My, less-than-the-best, servers are very difficulty to deal with on a
training level. I like to think of myself as the "good" manager; the one
that everyone can respect and am never afraid to bus some table, do some
dishes or jump on the line to cook. If I spill marinara on my nice pressed
shirt, I don't care, as long as the guests and the team are being taken care
of.

The report that I have with my team gives me the edge when working with
them. Other managers and even my GM fall short of this sometimes. It is much
easier for me to ask someone to do something with less resistance from them,
than it is for some of the other managers in my restaurant. That being said,
the less-than-the-best servers we are referring to, still resist any type of
training.

They know what they are suppose to do, and will do it when they know I can
hear them. But if I come up behind them, they are performing the same tired
service that they always do. Sitting in the bar until I walk out of the
kitchen, chatting with their friends until I turn the corner, that sort of
thing.

Not that I do not encourage inter-restaurant friendships, I highly recommend
them, but you have to know when to chat, and when to make money and do your
job.

Outside of sales, I have tried small things like staying in your section so
if someone needs you, you can be there. Refills, refills, refills, pre-buss,
things like that. But I find that my ultimate challenge is not the servers,
per say, but the rest of management.

These will happen for a while, and then stop and it can be narrowed down to
management not being consistent. Servers know what they can get away with
with each manager on duty, for some, its the first thing they look at when
they walk in. "Which manager am I working with tonight?"

I work at a national franchise, these are things that are common among
national concepts. You will probably find less of this in a private owed
restaurant because the owner is there 9 out of 14 shifts at least. It is
demanded that his/her rules are followed or else.

I do not think that firing should be your first move, but if things are not
being done consistently, it does need to be in your playbook.

Does this answer your question? A bit long winded, but I like to be thorough
and for people to understand what I am trying to express.

Jesse

--


Primary:
Priority:
"Nellie Paris" > wrote in message
...
> On Tue, 4 Oct 2005 12:04:23 -0500, "Jesse Robinson"
> > wrote:
>
>>Thank you for your kind words, I really appreciate them. I agree with you
>>on
>>not making the auto-gratuity based on a percentage. It is true that a
>>plate
>>of ribs or a salad bar are two worlds of difference. A simply formula
>>could
>>be put into place, amount of people, number of courses (apps, entree,
>>desserts, etc.), maybe beverages, something like that anyway. And I stand
>>true that this type of change would offer better selections.
>>
>>I agree, the amount of "good applicants" or just any applicants has
>>drastically decreased in the years. We use to get ten to twenty
>>applications
>>a month, now, we are lucky to get five. And even less of those five, if
>>any,
>>are what we would consider "good". That leaves us in a less-than-positive
>>situation. We are almost forced to hire these people just to keep our
>>doors
>>open. An increase in server profits would open that door. "Good" servers
>>might want to stay servers instead of quitting to get a "real job".
>>
>>We need to find a way to redefine what the server industry is. To many
>>people see it as a supplement while they educate for better things. Others
>>see it as a dead-end job. It is rare to hear someone proudly express, "I
>>am
>>a server." Unless of course, they make a lucrative living doing so.
>>
>
> Jesse,
>
> I was good, I truly feel. I was routinely selected to be a trainer and
> a shift leader, and I served on management advisor committees, etc. I
> had regulars who asked for me, and I won sales awards without being
> pushy with my guests and while aviding the horrible canned rap I was
> supposed to use. I am sincerely interested in food preparation, wine
> service, sales, and the industry. But I finished graduate school and
> left because of the lack of respect for the position and my
> dissatisfaction with the base pay and the poor to non-existent
> benefits. I made decent tips for the city I was in, which was a
> depressed area nothing like what the serving life is in a major city.
> However, the unreliability of the money could hit me hard sometimes,
> as did bad weather or bad scheduling, i.e. too many servers on per
> shift.
>
> Maybe the fact that our economy is supposed to be recovering is the
> cause of the poor pool of servers. Or maybe it is the tipping system.
> I would love to work in a place that would reward good servers with a
> completitive/higher wage and regular reviews and raises. I would
> have liked to be treated like a food professional with more equal play
> in the restaurant team. Sadly, I feel that servers are the least
> "equal" because of the pittance wage and the unfair tipping system
> that could cause me to lose my money through no fault of my own.
>
> How do your poorer servers respond to training and discipline?
>
> Nellie Paris