STAFF: How to Survive the Restaurant Employee Gap
The restaurant industry is known for its employment gap, the staff turnover rate, and the inability to find employees with the right skills. Simply said, there aren’t many or enough quality employees it seems. It’s is getting more and more difficult for recruiters to find qualified employees for their restaurants. Although the employment gap is a significant issue, there are ways to turn it around.
DID YOU KNOWS…
America Loves European Wines
American lovers of fine European wines are bracing for the worst after President Trump said that he plans to do something about the tariffs the EU imposes on American wine. As the following chart shows, it is certainly true that American wines don’t sell too well in Europe’s traditional wine countries. Whether this would change under a more balanced system of tariffs is doubtful, however, considering how proud the French, Italian and Spanish are of their domestic wines.
Peace on Earth
The index measures peace across a five-point scale through three filters. These are safety and security in society, ongoing domestic or international conflict as well as the degree of militarization in different countries. The following infographic shows the state of peace around the world.
RIP ESPN Deportes Radio
Following news that ESPN is shutting down ESPN the Magazine at the end of the summer, it just announced that it’s also closing ESPN Deportes Radio, which originally launched in 2005. However, while the radio branch of the brand is closing, ESPN Deportes will still live on via TV and digital.
NOW, THAT’S VIRAL
Why it matters to you: Are your employee’s doing things that are gross?
When I first started in the restaurant industry, I worked for Pizza Hut. Within hours of my first training shift, I was sure I had made a mistake. Why? When my training manager reached his whole arm into a five gallon container of tomato sauce to get it mixed, I knew I was in the wrong spot. Well, it appears this Burger King employee in (wait for it…..) Florida (yup, no surprise there) didn’t get much in the way of sanitation and cleanliness training as he was filmed wiping down the table tops with the floor mop. To say that’s gross, is an understatement of epic proportion, but how in the heck did this guy think this was ok?
Let’s start with the assumption he saw someone else do it and thought, “Neat, this is much faster.” If for no other reason than people have incredibly varied experience, you have to be aware of what your cleaning staff does. It’s as simple as watching them clean. If you are concerned they might be hiding their behavior, just check out the dining room angle of your security cameras (if you have them). But this can only be fixed with proper training and follow up. Since your cleaning team is also likely your lowest paid staff, you shouldn’t be surprised when they seek ways to reduce their burden. However, those shortcuts can cause the exact horror that the BK employee did by washing dining tables with dirty mop water. It’s up to you to stop this and expect better from your team.
[Source: Yahoo Lifestyle]
THE ENCYCLOPEDIA GRATUITICA
Why it matters to you: There’s a lot to know about tipping and it’s only gonna get worse.
The introduction of the tip credit solved a lot of problems simultaneously. First, it allowed employers to pay their service staff less base wages on the strength of the tips they received. Second, it allowed a class of employees that were not being taxed on most of their income to come in from the cold. Ironically, it’s one of the few employee/employer policies in the restaurant industry where there’s a decent amount of tipping. If our experience is any indicator, there are few tipped employees that declare their entire income and wouldn’t be particularly interested in a system that requires more scrutiny of the gratuities they earn.
Unfortunately, as the Fight for $15 continues it’s a slow march to being the law of the land. There will be few restaurant operators that won’t at least consider changing their gratuity approach. The snag in responding is the back and forth at the Department of Labor (DOL). From Obama’s “tips belong to the person that directly provided the service” and the recent new opinion that says “operators can claim the tips as a part of their service process.” These are sticky issues that will cascade into a full blown crisis, if the Fight for $15 leaves no room for tip credit. In case you wanted to catch up on the legal implications of the current DOL positions and begin to consider your options, this primer on Modern Restaurant Management is a great place to start.
[Source: Modern Restaurant Management]
