Advice | KRG Hospitality

July 14, 2023by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Hospitality Mindset: Hotel Edition

Hospitality Mindset: Hotel Edition

by Jennifer Radkey

Mindset can dictate one’s level of happiness but what some people don’t realize is that it also impacts their business and everyone in it.

Moods like happiness or hostility. Growth or fixed worldviews. Positivity versus negativity. For operators and leadership team members, mindset doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Rather, one’s attitude affects and influences staff, guests, and others.

So what is mindset exactly?

Simply stated, mindset is an individual’s usual attitude or mental state. It reflects someone’s way of thinking and motivates their actions. So, why is it important to be aware of your mindset?

Well, if your mindset dictates how you show up in your life each and every day, it will influence all parts of your life.

Your thoughts about yourself, others, your business, your opportunities and your challenges… All influenced by your mindset. Your mindset can either hinder or promote your overall well-being and success in life.

The interesting thing about mindset is that it has the ability to change—if you want. It can also be influenced by your environment and those around you. These facts led me to question if the different sectors of the hospitality industry face unique mindset challenges.

To find answers and gain further insight I decided to turn to our team at KRG Hospitality for their thoughts. In turn, I’ve written a series of hospitality mindset articles. To read the first entry in this series, the Bar Edition, please click here.

In this article I’ll explore the hotel industry, with thoughts from hospitality consultant Kim Richardson. Follow the series as I explore mindset in restaurants, hotels, bars, and start-up operations.

Let’s dive in!

The Hotel Industry

The hotel industry is vast and can be segmented into different sectors. These sectors include: lodging and accommodation, food and beverage, travel and tourism, entertainment and recreation, and timeshare and meetings.

Not only is the industry vast in its sectors, there are an array of categories. There are motels, inns and resorts, and independent, boutique and global brands. Budget, midscale, and luxury properties, and everything in between.

Different types of hotels will vary slightly in their management styles and success challenges, but most will share common mindset themes.

Successful Operators

Operating a successful hotel takes a certain mindset. You need to be organized, open-minded to growth strategies, mindful of your sectors and how they interact with each other, and responsive to the needs of your teams.

Curious about what makes one hotel stand above another, I asked Kim what contributes to a successful operator. She responded with the perspective of a general manager of a large hotel, and then from the perspective of an owner of a small boutique hotel.

“One thing that really sets the hotel world aside from the rest of the hospitality industry is the multiple facets of the different departments,” says Kim. “You’re essentially running several businesses inside of one business. All of these different departments’ successes and failures impact the other departments. I think it’s important for operators and general managers to truly have a pulse on what’s going on throughout the building and, more importantly, when a department has a success or failure, how the other departments contributed to that.”

When it comes to smaller boutique hotels or inns, Kim believes that “the ability to wear many hats and jump in as needed” is a crucial success skill for owners as they often work with a much smaller team and may need to be more hands on. Hand in hand with the ability to multi-task and wear many hats is having excellent time management skills.

Whether you are the GM of a large hotel or an owner of a small boutique hotel, it is essential to constantly “have a pulse on the business coming in the door.”

Operator Challenges

Operators need a positive, strategic, growth mindset to be successful in the hotel industry. This is a mindset that needs to be consistently cultivated, as there are challenges that will affect your daily thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes.

When asked what specific challenges hotel operators face that may affect their mindset, Kim shared her thoughts, again from the perspectives of a large hotel GM and that of a smaller boutique hotel owner.

Accountability

Being responsible for and held accountable to all levels of positions in your establishment can be exhausting, stressful, and frustrating.

“A general manager of a hotel has a lot of people to answer to. They have people above them in corporate making demands of them on a daily basis (budgets, goals, etc.). They have staff that they employ and need to keep happy. They have guests they need to keep happy,” Kim says. “With this many responsibilities, time management alone can be stressful. Finding a happy medium is close to impossible. Not every decision you make is going to please all three parties. This position can suffer from burnout just as much as the rest of their team.”

Overwhelm

Operators of boutique hotels and inns fall into danger of taking on too much themselves while feeling the success of their venue lies entirely on their shoulders.

Burnout, fear, and exhaustion are all possibilities in this situation.

“In a small boutique hotel, the owner and operator wears many hats,” says Kim. “They are often having to jump in and run many departments. If you’re short staffed in one area, you’re going to have to jump in. This can create a situation where you’re spending so much time working in the business that you struggle to work on growing the business. The overall stress of the success of the business is much more when you own your own hotel. Competing against big hotels with larger marketing budgets and known names can be a challenge.”

Employee Challenges

Your team also experiences their own unique set of challenges that can affect their well-being and mindset.

Being aware of these challenges is important if you hope to create a culture of respect, collaboration, and trust.

When asked what specific challenges hotel staff face, Kim had some insights.

On Demand

It’s no secret that the hotels operate in a 24-hour industry. No matter what time of day or night, a hotel never truly “sleeps.” This on-demand atmosphere can be stressful for your team.

“Since the building is open 24 hours, guests tend to think you are also available 24 hours,” Kim says. “There is always the possibility that you could get a call at any time when you’re not working. Not only does the guest perceive you as always available, some managers expect the same from you, too.”

Broken Telephone

Working in a 24-hour environment means that you may not always be working with the same people every shift. In establishments with several departments, you may never have direct interaction with a lot of your team.

This can all lead toward miscommunication, frustration, and blame.

“Communication can fall short,” explains Kim. “There can be people who work in other departments that you are never in the building with at the same time. There are typically many procedures in place to communicate between departments, but things still get missed.”

Harmful Beliefs in the Hotel Industry

How you feel about the people you work with and/or work for can have major impacts on your overall mindset.

If your daily thoughts regarding your team are negative, it suddenly becomes very challenging to create a successful hotel. Why would they be excited to come to work and proud of your hotel if their efforts are only ever met with negativity?

The hotel industry has a few specific, common harmful beliefs that are prevalent in many establishments. Being aware and knowing how to acknowledge and combat these beliefs is crucial to creating a more positive work environment.

Assumptions

When I asked Kim what one of the most prevalent harmful beliefs operators harbor about their teams, she discussed the assumptions that are often made.

“I think proprietors sometimes think that what they’re asking is easy and doable,” posits Kim. “When a business is not doing well they tend to look at the quality of their staff versus quality of the processes.”

Assumptions without clarity or reason can be extremely harmful to your workplace culture. Not only are operators holding assumptions about their team, but their team holds assumptions about leadership.

Staff often feel that operators and members of the leadership team are out of touch with the reality of their market, and that they place unrealistic expectations on them. There are assumptions made that leadership does not want them to succeed personally.

“Revenue goals are increased just because they want more money but haven’t put thought into whether or not it’s attainable to make the money,” says Kim. “Operators don’t want to see people get bonuses, so in turn they raise goals. Doing well one year will only hurt you in the next year because all goals will be raised. Staff feel overworked and underpaid, leading them to believe that ownership is cheap and always giving a two-person job to one person.”

Toxic Culture

The last thing that any hospitality business needs is a toxic culture. A toxic workplace culture encourages and breeds negative mindsets on all levels.

How can you be successful if your team dreads coming in for their daily shift?

I asked Kim what can create toxic culture in a hotel, and she shared her thoughts and experiences.

“One of the biggest challenges that I always felt in hotels is the divide amongst departments. It’s very similar to the front-of-house, back-of-house animosity that often exists in restaurants,” shares Kim. “One department always feels that another department was not mindful of how their decisions impact their department. What I came to realize is sometimes that’s true and sometimes it’s not. There’s always going to be that person who decided to make the decision that was best for their day or made them look good in accomplishing their own job.”

“However, I don’t think that is the intention of most people,” continues Kim. “With so many different types of roles in a hotel, you will never understand all of the inner workings of another department. Each department has to make the decision that best accomplishes their goal for the guest and their department. When the communication breaks down between departments and there is no understanding of how they impact each other, animosity is created.”

Moving Forward

Understanding the challenges that operators and staff are currently facing and acknowledging the importance of a growth mindset and the need for change, what positive changes have been occurring in the industry as a whole?

“Some hotels have increased wages. Some have been more open to hybrid positions of remote and on-property work since the pandemic,” Kim says. “However, there are some that are now trying to do away with those. Also, there are only a few departments in the hotel that can benefit from this as many of them need to be on property to do their jobs.”

“Overall, I haven’t seen a ton of change. There are still so many people struggling with work-life balance in the hospitality industry,” Kim continues. “I just talked to a friend the other day who has told me for years that she’s a lifer in hotels and she’s never going anywhere. She is the last person I thought I’d hear this from, but she’s feeling burnout and is not sure how much longer she can last. This is someone who is excellent at their job. Really understands the business, is a hard worker, team player, willing to go the extra mile. How many people do we find like that, that we are throwing away by putting unachievable standards on?”

Room for Improvement

Although some operators are becoming more aware of the well-being of those working in this industry, there are still many changes that need to happen. Kim believes that there are three simple changes that need to happen.

“We need to stop losing people that want to be lifers over things like burnout and lack of work-life balance. Genuine gratitude and respect from superiors goes a long way. Better communication and accountability are a must,” says Kim.

Final Thoughts

Hotels are a complex entity with many moving parts. It takes a strategic and positive mindset to ensure success and a happy work environment.

The reality is that there will always be challenges that will affect your thoughts and behaviors. You will have bad days but that is all they are: bad days.

It is the leader who can recognize these setbacks as temporary and use them to fuel their mindset towards making positive change who will come out on top.

I’ll leave you with a few last words of wisdom from KRG Hospitality hotel and restaurant consultant Kim Richardson.

“When guests come to stay at a hotel, it is their home for the duration they are there. They are there much longer than grabbing a cup of coffee or a night out to dinner. They can feel the demeanor of the staff,” says Kim. “Positive work environments exude happiness for the guests. When the employees are unhappy, the guests leave unhappy. Mindset can be contagious, and while the internal feelings trickle down to the guests, it starts way before that. If a positive energy is being given off from the leaders in the building, it can have a great impact on the staff, which then impacts the guests.

Cheers to personal and professional well-being!

Image: Marten Bjork on Unsplash

July 7, 2023by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Hospitality Mindset: Bar Edition

Hospitality Mindset: Bar Edition

by Jennifer Radkey

Messages about the importance of mindset flood our social media feeds but what exactly does the word mean, and why is it so important?

You’re told you need to have a growth mindset to be successful. You must have a positive mindset for a happy and fulfilling life. Both are true statements, but what do they mean?

Simply stated, mindset is an individual’s usual attitude or mental state. It reflects someone’s way of thinking and motivates their actions. So, why is it important to be aware of your mindset?

Well, if your mindset is your usual attitude or how you show up in your life each and every day, it will influence all parts of your life. Your thoughts about yourself, others, your business, your opportunities, and your challenges are all influenced by your mindset. Your mindset can either hinder or promote your overall well-being and success in life.

The interesting thing about mindset is that it can change—if you want it to. Your mindset can also be influenced by your environment and those around you. These facts led me to question if the different sectors of the hospitality industry face unique mindset challenges.

To find answers and gain further insight, I decided to turn to our team at KRG Hospitality for their thoughts. In turn, I’ve begun a series of hospitality mindset articles.

In this first article I’ll explore the bar industry, with thoughts from master mixologist Jared Boller. Follow the series as I explore mindset in restaurants, hotels, and start-up operations.

Let’s dive in!

The Bar Industry

In the US, the bar and nightclub market is valued at an estimated $36 billion for 2023. The industry as a whole employs close to 600,000 people.

With businesses built off drinking culture, what unique challenges do operators and those working inside these establishments face?

Successful Operators

Operating a successful bar takes a certain mindset. You need to be flexible, open-minded to growth strategies, mindful of your market and competition, and compassionate to the needs of your team.

Interested in what makes a bar operator stand above their competition, I asked Jared what makes a bar operator successful.

“First and foremost, I think that every bar owner needs to understand their product and how they are going to differentiate themselves from the competition. Ultimately, it is up to the owner to realize what their goal is in owning a bar. It requires digging deep into themselves to ask what they want out of their business.

“Are you looking for a way to make extra cash? Are you looking to provide a local hangout for you and your friends? Do you want to win awards and have a buzzworthy place everyone wants to visit? This is a tough business that requires a lot of time and energy, and thick skin.

“Be organized, clean, a good leader, efficient, and provide a home that your employees want to come to. Try to know all aspects of the business: financials, technology, culinary, bar, service, management, etc.”

Operator Challenges

Operators need a resilient, positive, growth mindset to be successful. It’s the only path forward to running a bar they are both proud to work in and enjoy working at every day.

This is a mindset that will need tending to as there are challenges that will affect your daily thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes.

When asked what specific challenges bar operators face that may affect their mindset, Jared shared his thoughts.

Labor Shortage

Dealing with labor shortages as an operator can create feelings of frustration, stress, and resentment.

“It’s getting increasingly difficult to gain a competitive edge because of numerous factors, one of the biggest being labor shortage. It’s not a labor shortage where there’s not enough jobs, it’s an unwillingness to work and/or want to work in the hospitality industry because, quite frankly, ‘It’s tough.’

“I think that with inflation happening in the world, as well as the majority of establishments working off the Tips Blueprint, it doesn’t allow people to know what they’re making day in and day out. People are turning to different jobs or jobs outside of hospitality because they don’t want to be on their feet everyday working long hours and not knowing their future.”

Competition

If a bar operator isn’t careful they can very easily become lost in the game of comparison.

Yes, it is important to know what your competition is up to, but if the constant comparison leads to negative feelings about you, your team, and your establishment without any action for improvement, this is a surefire way to hurt your mindset and chances of success.

If you truly want to be competitive without getting lost in the comparison game, focus on your team.

“The time of pumping out commercial food and drink is gone, and legitimate professionals who are educated and professionally trained are few and far between. Additionally, there’s even a creative youth movement with ambition, but they have not been classically trained in their respective outlets.

“It’s difficult to be competitive without education, training, and bringing together a group that can keep an establishment afloat with similar perspectives. It takes an army to be competitive with everyone speaking the same language, understanding the establishment inside and out, and able to execute night in and night out with the same integrity.”

Social Media/Online Reviews

As a bar operator, you rely on your reputation within your community for the success of your business. This also holds true for your online community.

How you react and your thoughts about online reviews can affect your mindset. A negative online review can very easily incite feelings of anger, disappointment, and blame.

“We live in a world driven by star ratings, thumbs up, and everyday critics writing novels about how there was ‘too much ice in my drink,'” says Jared. “If you read too many negative comments, that could affect one’s mental health and hurt confidence.”

Coming up with a strategy for dealing with negative social media posts/reviews is critical for keeping a clear perspective and maintaining a positive mindset.

Employee Challenges

Your team experiences their own unique set of challenges that can effect their well-being and mindset as well.

Being aware of these challenges is important if you are hoping to create a culture of respect, collaboration, and trust.

When asked what specific challenges bar staff face, Jared had some insights.

Long Hours/Physicality

Bars are often open late into the night, with bartenders in particular being front and center at all times. This can lead to both physical and mental exhaustion if appropriate breaks aren’t provided.

“The physicality alone will eventually take a toll on the employee who is shaking drinks for eight to ten hours a day, working doubles, having minimal break times, and standing on their feet for the same amount of hours. On top of that, you are constantly on stage and typically in a vantage point of someone either sitting across from you at the bar or observing from a table. You are constantly having to engage, take care of, and put on a happy face even if you might be dealing with something in your personal life. Not being able to take a step away or breathe can make you feel claustrophobic or trapped at times.”

Job Security/Growth

If you are working in an unsupportive environment that does not feel safe and makes you feel as though your future with the business is unsure, it can create feelings of discomfort, resentment, anger, worry, and even fear.

Bar employees need to feel respected, heard, and valued.

“Every employee—pending they do the job well—should feel safe in their workspace. I also believe that employees should be able to grow in their workspace if they have the desire to learn and/or be promoted in the future.

“I think that if an employee does the work, and has mastered the role, they should be considered for advancement. Employees in this industry need to identify what speaks to their personal interests and try to master that. I personally wanted to master the craft of bartending so that’s the path I took. Employees should never be scared if they’re interested in growing with the brand.”

Harmful Beliefs in the Bar Industry

How you feel about the people you work with and/or work for can have major impacts on your overall mindset.

If your daily thoughts regarding your team are negative, it suddenly becomes very challenging to create a successful bar with a team who shows up wanting to do their best each and every day.

The bar industry has a few specific common harmful beliefs that are prevalent in many establishments. Being aware of these and knowing what to do with these beliefs to change them is critical to creating a more positive work environment.

Paranoia

When I asked Jared what one of the most prevalent harmful beliefs operators have about their team, he discussed the belief that everyone is taking advantage of you. Many owners believe that everyone is stealing from them.

“In all of my years working in bars and restaurants there was always this sense that employees would be taking money from them or pouring ‘free products’ off to their friends/family. Truth be told, it happens, but I think that employees wouldn’t do that if they were offered a simple ‘comp tab.’

“I’m not saying that offering a free drink here and there to a friend is right, but I think for an owner to say, ‘Buy your friends a drink every now and then to show you appreciate them coming here,’ is a nice gesture.

“I’ve worked in places where owners are transparent, honest, and trustworthy with their employees, and the employees are happy so they don’t go behind the owner’s back. I think ownership needs to be realistic and give back to their employees and visitors every now and then, because that will boost morale.”

Feeling Unappreciated

When it came to harmful beliefs that staff have about ownership, Jared shared that employees feel that ownership does not care about them. While in some cases these beliefs may unfortunately be valid, in many cases owners may just be legitimately unaware that there are issues or concerns that need to be addressed.

“A lot of hospitality employees don’t feel appreciated by their bosses. Employees often feel like they can’t have a voice. Sometimes owners are so tied up in everything else to maintain the business and they won’t recognize you unless you speak up and engage in conversation over frustrations. Staff members need to not overstep their boundaries, but if there is something that could potentially move the business forward, express your concern.

“I’ve always had a good relationship with owners because I try to throw out ideas they don’t see, and come up with a potential solution to an issue. Owners don’t know everything and a lot of time are caught up in the day-to-day business. You were hired there for a reason: because they trust you to do a good job.”

Moving Forward

Understanding the importance of cultivating and maintaining positive, growth mindsets will allow you to move forward with your team towards shared goals and dreams.

Nobody wants to hate where they work, and with commitment to tackling challenges and harmful beliefs, this won’t be likely to happen.

So, what positive changes have been incurring in the industry as a whole?

“Simple things. Team-building events, like a picnic, an annual dinner to celebrate the staff, a field trip to a farm, quick getaways, etc. When the ownership/management team gives back to their team they end up enjoying coming to their second home everyday.

“Ensuring there are appropriate breaks during the long days, and potentially offering a ‘family meal’ to boost energy and give them food they might not be able to afford at home. Promoting ‘in-house’ competitions, such as the person who has the best wine sales at the end of the week gets a free bottle of wine. Leveraging different companies—spirits, wine, food purveyors—to do in-house demos and educationals. Allowing the staff to be hands on and learn something that will provide value to their personal growth.

“With less and less people choosing to take the hospitality path, it creates a lack of talent or people willing to roll up their sleeves and do the work. That’s why it’s important that the venue gives back every once and awhile.”

Room for Improvement

Although we’re starting to see more awareness of the well-being of those working in this industry, there are still many changes that need to happen.

“There needs to be sustainable and livable wages established universally amongst staff. With a world of inflation and prices on everything sky-rocketing, people are not going to be able to work in this industry and survive.

“There needs to be more meetings amongst staff to ensure that everyone has a voice and that everyone is on the same page when it comes to their jobs. There are a lot of mental health issues to this day because the hospitality industry is a crazy, tangled-up web when there is no guidance and good leadership. Our industry still has substance abuse issues, with people self-medicating with drugs and alcohol to help numb their pain, in addition to consuming too much caffeine to stay afloat.

“There needs to be more support and coaching programs available to new operators—similar to what we offer through KRG—to ensure they understand what they are signing up for. Education, leadership, guidance, inspiration, and providing a great work/life balance need to be a primary focus. Out with the 70-hour work week—back to a sustainable work timetable.”

Final Thoughts

Winning mindsets create winning concepts and winning teams. Having a positive mindset doesn’t mean that you don’t experience challenges or that you don’t experience any negative feelings. We are all human; of course we are going to have negative thoughts now and again.

It’s what you choose to do with those thoughts. If you allow them to become your predominant attitude, that will determine your overall mindset. The bar industry may have it’s challenges but it is also a place of excitement, entertainment, and creativity, a hub for social interaction with a never-ending hum of humanity.

I’ll leave you with a few last words of wisdom from KRG’s master mixologist Jared Boller.

“Understand that every day is going to be different than the previous, and you have to constantly adapt to what’s being thrown at you. If you’re not adaptable and can’t bend to spontaneous requests you might find yourself going into a dark space. Know that everyone is different, with unique upbringings and alternative perspectives on life. You are not always right, nor are they.

“Establish your rules in this bar environment. Educate yourself so you know more than everyone else in the room about your business and your craft, and open your mind to learning new things. Don’t be a know-it-all because that’s just downright annoying.

“And, finally, my rules that I live by behind a bar: ‘If someone wants to speak religion, decline. If someone wants to get your beliefs on politics, decline. And when a woman asks you their age, don’t answer, or politely decline.’ Everything else is an open conversation.”

Cheers to personal and professional well-being!

Image: Rachel Claire on Pexels

June 21, 2023by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Fire and Ice: Bring Your Teams Together

Fire and Ice: Bring Your Teams Together

by Jared Boller

If you want to elevate your concept you need to ensure the front- and back-of-house teams are working with each other, not against one another.

There’s nothing wrong with a healthy rivalry and competition, of course. But the key word there is “healthy.” Both teams are crucial to your success, even if they seem like polar opposites.

Analogies are one of the singular greatest educational selling points when you have a group of people in front of you. Not only do they help you get your point across, they also help you to make a topic relatable to the listening novice.

In hospitality there are numerous ways to use analogies as teaching tools. When it comes to mixology or bartending, I like to use fire and ice to represent the kitchen and the bar.

I take this approach because the bar (ice) is the friendly counterpart to the fast and furious kitchen (fire). If you follow my train of thought, you’ll see why I preferthis approach: ultimately, we’re speaking about temperature and its importance in both spaces.

Consider the art of crafting cocktails. You and your bar team should understand dilution and melting rates the same way you know how important temperatures are to steaks. Nine times out of ten, individuals at the table have a personal preference regarding the temperature of their steak.

Guests don’t hesitate to relay this information to the server. Next, the chef and their brigade uses fire and cooking times to ensure each state is cooked properly. Not only that, the mastery of their craft leads to each steak coming out at the same time, cooked to each guest’s preference.

This process is the same for the bar. Stirred, shaken, egg-white cocktails… Bartenders must master their craft to ensure they understand the different types and uses of ice (or no ice) when building drinks. Moreover, they need to use that knowledge to ensure each drink for a table or group comes out at the same time, with the appropriate level of coldness.

In the end, when drinks hit the pass or server’s station, we want drink orders to be delivered as quickly as possible because they’re on the clock. The ice in the drinks start to melt. Hot food begins to get cold. We’re fighting time.

Understanding temperatures and times relates directly to the guest experience. We can tell how well-oiled and skillful front- and back-of-house teams are by watching drinks and dishes hit tables.

Fire

According to Anthropologist Richard Wrangham, who wrote the book Catching fire: How Cooking Made Us Human, people started cooking over open fire more than two million years ago.

Wrangham states that cooking was first seen as “simply chunking a raw hunk of something into flames and watching it sizzle.” Modern chefs may not agree with this style but we are able to see that early human “cooks” came to a few realizations regarding their use of fire. Their food was healthier, tastier, and they may have had more revitalized immune systems.

Obviously, the evolution of modern cooking techniques have advanced through tools, techniques, and vessels over the years. However, regardless of how much innovation we introduce to our kitchens, we’re still using fire and heat to cook our food.

Unless they’re expecting a salad, sushi, or another amazing raw or cold food, guests anticipate their food will be hot or warm upon arriving in front of them. Great chefs take control of their kitchens, techniques, and tools. Their masters of temperature. They have a nearly supernatural understanding of timing.

It’s always a site to behold when someone is masterful in the kitchen. A seemingly endless number of pots and pans raging on burners. Infinite elements of dishes flowing in and out of ovens. Chaos to the novice’s eyes but in reality, flawlessly composed dishes arriving at perfect temperatures.

Ice

We can trace the use of ice in drinks as far back as ancient Egypt. Icy drinks are also well documented by first-century Roman society; emperors, it’s claimed, enjoyed “chilled” cocktails via glacier runoff extracted from the mountains.

Emperors, according to some historians, would store giant blocks of ice in cool cellars, garnishing their tipples with shards of ice. This was both a decadent display of their elite status, and evidence that humans have long appreciated a cold, refreshing drink.

It wasn’t until early 1800s Boston that humankind really began to master ice. A young entrepreneur, Frederic “The Ice King” Tudor, pursued an idea with his brother and launched the ice or frozen water trade. Over the course of just a few decades, the New England-based trade was able to ship ice worldwide.

The Wenham Lake Ice Company, established in the 1840s, harvested giant blocks from the eponymous lake and stored them in a network of ice houses, accessed by a small railroad system. Once a luxury, ice was on its way to going mainstream. Everyone was coming to the realization that drinks tasted better with a bit of dilution and colder temperatures.

Eventually, ice production led to ice harvesting innovations. For example, Clinebell machines that use cold plates to 300-pound, crystal-clear blocks. Along with being clear, the ice blocks are super dense to reduce dilution rates significantly. From glaciers to “harvesting” ice from lakes to full-on factory production, our obsession with ice has led to technological innovation.

Interestingly, however, early 19th century methods of ice extraction are once again in vogue. A cadre of passionate bartenders who view ice as a premium ingredient in and of itself are hand carving ice cubes, spheres, and spears for perfectly curated Negronis or Old-fashioneds.

Takeaway

The bottom line is, temperature is important to anyone working in hospitality. Kitchen and bar teams need to work together to create the best possible products.

Some people think of food or drinks when asked to consider the best restaurants and bars in the world. However, those are products. What sets the best concepts apart is the teams they’ve each built and nurtured.

It’s the passion of each team member and their consideration of the fine details that makes a restaurant or bar notable. So, when we think about fire and ice, we can consider this idea the ultimate geekery in regard to our profession.

Take it from me: When the front of the house and back of the house collaborate, then they’re in sync with one another and nail the small details, they transform first-time guests to repeat brand evangelists.

They may not understand why their experience was so incredible but they’ll become outspoken ambassadors.

Image: Alexander Startsev on Unsplash

Graffiti that reads, "It doesn't have to be so complicated"

May 22, 2023by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Use this Powerful Communication Style

The Powerful Communication Style You Should Be Using

by Jennifer Radkey

There’s a powerful method of communication operators can learn to use that promotes workplace collaboration and solves problems.

How to communicate with team members is a topic that comes up regularly in my coaching sessions with restaurant, bar, and hotel owners. Most of the concerns center around how to speak to employees when they are not following company policy; their level of service is not meeting company standards; or the quality of their work has decreased.

These are legitimate concerns when you are attempting to not only run a successful business but foster a positive work culture in your establishment.

After coaching my clients through understanding what their current style of communication looks like and how it is or is not working for them, I introduce them to a style of communication that I feel leads to the most effective overall results: the use of declarative language.

The declarative language approach was first introduced to me through a positive parenting online conference I attended. Author Linda Murphy wrote the Declarative Language Handbook, which teaches parents, caregivers, educators, and others how to communicate with children (particularly those with social learning challenges) to feel competent, connected, and understood.

As I dove into learning about this style of communication, I realized just how powerful it would be in the workplace. It is a method that can promote respect, collaboration, and empowerment. It can also, in turn, remove judgment, assumptions, hostility, and blame.

What is Declarative Language?

To answer this question, I’ll need to take you back for a quick grammar lesson.

Sentences can be categorized under four main types: declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory.

Declarative sentences are statements. These can be a statement of a fact, an observation, or a feeling. For example: “It is raining out.” “I’m going to open a new bar next month.” “Pineapple should never be on pizza.”

Interrogative sentences ask a question: “Why are you late for your shift?” “How can I make a million dollars this quarter?” “Who ever thought it was a good idea to put pineapple on pizza?”

Imperative sentences give a command. “Go clean those tables.” “Follow me.” “Pick off the pineapple from that pizza.”

Exclamatory sentences show something that we would shout or emphasize with an exclamation mark: “I made a million dollars this quarter!” “Yikes!” “Pineapple on pizza is the best ever!”

Powerful Communication

So, now that you’ve had a grammar refresher, let’s take a look at how declarative language can be a powerful method for communicating, and why the other styles may not be creating the results you want to see.

As an owner or manager, you may often find yourself falling into the use of interrogative and imperative statements. The problem with this is that both styles can stir up negative emotions in the person on the receiving end.

Interrogative statements (questions) tend to incite the fight, flight, or freeze mode. People feel put on the spot and may become defensive or anxious.

Imperative statements (commands) tend to be authoritarian in nature and have the potential to create fear and/or resentment. Employees are looking for team leaders who they can respect and turn to for guidance, not someone who is constantly telling them what to do.

Declarative language, when used to state observations, can be a way to open up discussions without defensiveness or fear. It also leaves room for facts instead of assumptions. The declarative language approach that I suggest my clients use looks something like this:

Make an observation statement.
Be silent.
Actively listen.
Collaborate.
Actively listen.
Proactively decide on solutions.
Gratitude/Positivity.

The easiest way to demonstrate this practice is through an example or two. First, we’ll look at an example with “Sam.”

Example #1

Sam just showed up for his shift at the quick-service restaurant he works at out of uniform. His manager notices and approaches him. The declarative language approach would look something like the example below.

Manager: Hey Sam, I notice that you aren’t wearing your uniform. (Declarative observation that quietly gives time for Sam to respond.)

Sam: Yeah, sorry, I spilled coffee all down the front of my shirt on the way here and didn’t have time to go home to change.

Manager: Okay, I understand, life happens. Any ideas on how we can resolve this? (Puts power to solve the problem in Sam’s hands.)

Sam: Do you have an extra shirt I can borrow for today’s shift?

Manager: Yeah, I actually do. Great plan. Let me go grab it for you and you can use the staff washroom to get changed.

Sam: Thanks.

Manager: No problem. Have a great shift! See you out there.

As you can see from this exchange, the manager did not make any assumptions as to why Sam wasn’t in uniform. Instead, they demonstrated empathy and respect. By asking if Sam had any ideas for resolving the issue, the manager provided room for collaboration as a team. Further, this approach empowered Sam to take responsibility and come up with the solution.

Example #2

Now, let’s look at “Lisa.”

Lisa is typically very punctual for her shift working concierge at a hotel. However, the past two weeks she has been regularly showing up 10 to 15 minutes late. Below, how the owner of the hotel would use the declarative language approach to discuss this issue with Lisa.

Owner: Hi Lisa, I’ve noticed that you have been starting your shift 10 to 15 mins late the past couple of weeks. You aren’t typically late for work. I’m curious about what’s changed. (Declarative observation; the owner then waits quietly for Lisa to respond.)

Lisa: I’m so sorry, I had to switch my child’s daycare and it’s on the other side of town. I’m struggling making it here on time with traffic.

Owner: That sounds stressful. What do you think we can do to work with this change to ensure that you can still arrive on time for your shifts?

Lisa: Would it be possible to switch my shift to a later time?

Owner: Let me look into that option for you. You are an asset to our team and I’m sure we will find a solution to this. I’ll get back to you later with some options, and you can let me know what would work best.

Lisa: Thank you so much for understanding.

In this exchange, the owner does not make assumptions as to why Lisa has been late. Rather, they show genuine curiosity as to what’s going on. Again, the owner empathizes with Lisa’s situation and then places power back into Lisa’s hands to think of a solution. The conversation ends on a positive note with gained clarity, respect, and appreciation.

Lead by Example

If you are looking to build a team of empowered individuals who can solve problems and collaborate, you need to lead by example. The use of declarative language can help you accomplish exactly that.

However, it is crucial to note that if you decide to try this method of communication, your intention needs to be positive. Declarative statements will not be as successful if your tone is sarcastic or accusing. Your approach must be casual, caring, respectful, and matter of fact.

Additionally, not every conversation will go smoothly using this method. You may receive “I don’t know” or “I’m not sure” as an answer. But for the most part, this method of communication allows for respectful discussion that acknowledges facts, promotes responsibility for one’s own actions, and decreases assumptions.

If you would like more information on how to use the declarative language approach, or would like to set up a coaching session to be coached on how to use this communication style with your team, please reach out to me!

Cheers to professional and personal well-being!

Image: Jon Tyson on Unsplash

Several spray paint cans next to one another

May 16, 2023by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Raise the Bar: Service vs. Hospitality

Raise the Bar: Service vs. Hospitality

by David Klemt

During the 2023 Bar & Restaurant Expo in Las Vegas, Mia Mastroianni, Art Sutley, and Phil Wills addressed what separates service from hospitality.

For the sake of those who are unfamiliar, a brief summary of each member of this informative panel. Art Sutley is a nightlife and hospitality expert recognized by Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, and Thrillist (among other publications).

Phil Wills and Mia Mastroianni should be recognizable to anyone who has watched Bar Rescue. Wills co-founded Spirits in Motion, a beverage consulting agency. He’s also a bartender’s bartender who’s passionate about hospitality. Mastroianni, equally as passionate about the art of hospitality, is a seriously talented bar professional and hospitality expert who doesn’t take herself too seriously.

It’s difficult to imagine a more qualified trio when it comes to discussing the differences between service and hospitality.

What is Service?

Before they all dove in, Sutley shared a simple but impactful take on the guest experience.

“It’s checking boxes,” said Sutley. “We want each guest to check every box, and a few extra.”

That description helps draw a line between service and hospitality. Per Sutley, Mastroianni, and Wills, service is a transaction and meeting expectations. Reinforcing this idea, Wills said, “Service is black and white; it’s simple.”

Operators and their leadership teams, after developing their steps of service, can literally or figuratively track the service transaction. Training staff—from onboarding to pre-shifts—on the steps of service and an operator’s non-negotiable standards ensures the guest experience transaction is delivered as expected.

Worryingly, Mastroianni expressed her concern that the quality of service appears to be dropping. If that’s true, however, that provides an opportunity.

Per Sutley, the industry is getting more difficult. There are more competitors out there, and guest expectations are becoming increasingly stringent. So, if Mastroianni is correct and more concepts are failing to deliver on the expected service transaction, operators who commit to building and training teams that deliver high-level service will stand out.

What is Hospitality?

If service is black and white, guess what hospitality is?

“Hospitality is color,” said Wills. “And we go above and beyond to relate to guests.”

Going further, Wills said that how an operator and their team chooses to “paint the picture” defines the level of hospitality they deliver.

For Mastroianni, if service is transactional, hospitality is emotional. Hospitality is how a restaurant, bar, nightclub or hotel team makes a guest feel. Drilling deeper, hospitality is how we in this industry connect with guests on a deeper level than simply transactional service.

To throw in my two cents, I like to think that even brand-new operators understand the transactional part of hospitality. It’s the people part, the guest experience element, that catches many operators and their teams out. Service without hospitality is mediocrity in motion.

Regardless of where one stands on the topic of service vs. hospitality, it’s crucial that operators become acutely aware of the experiencing they’re giving their guests. What do they see when they look at the picture they and their team paint each shift?

Image: Emiliano Vittoriosi on Unsplash

April 18, 2023by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Sticking to Your Standards

The Importance of Sticking to Your Standards

by David Klemt

One crucial task for all restaurant, bar, nightclub, and hotel operators is to set the acceptable standards and commit to maintaining them.

Hospitality operations are subject to an interesting paradox. We’re all told to prepare for things to go sideways during any given shift. We’re also told that adhering to our standards of service will help us weather a storm of challenges. Oftentimes, however, the first thing to slip at the first sign of trouble is: our standards.

When a client signs on with KRG Hospitality, they are given the task of identifying their core values. There’s an exercise for this key development step; it’s part of our standards.

Your core values inform your standards (and so much more): leadership team standards; front- and back-of-house team member standards; and standards of service. Additionally, you should spell out these standards during the onboarding process, utilizing an employee manual—which new hires must sign and date—and practical training.

It’s absolutely crucial that you and your team commit to your standards fully. They’re inviolable, what both KRG president Doug Radkey and Chef Brian Duffy call your “non-negotiables” during speaking engagements and when working with clients.

Are people going to make mistakes, including you? Yes. On occasion, a standard is going to slip. The key is understanding that maintaining standards helps reduce these occasions; panicking and allowing them to slip just drops us deeper into quicksand.

Someone on the team is going to miss a service step. Something will occur during a shift that’s not up to standards. What’s important in those moments is the ability for the team to recognize the slip quickly and correct course immediately.

Setting Standards

There are different ways for operators to select their standards. The example I provide at the top of this article is one approach KRG implements.

Michael Tipps, co-founder of Invictus Hospitality and friend of KRG Hospitality, has an intriguing approach of his own. He shared this during the 2023 Bar & Restaurant Expo in Las Vegas.

“Standards separate operators and their teams,” says Tipps. While he doesn’t encourage operators to look at every other operator in their market as competition, he does advocate for differentiation.

Tipps shared a three-step approach to standards. (Step two, by the way, is the one I find intriguing.)

Create your standards. Again, there are different approaches.
Pick your committee. I’m going to explain this further.
Set standards against the grandest vision of your venue.

So, what does it mean to “pick your committee”? Well, it means surrounding yourself with people you respect…real or imagined. As Tipps explained during BRE, he has people in his life that he considers his committee. The real-life members of this committee are a sounding board for any number of ideas, questions, challenges, and even mistakes.

And yes, his committee also includes “imaginary” members, such as Michael Jordan and Phil Jackson. These are people that he doesn’t know personally but are known to have incredibly high standards. They’re high achievers and, of course, many have biographies and we can know their standards. Tipps has “asked” these committee members, “How should I handle X?”

This creative approach isn’t for everyone but every operator should at least give it a shot. When we step that far out of our comfort zones the results can be incredible.

The Cheat Code

On the specific topic of service standards, Tipps has a cheat code for operators: hotels. “The hotel mindset is a hospitality cheat code,” says Tipps.

How so? It’s quite enlightening.

Think about your restaurant. Now, think about it as the first-floor cornerstone of an upscale hotel. Imagine that there are 250 incredible boutique hotel rooms above your restaurant. These rooms command rates of several hundred dollars per night. Now think about how you would treat each guest in these expensive rooms if they ask for a straw.

“Make the effort to care like nobody else can,” says Tipps.

Always bear in mind that hospitality is how you make people feel. Your mission should be for each and every guest to feel relevant.

Generally speaking, most people don’t want to be alone. They’re not just coming to your restaurant because they’re hungry, to your bar because they’re thirsty. In reality, as Tipps would tell you, they’re coming to be around other people. They’re using your F&B as a reason to be around other people and feel relevant.

Your mission is to ensure people feel relevant when they spend time at your venue with your team. The package you send to accomplish this mission is your standards of service.

“Self-inflicted mediocrity is the result of laziness and lack of accountability,” Tipps says.

Hold everyone accountable for enforcing your standards—including yourself—and you’ll level up in every facet.

Image: Owen Michael Grech on Unsplash

March 22, 2023by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Spring Clean Your Business!

7 Ways to Give Your Business a Spring Cleaning!

by Kim Richardson & David Klemt

In case you’re so busy you didn’t catch it, we’re officially—finally—in spring, and that means it’s time to spring clean your business.

Below you’ll find a spring cleaning slideshow with helpful advice from KRG Hospitality consultant Kim Richardson.

Each slide contains her best advice for reviewing, refreshing, and improving your business. For your convenience, Kim organizes her spring cleaning advice in just seven slides.

It’s time to look at your business through fresh, energized eyes! Your team, guests, and bottom line will thank you.

Note: Unable to view the slides above? Each slide is transcribed below.

1 Re-plant Your Core Values

Review your core values with your team.
Post them where everyone can see them daily.
Foster core values through consistent training.
What kind of experiences are you offering your team?
Hire a coach to help you discover your core values.

2 Tidy up Your Guest Journey Map

Walk through your business from the guest perspective.
Review your website for content, ease of use, current info.
Review your technology and potential pain-points.
Touch up items that may have become run down: paint, signage, furniture, equipment, etc.
Review your flow of service and communication.

3 Spruce up Your SOP & Training Programs

Evaluate how well current SOPs are being followed.
Evaluate how well you continuously train your team.
Make updates as needed and add any new procedures.
Ensure SOPs are easily accessible by your team.
Discuss your standards during pre-shift meetings.

4 Deep Clean Your Financial Books

Review your budgets and projections for the year ahead.
Review and organize the financials tracking processes; receipts, invoices, files, etc. and digitize what you can.
Consider updating your financial tracking technology or bringing in a third party to assist.

5 Dust off Your Business Plan

Evaluate the progress of your business plan.
Acknowledge what you have accomplished.
Are you on track to achieve your goals this year?
Do all of your goals still make sense?
Make any necessary updates and create a game plan to stay on track; review every 30 days.

6 Freshen up Your Marketing Plan

Budget time and money to dedicate towards marketing for the next 90 days.
Create strategic campaigns that will create awareness, build a database, and retain your targeted customers.
Consider working with a third party or having someone dedicated to this role internally.

7 Declutter Your Mind

Perform a calendar audit.
Review goals and formulate action plans.
Practice mindfulness through journaling or meditation.
Consider hiring a mindset coach to help you organize your life and your business.

Image: PAN XIAOZHEN on Unsplash / Slideshow Images: Kim Richardson / KRG Hospitality

January 16, 2023by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

5 Toxic Mindsets that Hinder Success

5 Toxic Mindsets that Hinder the Success of Your Business

by Jennifer Radkey

Your frame of mind matters, and if you want a team and business that’s thriving and growing, it’s time to examine your own mindset.

How you show up day to day in your business and in your life will either hinder or promote your success. Like the popular phrase goes, “It starts from the top.”

You can set the tone for the day with the energy you bring. As Anese Cavanaugh, author of the book Contagious You, states, “Whatever we put out there and whatever we take on affects our ability to influence, lead, and create the impact we want.”

A positive mindset is contagious: it can inspire, motivate, and make others feel good. A toxic mindset is equally as contagious: it can halt growth, increase unhappiness, and lower productivity.

Here’s a list of five toxic thoughts that lead to a negative mindset and can hinder success.

Blame Game

Always looking for someone else to lay the blame on when things go wrong is a surefire way to a toxic team environment. If you’re quick to blame others when things go wrong, perhaps it’s time to take a step back and examine why something went wrong in the first place.

Was there inadequate training provided? Are there no clear systems to follow? Do you have an environment that’s hostile to asking for help? Fault rarely lies in one person only; there are typically several factors in play.

A positive mindset will examine facts, look at all potential causes, and then come up with solutions. Blame never enters the picture.

Second Guessing

Not being confident in the choices you make hinders growth. Uncertainty in your decision making leads others to question or doubt your role as leader.

If you don’t have the utmost confidence in making decisions, and it’s your business, how can you expect your team to have confidence in you or the work that they do?

This doesn’t mean that you have to make snap decisions without thinking them over. Planning and deliberating over the right move to make is critical to success. But once the decision is made…it’s made. If it doesn’t work out you can then problem solve to get back on the right path.

Second guessing your decisions along the entire way is only going to slow you and your business down.

Absolutism

“It’s my way or the highway.” Absolutism is the inability or refusal to consider others’ ideas. This toxic thought process destroys team culture and growth.

As an owner, you’re heavily invested in your business. Therefore, it can be challenging to let go of how you think things should be done and consider different approaches. However, failing to listen to the ideas of others on your team will build walls and possibly create resentment. That’s definitely not a positive atmosphere to work in.

Be open-minded to doing things differently and show interest in the recommendations of others to promote instead of hinder success.

Hyper-negativity

Sometimes when you want to succeed it’s easy to zone in on the negatives: “This isn’t good enough.” “We aren’t making enough money.” “We don’t have enough followers online,” etc.

The desire to do well can make you hyper-focused on what isn’t right in order to fix it, instead of noticing what’s really great and celebrating that instead. Yes, you need to be aware of areas that need improvement, but you also need to be equally aware of the positive and promote it.

Think of a conversation with two random people you meet at a party. The first person grumbles about the weather, complains about the food, music, etc., and scowls. The second person is smiling, laughing at jokes, and genuinely interested in getting to know you.

Who would you rather be around?

Settling for Average

Nothing will kill growth and success faster than settling for the way things are because “that’s the way it’s always been,” or because “it’s working.” You want more than just “it’s working.”

You want to thrive, to make more money, to gain more followers, to hire more team members, to open more locations. If you aren’t living your absolute best life, if your business isn’t performing at its absolute highest level, then there should be no settling.

Settling for average teaches your team to settle for average, and that means your customer is settling for average. Avoid this toxic mindset by continuously setting goals (even small ones) and looking for ways to do better, feel better, and be better.

While it’s completely normal to fall into these toxic thoughts from time to time, it’s refusing to allow them to become you daily mindset that’s important.

The amazing thing about the human mind is that it can be changed—you can work on improving your mindset. Trust me when I say that you will not regret it.

Cheers to professional and personal growth!

Image: Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

September 5, 2022by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

5 Books to Read this Month: September 2022

5 Books to Read this Month: September 2022

by David Klemt

This month’s engaging and informative book selections will help you develop next-level leadership skills and dial in your drink menu.

To review August’s book recommendations, click here.

Let’s jump in!

Your Restaurant Culture Sucks!: Stop surviving. Start thriving. Escape mediocrity

Donald Burns, the Restaurant Coach and friend of KRG Hospitality, completes his Your Restaurant Sucks! trilogy. For the third book in the self-improvement and hospitality industry leadership series, Burns tackles culture.

In Your Restaurant Culture Sucks!, Burns helps owners, operators, and leadership team members understand the importance of workplace and company culture. Instead of complaining that “nobody wants to work anymore,” look inside and find out why perhaps nobody wants to work for you. That kind of honesty helps implement real change, change that sets you apart and improves recruitment, hiring, and retention.

“All restaurants can buy from the same vendors and hire from the same labor pool. What separates the good, from the great to the outstanding is culture!”

Subtract

Sometimes changing our outlook and improving our leadership skills is about streamlining.

“We pile on ‘to-dos’ but don’t consider ‘stop-doings.’ We create incentives for good behavior, but don’t get rid of obstacles to it. We collect new-and-improved ideas, but don’t prune the outdated ones. Every day, across challenges big and small, we neglect a basic way to make things better: we don’t subtract.”

With Subtract, Leidy Klotz explains how changing how we approach solutions can be life changing. Maybe we need to stop adding and start subtracting to improve our strategies.

Cure: New Orleans Drinks and How to Mix ’Em from the Award-Winning Bar

If you travel to New Orleans and you’re in this industry, you probably make sure to include Cure on your itinerary. For more than a decade this 2018 James Beard Award winner (Outstanding Bar Program) has been integral to the city’s craft cocktail scene.

Whether you’re after a deceptively simple beer and shot or a cocktail made with a rare, allocated bourbon, Cure is there to elevate your French Quarter visit. And soon you’ll be able to bring Cure home with you, and to your restaurant or bar as well. Available now for preorder, Cure includes 100 cocktail recipes that tell the tale of NOLA from past, present, and future.

Craft Beer Design: The Design, Illustration and Branding of Contemporary Breweries

Anyone who pauses to consider beer can design knows that it’s becoming nearly as important as the liquid. With thousands of breweries all over the US alone, how does a brewer stand out? How does a small, independent craft brewer grab a potential new customer’s attention in a sea of options? In part, through their can designs. Of course the beer itself is crucial and the most important element. However, a consumer has to be motivated to try a beer before they learn how good it tastes.

Craft Beer Design dives deep into craft beer design, featuring real-world examples and interviews with the designers themselves.

Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know

Curiosity keeps us learning. The pursuit of knowledge keeps us sharp. Learning helps us improve ourselves, our leadership, and our operations. The belief that we’ve learned all there is to know, however, prevents us from learning to our own detriment.

Much like Subtract teaches us how to remove rather than add, Think Again proposes a new approach: unlearning and rethinking. Why do we get defensive when we’re wrong? Why are we so afraid of challenges to long-held beliefs? Admitting when we’re wrong and seeking facts is a strength, not a weakness.

Image: Mikołaj on Unsplash

August 24, 2022by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Are You Surveying Your Team?

Are You Surveying Your Team?

by David Klemt

Successful recruitment is only one element of overcoming the current labor shortage—retention is another crucial element.

In fact, employee turnover can be incredibly costly. According to the Center for Hospitality Research at Cornell, employee turnover costs nearly $6,000 per hourly team member.

Now, consider what it costs to hire a single employee. On average, it costs $3,500 to hire that worker in the first place. So, the math is simple: Losing an employee costs an operator more than hiring one.

Unsurprisingly, turnover cost more than doubles—nearly $14,000—for a restaurant manager. In short, employee retention is arguably more important than recruitment and hiring.

Labor Shortage

Per Datassential, 33 percent of 801 survey respondents say the labor shortage is their greatest challenge in 2022. More than 70 percent of those respondents are independent operators.

However, independent, chain, and franchise operators appear to agree on one particular element of the challenge. Across segments, hiring hourly back-of-house employees is the most difficult.

In fact, Datassential’s latest FoodBytes report states that restaurants are coming up short in the kitchen. Two-thirds of restaurants are struggling to fill open hourly cook positions.

So, what’s the solution? Higher starting wages? Bonuses for remaining in role for 90 days? Benefits like health insurance and a 401K?

Each of those does work—for recruitment and hiring. What keeps a new hire from leaving after 90 days with their bonus cash, heading down the road to the next restaurant or bar?

It’s commonly agreed that the first 90 days of a new hire’s employment are the most crucial. Wages and benefits keep them in role for roughly three months. During that time, they’re deciding if their role and the employer’s culture are for them.

Employee Engagement

If you’re an owner, operator, or member of the leadership team, you know the importance of data. In fact, you should be obsessed with data collection and analysis.

Truly, the best way to make decisions that will impact the business is with information. Guesswork just doesn’t cut it. Yes, you should pay close attention to your “gut.” However, you should avoid acting on gut instincts before analysing the relevant data.

Wisely, many operators encourage their guests to complete satisfaction surveys. After all, their feedback is crucial to the success of any business. But what about employee surveys? Your team is equally as important as your guests.

Unhappy team members, unhappy guests. Unhappy guests, reduction in traffic. Team members fleeing your business? Your guests pick up on turnover. Eventually, you won’t have a business.

Now, you can assume your team is happy. You can feel like your leadership team is ensuring employee satisfaction and engagement. Or, you can know.

How do you know? You ask.

Satisfaction Surveys

Call it a satisfaction survey, call it a happiness survey… Either way, you’re asking your team members how happy they are with you and their role.

Operators will likely want to keep these surveys anonymous. Several sources that address employee surveys claim most employees prefer anonymity. Unfortunately, this is due to a fear of retribution from ownership or the leadership team.

Even with a healthy workplace culture, anonymity is probably the best for these surveys. Of course, if you’re implementing a 90-day happiness survey for new hires, anonymity doesn’t make much sense.

As far as company-wide survey frequency, there are several options. Once per year is obviously the bare minimum. Therefore, it’s not very effective. Every six months is better but is checking in on your team’s happiness twice per year enough?

The sweet spot appears to be quarterly surveys. More than that—monthly or bi-monthly—will likely get annoying.

Survey Questions

Below are a few questions to consider for your surveys. You’ll have to decide if you want to use multiple-choice, yes or no, matrix, or open-ended questions, or a mix of each type.

Another consideration is how your team will access the survey. The process needs to be as painless as possible. So, consider pushing a link via your scheduling platform, text, or QR code.

How happy are you working here?
How happy are you in your current role?
Would you recommend us to friends and family as a good place to work?
Does the leadership team make you feel valuable?
Do you see yourself working here a year from now?
Are we helping you succeed in your role?
Are we giving you what you need to progress in your career?

Image: Roman Kraft on Unsplash