Management Secrets

The Concept of Continuous Improvement Applied to the Hospitality Industry

Some people think that restaurants and bars take completely different approaches in managing their business.  For restaurants, it is all about creating a great atmosphere, and serving great food and promoting great service.  For bars, it is about speed, fast money exchange, and personality.  It is my opinion that the same rings true for nightclubs, bars, and restaurants.  Whatever your business is you have to plan for success.

             

When things start to slump or business takes a downward turn any establishment owner begins to think about how they can make things better.  I have been asked to give advice to owners and what I tell them are suggestions for managing in the long term.  Whether you are a bar, nightclub, sandwich shop, barista or a restaurant it makes no difference.  You need to make a long-term commitment and plan to implement daily management measures, which include your staff.

Here are the activities that I suggest restaurant owners, leaders, and managers consider when wanting to improve their customer service:

• Develop goals for your staff.  Include benchmarks and performance expectations; be consistent.
• Share the goals with the staff and review them on a regular basis.  Think of ways to incorporate expectations, goals and share the achievements of your staff in regular conversations.  It might be a shift meeting, a company get together or just a casual conversation.
• We are all very busy and it’s easy to forget so when you think of it; carry a pen and paper to write down ideas about how you envision your staff and business to run. Make your goals and expectations clear. Then roll it out to your staff. Your ideas can serve as a foundation for continuous improvement.
• Employees who are not sure about how to fulfill the requirements of their job position are left without the guidance to make the right decisions when needed. Tell your employees what you want to shape your establishment.  Model the appropriate decision making process. Keep track of instances that you can share that demonstrate the type of decision making that you want to see from your staff vs. the type of decision making that you feel may be out of line.  Either way both examples assist with shaping your staff and their opinion of how you want to see your establishment run. 
• Employee manuals are a great idea.  I have worked for quite a few industries and businesses and felt great about getting the employee manual handed to me.  The manual clarifies expectations it can define the daily routine and it gets the new employee on track.  Most companies spend money to make that great manual, print it and then use it as a paperweight.  Yeah; really what a waste!  And you have all that great info. in there that you could be using to train your staff.  All I can say is what’s up with that???
• Create a manual that makes sense.  Don’t make it in print form digitize it; put it in Google drive and then share it with your staff members.  Come on, give it a try it won’t cost you anything! Every once in a while get your staff together to talk about the information that you have provided them in the manual. Or you can shoot them an email so that they read a segment of the manual. Google has a document share feature so that you can share the same document over and over each time highlighting something different. Use the information in your staff meetings.  Let your staff access it from the cell phones.  Relate back to your employee manual.  This really works if you take the time to set up your processes this way.  The hospitality industry is becoming more professional you have to run your business in a manner that projects this concept.  A working employee manual can help you to set the stage and keep your business moving forward. Make it and use it to keep your people projecting the image for your business that YOU want.
• Give employees what they need to make your good establishment great!  Raise the bar.
• Great service and teamwork does not happen instantly you must build your customer experience with a focus on placing yourself in the establishment as a customer.
• Coach your staff every shift, every day and hire people who love serving others!  Yes, they are out there make sure you pick the right people.  If you are not there personally, hire the right people to deliver your message. Stay on point!
• Identify your jobs your positions; write out the expectations for each and a plan for how to train employees how to set salaries and explain how employees can achieve bonuses, rewards, and raises.  Then make it happen you need to follow through with the message that you deliver. 
• Reward your team; create an “achievable” rewards program.  Some establishments set the rewards program with expectations that are too high.  No one wins this way especially the establishment owner.  You know when you have set the bar too high just from the look on your employees face when you roll out your program.  It is necessary to set up a program where everyone can participate in reaching the goal and no one person is responsible for the result.  Empower your people, “all people” who work for you to go above and beyond.  Set a goal to build a culture the way you envision it. Start sensible; give your employees the win; show them they can do it then gradually raise the bar.  A rewards program where no one wins does nothing for morale, your business, or promoting a positive work culture.

This isn't everything you can do; but this list is a great start. Use the 2TouchPOS reports feature to share information with your staff. Relaying the facts showing staff the result negative or positive provides you with an edge; your employees know that you have the ability to quantify results.  I hope that you find this information sensible and helpful.  These concepts can be discussed further contact us for more information.