I work at a restaurant in Midtown, Manahattan. For over 2 years I have worked at this upscale restaurant near Madison Square Garden. Whilst the restaurant has many great reviews on-line and from many regulars, we also have a few bad reviews and not fully satisfied customers. This problem has been evident, in my opinion, ever since I began and I highly expect prior to my arrival. The major problem is the level of service.
Firstly, let me explain the issues that can easily be avoided. Almost every night, the restaurant is out of at least one or more items on the menu. There are many wines that are not delivered before we are out of stock as well as liquors. This relevant information is not communicated to the wait staff and many times, when an order is taken, after discovering the "86'ed" item, ( a term used in the catering industry meaning out of stock) the server has to tell the customer causing upset and delays in the dining experience.
Another issue is the specials. During the lunch shift, daily food specials are cooked for the staff to see and try so they can expalin the dish to the customers interested, and upsell the item. However, for evening servers, they do not get to see or taste the specials and cannot explain the dish but only give a mere description copied from the specials board.
The steps of service are inconsistent and vary amongst servers. For example, some servers will not offer any water at all to their customers, either because they are too lazy or don' think its important. Some customers can wait long periods of time without any service. Some customers have the incorrect silverware, are provided with wrong information or even never offered another beverage when clearly there glass is empty.
And finally, customers servers can change without the customer being informed. The restaurant works on a tipping pull basis. This means that every server works together and all the tips are pulled and distributed fairly. As one server leaves, when the volume dies down, the server will pass over his tables to the remaining server(s) to finish and will inform that server at the point of dining the customers are experiencing. However, most of the time the guests are not informed of the change and can strongly affect there dining experience.
The problem in service within the restaurant affects the revenue and reputation of the business. Less guests are willing to return and less revenue can be generated.
In my opinion, there is a very easy way to overcome these challenges that the restaurant has always experienced. It begins with proper training and tighter management communications. Firstly, servers are not trained properly, therefore half a day should be put aside and a training manual created in order to train new servers and current servers to understand the restaurants steps of service. Within the steps, everybody will know to offer water still, sparking or iced water as the first step and a time line should be implemented for every step. For example, water should be offered within 60 seconds, drinks should be offered within 60 seconds of water service, etc. With strict, equal training and rules, can service become consistent so that if a guest returns the service will be the same. It is also a duty of management to keep a very close eye on servers to make sure they are following the steps and to remind those who are not.
Pre-shift needs to be implemented in nightly routines. Here, all the members of staff for the night will come together at the beginning of the shift to discuss key nightly activities. Any items missing from the bar or menu will be informed. The specials will be made for the evening staff to see and taste. And finally, when a server finishes his shift, he would be made responsible to introduce the server that will be taking over the service.
Most importantly, the problem could had been resolved by the selection process. Had the manager selected employees with appropriate experience or even in the future, selects servers with high volume New York City experience, can these processes be far more smooth and faster. In the past, the selection has been based on whether the candidate knows someone already or if they are Irish. For some reason, Irish stick with Irish, no matter whether they have experience or not. This is the fundamental problem with the hiring process. Selecting more experienced candidates can affect the quality of service in the restaurant.
In my opinion, there is a very easy way to overcome these challenges that the restaurant has always experienced. It begins with proper training and tighter management communications. Firstly, servers are not trained properly, therefore half a day should be put aside and a training manual created in order to train new servers and current servers to understand the restaurants steps of service. Within the steps, everybody will know to offer water still, sparking or iced water as the first step and a time line should be implemented for every step. For example, water should be offered within 60 seconds, drinks should be offered within 60 seconds of water service, etc. With strict, equal training and rules, can service become consistent so that if a guest returns the service will be the same. It is also a duty of management to keep a very close eye on servers to make sure they are following the steps and to remind those who are not.
Pre-shift needs to be implemented in nightly routines. Here, all the members of staff for the night will come together at the beginning of the shift to discuss key nightly activities. Any items missing from the bar or menu will be informed. The specials will be made for the evening staff to see and taste. And finally, when a server finishes his shift, he would be made responsible to introduce the server that will be taking over the service.
Most importantly, the problem could had been resolved by the selection process. Had the manager selected employees with appropriate experience or even in the future, selects servers with high volume New York City experience, can these processes be far more smooth and faster. In the past, the selection has been based on whether the candidate knows someone already or if they are Irish. For some reason, Irish stick with Irish, no matter whether they have experience or not. This is the fundamental problem with the hiring process. Selecting more experienced candidates can affect the quality of service in the restaurant.
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ReplyDeleteI think that the issues of your work place are pretty common for many restaurant businesses.
ReplyDeleteThe selection process should be focused on the qualification of the applicans not based on any biased facts. Also, I feel that a lot of employers tend not to pay so much attendtion to orient and train employees in the beginning. My very first job was as a waitress in a restaurant was disastrous because I did not have any proper training session before start working. I remember how much I was panicked when I was making so many mistakes on serving customers.It affected me as a server also the business. A poper training does develop employee sklls and capabilities. I wish more employees can focus on the importance of the orientation and training. It will build a great foundation for the functional work cycle for everyone.
I totally agree with your idea. Just like you said Irish stick with Irish, Koreans stick with Koreans. This needs to stop. but in my opinion, even though people think this is wrong, it is very hard to fix this problem.
ReplyDeleteI think you make a great point as to what societal tendencies are and why they need to move in a new direction.
ReplyDeleteIt seems the problem lays in human resource management itself. There is an issue with employee recruitment and selection procedures as well as lack of employee orientation, training and performance management, which are the main responsibilities of HR management. If all this procedures would have been in place, customers would be able to get consistently better service and more enjoyable experience overall.
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