Today's Specials
How Hollywood Sees Us: Slighted Servers [VIDEO]
When a party of six is really a party of three, it can irk your service staff. When that happens, it's up to managers to step in and coach them through it. How would you deal with the situation in this video?
MISSING PIECES
Why it’s important to you: You may have heard…There is a war for talent
In today’s world of distractions, finding an employee that can stay focused, works hard and relishes the mundane tasks is a little like finding a unicorn. Yet there is a class of people seeking employment that fit that description perfectly. Recent research shows that people with autism are experiencing unemployment rates higher than other people with disabilities. Yet many are high functioning and genuinely desire employment.
This is not to suggest that there are a plethora of positions in your restaurant that a person with autism can fill, but there are certainly a few. Prep can be a grind, but folks on the spectrum enjoy repetition and predictability. Those are two things that prep has in abundance. Cleaning and maintenance also come to mind. Additionally, there are programs for folks with disabilities that can cover the cost of their training and ongoing support. In an age where your staff has someplace else to be, wouldn’t it be nice to have at least one person who looks at your place as a refuge and not an obligation?
SIGNED, SEALED, DELIVERED I’M YOURS
Why it’s important to you: Out-of-home dining is a real growth opportunity
Everyone has an opinion about how Amazon is shaping the world of retail — some good, some not. You can’t deny that they are fearless and will try anything. On Tuesday, they made another bold step and announced that their food delivery service — Prime Now Delivery — will be free to Amazon Prime subscribers. They are only in a few cities so far, but don’t count on it to stay that way. They have the delivery infrastructure and they want into the market.
This is good news for operators. While Amazon remains limited in their reach, there is no shortage of players in the market and they are all doing great things with the technology. GrubHub just announced their new self-care portal, OrderHub, where an operator can change menus and offer specials on the fly. Other choices include Foodler, DoorDash and Yelp Eat24. Yes they require you pay a percentage of each sale, but the incremental savings that carryout food delivers on service costs mitigates that expense… and equally important, it’s a sale!
☆☆☆☆☆
Why it matters to you: A rating system that gives back to the restaurant
Do you find modern restaurant rating systems to be “antiquated,” “grossly subjective” and from “unqualified people”? Entrepreneur Bo Peabody does. His plan? To revolutionize the restaurant rating world with his new app called Renzell. His program aims to create a large data pool on restaurants by inviting high-end restaurant regulars to take a 75-question survey ranking different aspects of their experience.
Diners who take the surveys earn points which can be redeemed for private group dinners. Participating restaurants receive regular reports about their performance on things like cocktails, design, food, hospitality, service, value, vibe and wine/sake. The report also provides demographic breakdowns and an average diner “snapshot.”
TICK, TICK, TICK, TICK
In the 60s, journalism was revolutionized by the presence of televisions in every home. One of the leaders of that revolution passed away yesterday. Morley Safer, 84, was among the best TV journalists of his era, which is to say any era, because he was on your TV for five decades. Winner of 12 Emmy’s and five Peabody’s, Safer pioneered TV investigative journalism on 60 Minutes. A couple of his best moments include shining a light on a wrongfully convicted man and shining the same light on the dark side of contemporary art. Thank you Morley, for the stalwart reporting and making us all a little better informed.
ON A LIGHTER NOTE
Morley Safer, would have delighted in excoriating the Louisiana legislator who offered an amendment to a bill that would make it against the law for strippers to be older than 28 or weigh more than 160 pounds. The original bill aimed to elevate the minimum age of exotic dancers to 21. Rep. Kenneth Harvard (guessing he didn’t go there) (R-Jackson) offered the amendment, later claiming that it was a joke. Some joke, given that he filed the amendment and it was on the legislature’s website. This one sure does leave you shaking your head.
SEND LAWYERS GUNS AND MONEY
Why it’s important to you: Should politics be in your workplace?
You may have noticed that we are in an election year… no, didn’t register? We can tell you that Home Depot noticed. One employee at their Staten Island location wore a hat that claimed, “America Was Never Great.” You can imagine the backlash and you wouldn’t be surprised that Home Depot has banned employees from wearing political comments while at work.
This begs the question, what is your role when it comes to this national conversation? You run a restaurant and that is where people go to discuss politics. Your employees have a First Amendment right to voice their opinion, but does that extend to while they are working at your place? The law is fairly settled here and it says no. All people have an inherent human right to express their opinions, but as an employer you can preclude it while they are working. It’s up to you, but you should make clear what your position is, so your team doesn’t step in it like Home Depot’s did.