGE gives you the average of how much your employees make each night and by the hour. Kitchen folks make more than Servers and bartenders per hour. EXAMPLE 9.75$
PER CAPITA Is the average each guest spends on menu items. EXAMPLE 14.50$. Covers X's Per Cap= Sales..
Sales Per Hour will give you how many guests averaged on a Thursday Night X Per Capita will Give you Sales and Peak Times
You can calculate your labor dollars by multiplying Hours vs Average wage to come up with Dollars Spent. Divide into into sales for Labor %
What does all this Mean? It is a tool to help you Schedule Properly with out going over your budget! In my case I can schedule enough front of the house staff by staggering them in by knowing my sales per hour. I know how much my guests are going to spend and how many are coming. I know my Average wage for tonights shift.
When I was a Operator I used to run this scenario in my head all the time. As a Multi Unit Operator I would teach it. It is sound and applicable towards staffing and running great Labor numbers and keeping your guests and staff. The tools are in Your POS.. Remember this..If you are trying to run labor on the last day of the period you have already lost. You can tweak in times and out times as numbers will change.. Good Luck and Happy Hunting..
We all Know the Story.. The Real Estate Bubble was over valued and mortgages were given out like BOGO's in the mail. It didn't matter who was credit worthy or not. It doesnt even matter anymore who was to blame (Insert Theory Here)! It literally destroyed our financial institutions and jobs. Three and a Half years later with 10% Unemployment and a flatlined GDP you are still here. For some reason the Recession did not choose your place to close or lay you off. Congrats from me to you! I think you have made it through the worst of it. Rejoice in the fact that you have done something right! It is the purpose of this post to inspire you to become the operator you can be. Today let's talk being Basically Brilliant in the area of Smart Labor Staffing..
Two weeks ago on a Thursday I decided to go to my favorite mid level casual eating restaurant for a quick bite and a beer. It was 645 PM the restaurant was half full and had a healthy wait at the door. The servers were stressed no hostess was present. So I waited with another guest who was a shopper for the company. When asked why can't we sit where all those empty seats are we were met with a "Corporate wants us to watch our Labor"! Some of the Guests left I decided to stay and knew how it would end. The BOH guys who were grossly understaffed took 40 minutes for me to get a burger AND a salad.. The burger was Overcooked I choked it down anyway. The overwhelmed sweaty server thanked me as I left. THIS DOESN"T NEED TO HAPPEN..
The truth is that it shouldn't happen...It can NEVER happen again! If you are thinking you are saving money on your labor line you are crazy!! You just Lost Guests, Employees and food product because you do what alot of operators do..CUT..CUT.. "I don't care how you do it".. Here is your fix! Go back to your Aloha or Your Micros and print out: Sales per Hour (1 Month) (Average Wage) (Per Capita)..
SALES PER HOUR..Number don't Lie.Over the last month you have aquired statistics on how busy you are during the course of a day. You peak in (Number of) guests and sales every night at 630 PM..1230 During the day..
YOUR AVERAGE WAGE gives you the average of how much your employees make each night and by the hour. Kitchen folks make more than Servers and bartenders per hour. EXAMPLE 9.75$
PER CAPITA Is the average each guest spends on menu items. EXAMPLE 14.50$. Covers X's Per Cap= Sales..
Sales Per Hour will give you how many guests averaged on a Thursday Night X Per Capita will Give you Sales and Peak Times
You can calculate your labor dollars by multiplying Hours vs Average wage to come up with Dollars Spent. Divide into into sales for Labor %
What does all this Mean? It is a tool to help you Schedule Properly with out going over your budget! In my case I can schedule enough front of the house staff by staggering them in by knowing my sales per hour. I know how much my guests are going to spend and how many are coming. I know my Average wage for tonights shift.
When I was a Operator I used to run this scenario in my head all the time. As a Multi Unit Operator I would teach it. It is sound and applicable towards staffing and running great Labor numbers and keeping your guests and staff. The tools are in Your POS.. Remember this..If you are trying to run labor on the last day of the period you have already lost. You can tweak in times and out times as numbers will change.. Good Luck and Happy Hunting..
Friday, July 15, 2011
General Manager Must Have's
Hi Everybody,
As Vin Scully would say "Good is not good, when better is expected". In restaurants and in hospitality we are graded on daily basis and the awesome day you just had is forgotten as quickly as it arrived. We are a performance based, change on the fly segement of our ever changing economy. We as owners operators and chefs must do a better job of evaluating talent as we bring them into our cultures and organizations. Below are listed General Manager traits that are vital to your organizations moving forward. The GM is the most important part of your business because Leadership truly comes before guest services. For better or worse your staff emulates the GM on every level.. Think about that for a moment..
It has been my perception through years of experience that if staffs don't know or understand the day to day expectation set by your General Manager, THEY WILL MAKE UP THEIR OWN. Thats where we start to run into problems. Your GM is directly involved with developing JR manager's on staff. JR manager's develope the rest of your staff per department. They all take on the persona of the main character in your business, the General Manager. Below this paragraph are a list of must haves I have accumulated over a period of 20+ years in the field. If your GM's have these traits you will win every day. You will be able to step away and get other things accomplished. Never Settle for anything Less..
Executes Ideals of Brand (Core Values)
Exceptional in Food and Beverage or 90% Of (QSC)
Has Many Fans on Staff (Firm but Fair)
The energy in their Restaurants Differ from other restaurants (Positive)
The Team is smiling and they are never out of uniform
Tough on your standards, easy with people
They have full Ownership. Just Like its theirs
Addictive Consistency
Daily Team Training
Staffing Scheduling is optimal.. Never over budget
He/She sees what the guest sees
Expert at the basics
Shift is lead on purpose and guided with passion
Purposeful Hiring with a particular goal in mind
Accepts Accountability Quick to Change
Never Turns Over (Lifer)
Disciplined/Not ridged (Understands Gray Area)
Focus, Goal Sets, Follows up on Execution (P & L)
Loves the Community where they Manage
Communication with entire staff is Exceptional
Resolves Conflict with ease
Evaluates first then acts (Even Keel)
He/She is the Harbor in the Tempest
Crew very Loyal and Committed (No turnover)
Always motivating and planning
Pre-shift meetings are automatic and fun
Switch is always on..Incredibly Tuned In
Congrats if you have a GM who partially shows upon this list. Hopefullly while reading this post you will have a AHA moment on a Oprah like scale.. I invite you to leave comments..
As Vin Scully would say "Good is not good, when better is expected". In restaurants and in hospitality we are graded on daily basis and the awesome day you just had is forgotten as quickly as it arrived. We are a performance based, change on the fly segement of our ever changing economy. We as owners operators and chefs must do a better job of evaluating talent as we bring them into our cultures and organizations. Below are listed General Manager traits that are vital to your organizations moving forward. The GM is the most important part of your business because Leadership truly comes before guest services. For better or worse your staff emulates the GM on every level.. Think about that for a moment..
It has been my perception through years of experience that if staffs don't know or understand the day to day expectation set by your General Manager, THEY WILL MAKE UP THEIR OWN. Thats where we start to run into problems. Your GM is directly involved with developing JR manager's on staff. JR manager's develope the rest of your staff per department. They all take on the persona of the main character in your business, the General Manager. Below this paragraph are a list of must haves I have accumulated over a period of 20+ years in the field. If your GM's have these traits you will win every day. You will be able to step away and get other things accomplished. Never Settle for anything Less..
Executes Ideals of Brand (Core Values)
Exceptional in Food and Beverage or 90% Of (QSC)
Has Many Fans on Staff (Firm but Fair)
The energy in their Restaurants Differ from other restaurants (Positive)
The Team is smiling and they are never out of uniform
Tough on your standards, easy with people
They have full Ownership. Just Like its theirs
Addictive Consistency
Daily Team Training
Staffing Scheduling is optimal.. Never over budget
He/She sees what the guest sees
Expert at the basics
Shift is lead on purpose and guided with passion
Purposeful Hiring with a particular goal in mind
Accepts Accountability Quick to Change
Never Turns Over (Lifer)
Disciplined/Not ridged (Understands Gray Area)
Focus, Goal Sets, Follows up on Execution (P & L)
Loves the Community where they Manage
Communication with entire staff is Exceptional
Resolves Conflict with ease
Evaluates first then acts (Even Keel)
He/She is the Harbor in the Tempest
Crew very Loyal and Committed (No turnover)
Always motivating and planning
Pre-shift meetings are automatic and fun
Switch is always on..Incredibly Tuned In
Congrats if you have a GM who partially shows upon this list. Hopefullly while reading this post you will have a AHA moment on a Oprah like scale.. I invite you to leave comments..
Sunday, April 10, 2011
When It Hits The Fan It Wont Be Evenly Distributed!
I thought about writing how to say Servant Leadership in Latin as a way to show off my intellect and knowledge on the subject. Enough of that. I don't know how to say it in Latin but I do know how it works. Let me just say that this form of Leadership, when utilized in your restaurants, not only works but creates a culture in which people thrive. Usually young restaurateurs like writing their core values in which Integrity, Honesty and Passion become three out of five in importance. Rarely do you ever see going all out for your team and supporting operations where ever we operate in their core values. It should be. Lets face it, we see it all the time. Disgruntled team members wishing "I had a little help OUT here" or you cut the floor and then leave to go do whatever you do in the back. How about the Sous Chef who gets it done by deriding team members for ten hours a day and then comes back just to do it again the very next day. How about the busboy who steals tips because he/she doesn't feel there needs are not being met.
How about you? You know, the star of this little play. You want to run it and captain the pilots seat but you are buried under mounds of expectations reasonable or not by the Corporate support team who always manages to call you for something they need in the middle of your shift. So you play around with that masterful spreadsheet you created not really knowing that the real action is outside of the office where you are losing and degrading the business 360 days a year. We rapidly become the culture and are such creatures of habit that closing yourself off from the business becomes natural to you. Skating to where the puck is going is impossible. You are always dealing with turnover, constantly hiring and have a different management team yearly. You work yeoman's type hours trying to get ahead only to be carrying the load all by yourself. You never had the time to develop your managers because they don't stick around long enough to do so.
In the back ground you hear the phone ring and intuition tells you its another team member calling in because of car troubles that will miraculously be cured by tomorrow. Which means you only have five servers tonight. Within five minutes you will make a fateful decision to go with it because you have no time to make phone calls to willing employees who want to work and save the shift. At least Labor will be low! The shift as it turns out was a unmitigated disaster because a party of 40 came in. Unfortunately it was never recorded because your staff is not very good on the phone. The phone rings again and it is your Regional wanting an explanation while sitting on his couch in the comfort of his own home. He wants to meet with you today at 2:15 but calls and cancels until next week. He is your fourth Regional in two years.
You know you didn't last in this environment. It eventually took its toll. Hours of lost sleep, arguments with family and you started to care less. Now that you have had sometime off you feel passionate about the business again. You miss it and you start interviewing for positions. You are lucky enough to be sought after and you swear things will be different this time. You learned so many things from your last position.. Guess what? You are destined to do it again! On my my next post I will introduce you to Restaurant Leadership that not only works but empowers people to match your passion every day. Read on!
J Michael
How about you? You know, the star of this little play. You want to run it and captain the pilots seat but you are buried under mounds of expectations reasonable or not by the Corporate support team who always manages to call you for something they need in the middle of your shift. So you play around with that masterful spreadsheet you created not really knowing that the real action is outside of the office where you are losing and degrading the business 360 days a year. We rapidly become the culture and are such creatures of habit that closing yourself off from the business becomes natural to you. Skating to where the puck is going is impossible. You are always dealing with turnover, constantly hiring and have a different management team yearly. You work yeoman's type hours trying to get ahead only to be carrying the load all by yourself. You never had the time to develop your managers because they don't stick around long enough to do so.
In the back ground you hear the phone ring and intuition tells you its another team member calling in because of car troubles that will miraculously be cured by tomorrow. Which means you only have five servers tonight. Within five minutes you will make a fateful decision to go with it because you have no time to make phone calls to willing employees who want to work and save the shift. At least Labor will be low! The shift as it turns out was a unmitigated disaster because a party of 40 came in. Unfortunately it was never recorded because your staff is not very good on the phone. The phone rings again and it is your Regional wanting an explanation while sitting on his couch in the comfort of his own home. He wants to meet with you today at 2:15 but calls and cancels until next week. He is your fourth Regional in two years.
You know you didn't last in this environment. It eventually took its toll. Hours of lost sleep, arguments with family and you started to care less. Now that you have had sometime off you feel passionate about the business again. You miss it and you start interviewing for positions. You are lucky enough to be sought after and you swear things will be different this time. You learned so many things from your last position.. Guess what? You are destined to do it again! On my my next post I will introduce you to Restaurant Leadership that not only works but empowers people to match your passion every day. Read on!
J Michael
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