BUSINESS: Ensure Your Restaurant Never Gets Cited in an OUI Incident [Presented by 2Cool Server Training]
As a 32-year veteran restaurant manager, I can tell you some stories about the consequences of overserving a guest. In fact, I operated a chain of billiard clubs in the ‘90s and we had a fatality at one of the locations for which I was responsible. Mind you, I wasn’t there; I didn’t serve a single drink and even the courts absolved us of any legal liability. Nonetheless, that doesn’t matter to the family of the woman who lost her life. And, frankly, it didn’t matter to me.
DID YOU KNOWS…
Bath at Wendy’s?
People do weird things. For example, take this guy who decided to take a bath in a Wendy’s sink for some reason. A Snapchat video capture shows the incident. Apparently, it was the Wendy’s employees last day and he wanted to make it… memorable. Of course, this isn’t the first time an employee has decided to take a bath at a fast food joint. Eleven years ago, a BK employee did the same stunt.
Weather Damage Grows More Costly
During the first part of the 21st century, there was only one year when global economic losses from storms cost over $200 billion. As the second decade of the 21st century wraps up, those $200 billion-dollar years seem to be more normal, with five of the past nine years grossing over $200 billion in global losses from weather events.
Ka’Wine & Dine
As of July 1st, Toronto Raptor’s star Kawhi Leonard becomes a free agent and teams are clamoring to sign him. In a bid to persuade Kawhi to stay in Toronto, however, several local restaurants are offering him a lifetime of free dining if he commits to a long-term contract with the Raptors. It’s part of the Ka’Wine & Dine initiative.
PERFECT STORM
Why it matters to you: Fight for $15 working side by side with #TimesUp may spell change for McDonald’s.
With over 15,000 locations in the United States and Canada, McDonald’s can’t do anything quietly. So, when they moved their shareholder’s conference to Dallas this year, some folks wondered if they were just trying to avoid the pressure being delivered by the Fight for $15 or calls for them to address the atmosphere of harassment and violence in their restaurants. However, no one had to wonder because both causes were present in Dallas and pushing the fast food giant to address their concerns.
The problem for McDonald’s as a primarily franchise-owned business model, it cannot assuredly change or control the behavior of their franchisees. The concept of joint-employment has been a sticking point for many franchisee/franchisor relationships and current favors their separate accountabilities. Which basically allows a company like McDonald’s to punt when it comes to the bad behavior of their appointed business partners.
None of this would matter except that those fighting for the right to organize labor unions and higher minimum wage align perfectly to those that are trying to create a safer environment for employees, free of harassment and violence. That might be the combination that forces McDonald’s to work harder on these issues before they aren’t left with a choice. For the rest of us, it may be a harbinger of a new paradigm in our industry. Consequently, you’ll want to keep your eye on this as it develops.
[Source: Eater]
WOULD YOU NOT DRINK & DRIVE FOR A BURGER & FRIES?
Why it matters to you: This bar rewards guests that don’t drink and drive.
Speaking of corporate responsibility…ok, we only sort of talking about it as pertains to McDonald’s, but there are some operators that actually take that part of their job seriously. Take the folks at The Union Bar in Gering, NE who placed a note on a vehicle left in their lot overnight. It essentially rewarded the driver for leaving the vehicle in their lot rather than driving while intoxicated. In this case, the restaurant happily offered a burger & fries to the driver that was mature enough to leave their vehicle rather than drive it while under the influence. Let’s face it, we all work hard at and take seriously the responsibility of not overserving our guests, but sometimes, despite your best efforts, someone is intoxicated when they leave your restaurant. The fact that a guest doesn’t put you or your community at risk by driving after consuming alcohol at your restaurant is totally worth rewarding in this way.
Yup, I can hear you all now saying, “If you do this people will start leaving their cars overnight just to bag a burger & fries!” Maybe, but would you leave your car in an empty parking lot with no guarantee of its safety and the prospect of awaking on Sunday morning without it? Exactly; not likely. So, yes, there may be some exposure, but give the food cost involved as a function of the real safety improvement for everyone involved that sure seems like a reasonable calculation. So much so that The Union Bar isn’t alone in this policy. Mack’s Tavern in Ohio puts a coupon on those windshields and Canadian bar, Original Joe’s, leaves vouchers for a free order of wings on drivers’ return visit. This takes corporate responsibility out of the range of nice ideas to really smart process and is at least worthy of your consideration.
[Source: Simplemost]
