ELECTRONIC HOUSE CALL - September 21, 2007

Is this the best time of the year or what? In New England we called it Indian Summer but it seems like almost everywhere, late September/early October is just delicious weather! I'm glad I will be home for a few weeks to enjoy it.

While I think of it, Indian Summer is a good excuse for a promotion. You can schedule it anytime within a 4-week (or so) window and it won't step on your Halloween promotion (which you surely must have). By now, the kids are in school and people are settling into the fall routine. They are ready to get out and do something different. Give 'em an excuse to come in and spend money with you ... and sign them up for holiday parties while they're in the house!

If you haven't added your thoughts to this month's survey on training, you're running out of time. The survey will close right after next week's issue (and the only way to get a free copy is to contribute your thoughts).

This issue is a little longer than usual, but there's a lot going on right now that you should know about ... and one Q&A article that I didn't want to shorten. You'll understand when you read it. Happy fall!

TEACHING PIGS TO SING
Keeping it Real

She wrote: My day shift assistant manager only wants to give the minimum. She doesn't take ownership of the operation and doesn't hold employees accountable when they fail to perform to restaurant standards.

When I coach her for improvement she always has an excuse and says OK to everything. There have been some problems in the kitchen with the employees disrespecting the chef and instead of backing up a member of management she sides with the employees.

How do I coach or mentor someone who shows no interest in advancing? She only seems to be interested in running a shift and getting out of the building as fast as possible. She wants me to make all the observations and find the solutions.

I would highly appreciate your opinion and advice on this situation.

I responded: Thanks for the note. My answer really should be, "You are not a paid subscriber and I only offer free consulting advice like this to members of my Gold Group" ... but you caught me first thing on Monday morning, I am feeling generous and my answer may turn out to be material that I can use in my EHC e-letter, so you've lucked out this time. Give some thought to the Gold Group, though. At $40 a month it is cheap seats ... and you can test drive it free for 90 days as part of my Best Free Offer Ever. But I digress.

As an enlightened manager, I think you have a responsibility -- at once totally exciting and absolutely terrifying -- to help your staff discover their excellence. Everyone wants to do good work and contribute to something larger than themselves. Everybody is good at something ... but not everybody is good at what they happen to be doing at the moment.

Frustrating as it often is, the way you seem to find out what someone IS good at is by finding out what they are NOT good at. You have people in the dining room who should be in the kitchen, people in the kitchen who would excel at maintenance, people in maintenance that belong in the office and office workers who should be selling auto parts! You also have people working as managers who really should be supervisors.

What are you pretending not to know?

The old joke is that you should never try to teach a pig to sing -- it won't work and the pig will just get mad at you!

The point is that you can't train someone to be good at something they don't want to be good at or that is beyond their capabilities and you can't give responsibility to people who don't want it. Your skill is in knowing the difference and getting the right people into the right jobs rather than sending them back out into the job market to work for the competition.

Knowing nothing other than what you have told me, it sounds like you have a supervisor who has been given management responsibility and really doesn't want it. She is not a bad person, just mis-assigned ... and that is not her fault -- you (management) gave her the job.

If you have reached the point where you can't live with this any more, it is time for you to demonstrate your own management skills and solve the problem that you created.

Have a very direct counseling session with her. See the innocence in her performance. Let her know that it is obvious that things aren't working. Explain the difference between what is needed from a supervisor and what is needed from a manager.

Let her know that all you are interested in is finding a place for her in the organization that will really work for her. Ask her what she really wants to do. Offer to move her to a shift supervisor slot if she really doesn't want the responsibilities that come with management.

Be certain but not stubborn. Truly take personal responsibility for the situation and don't make her wrong for what has happened. After all, it was really your mistaken assessment of her abilities and inclinations that put her into the job in the first place.

Don't discuss her past mistakes. If you start chewing her out, she will just get defensive. Once that happens you will lose all possibility of reaching a workable solution.

So keep it as positive as you can, noting those things she does well and perhaps pointing out that those are the qualities of a good supervisor. If it is not working, this should come as no surprise to her, either. I suspect she knows it, but doesn't quite know how to admit that she is over her head, particularly if the money is better in the manager's job.

Your goal must be to find a place for her where she can excel and be happy. If you have exhausted all the possibilities without success, then free up her future. If you make a mess, clean it up and get on with your life. There are big lessons in here for you as well.

Good luck and please let me know how it goes.

PS: If all this makes sense to you, you will also find my book, There's GOT to Be an Easier Way to Run a Business helpful.

KITCHEN NIGHTMARES
Gordon Ramsay Comes to the US

You may know of chef/consultant/media star Gordon Ramsay by reputation. Yes, he is as foul-mouthed and arrogant as you have heard. He is also has a powerful grasp of what makes things work and is right far more often than he is wrong.

An award-winning restaurateur in London, Gordon came into the public eye for his "reality" show, Hell's Kitchen. Less well-known is his program, Kitchen Nightmares which follows him on SWAT type consulting assignments to attempt to save restaurants in distress.

I enjoyed this latter show when it was on BBC and I am pleased to see that a US version has just come to Fox (9pm Eastern and Pacific on Wednesday). Use it as discussion material for your management staff ... or just watch it for your own enlightenment. I promise that you will come away with a different perspective on what you do and how you do it. I certainly do.

THE BIRTHDAY BASH RETURNS
Making Money at the Mall

To celebrate our November birthdays, restaurant marketing guru Joel Cohen and I have been holding a huge restaurant marketing and sales-building event in Las Vegas for the past four years. This November will be no different.

Well, actually it will be ENORMOUSLY different. We will meet -- not in the gambling capital of the world, but in the retail marketing capital of the US -- the famous Mall Of America in Minneapolis.

Our two day restaurant sales-building workshop will be held inside the Mall of America -- the largest retail gathering of stores -- 520 to be exact ... and 86 restaurants/specialty food stores, under one roof. We will meet in the MOA Corporate Conference Facility and everything you need to see will be within easy walking distance.

At the end of two days you will have discovered how to think like a marketer and tap into an endless source of timely promotions and sales-building tricks. You will learn by seeing and doing rather than by sitting and listening. Joel and I will take you on a "field trip" around the mall to help you discover how to apply the experience of others toward building your own restaurant sales ... for life.

We are working out the final write-up over the weekend, but at this point I can tell you that the tuition is just $397 per person with a $100 discount for the second attendee from your company ... and we are limited to just 56 people in the program. You can reserve your seat with a $100 per person deposit.

Check out what we've got on the Birthday Bash website ... and reserve your seats while you can still get them.

BIG MISTAKE = BIG OPPORTUNITY
Cashing In on Confusion

It was a classic "Senior Moment." I pulled the last DVD set of my staff training program, What Every Service Pro Should Know About People, off the shelf, went into a panic and ordered 20 more sets. Big mistake! The next day I discovered 15 DVD sets that I just hadn't labeled.

They will all sell eventually, but I'd like to unload those 20 extra sets to make the inventory more manageable. This is where the Big Opportunity comes in.

Purchase one of the 20 DVD sets at the regular price of $197 and I will throw in 20 copies of 50 Tips to Improve Your Tips, an $89.95 bonus! But I can only honor this deal for the first 20 orders, so act quickly.

Click here to take advantage of my goof. The next 20 orders I receive will get the books.

TO TRAIN OR NOT ... AND HOW?
In July, I asked about your biggest concerns for the rest of 2007. Among the more common responses was staff training, so let's look at that a little more closely this month.

As usual, I will send copies of the survey results to everyone who participates. In the meantime, you can download copies of all past EHC surveys -- including the massive WOW Ideas collections.

Add your thoughts to this month’s survey.

THE PERPETUAL QUESTION
"What did you learn from your staff today?"

What we have learned from our staff this week is that many of them are very dedicated to their job and want to learn new ideas, but a few are only there to do a job and receive a paycheck.

Good help is so very special and we as owners need to be aware of who these special people are and really take good care of them and reward them for their dedication. We believe that beside their paycheck, we need to compliment them by words and deeds that show them how much we appreciate them! -- Robert & Judith Styles, Chuckwagon Restaurant, Olean, NY

I have talked a lot about listening in this segment over the years. Part of listening has to do with listening to what others say and part of it is listening to discover what they really MEAN. But listening goes well beyond what you can hear.

It is equally as important that you also listen to your inner voice -- that small undefinable part of you that bubbles up insights and awareness that may be triggered by seemingly unrelated events. It is the dimension of wisdom that you tap into when your mind is quiet and you are fully present with the people and activities in your life.

Never doubt that the most important (and profitable!) skill you can develop is your ability to truly listen ... on all levels.

What did you learn from YOUR staff today?

I will continue to collect your answers to this important question until they put me in the ground. Just click on the link above and contribute your insights for the common good ... and your own as well!

LIGHTEN UP!
The Noble Experiment Continues

Here is the weekly report on my personal project to lighten up:

Goal: -50 Last Week: +4 Total: -11

I am sadly coming to accept that consuming copious quantities of wine with friends -- even really good wine and really good friends -- doesn't help my cause. I knew there had to be a catch! Pity.

A growing number of folks have joined me in this audacious venture. I applaud their courage in "going public." Best of all, the process is working!

Mary Jo Beniger -- Goal: -25 Last Week: -3 Total: -9
Cindy Casady -- Goal: -30 Last Week: 0 Total: -7
Tom Combs -- Goal: -65 Last Week: -1 Total -8
Chris Corrigan -- Goal: -25 Last Week: 0 Total: 0 (no report)
Trice Micheals -- Goal: -50 Last Week: -2 Total -6
Steve Ulrey -- Goal: -12 Last Week: +1 Total: -2
Bill Breslo -- Goal: +5 Last Week: 0 Total: +1 (no report)

Do you have a weight loss goal? Do you have the courage to put yourself on record? We all work better when there is someone or something to hold us accountable.

If you are interested in how it's going, scroll down to the bottom of the EHC each week and check out the progress. If you could care less, don't!


© 2007 Restaurant Doctor