Since I was the main hiring manager at one of my restaurant jobs and a member of three new store opening teams, I figure that I have interviewed well over 1,000 people in my life. During those interviews, I have always asked the following question-
"On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being people oriented and 10 being task oriented, rate yourself and tell me why."
I love this question for many reasons. First, I want the person I am interviewing to be decisive. Thus, the only incorrect answer is 5. I want you to be either a people oriented person or a task oriented person. An answer of "5" tells me you are indecisive and are looking to please me by saying you are both.
Second, I love the question because, other than an answer of "5", there really isn't a wrong answer. I don't care if you are people or task oriented, my main concern is why you consider yourself the way you do. Do you like talking to people and getting to know them or do you do better with managing a to do list? Explain to me why you chose the way you did.
Finally, I love this question because it gives me a way to balance my staff. A successful staff must have a mix of people oriented and task oriented staff members. The people oriented staff members are going to be the ones who chat with tables, make friends with guests and are very social around the restaurant. The task oriented staff members are going to be the ones who are good at pre-busing, running food/drink, and complete side-work in a very timely manner. If you had a staff full of people oriented people, you would have servers lolly-gagging at tables talking to guests when there is food/drink to run and tables to pre-bus. If you had a staff full of task oriented people, you would have servers doing nothing but side-work and food running and forgetting about the hospitality aspect of running a restaurant.
Next time you have to conduct an interview consider asking the applicant "On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being people oriented and 10 being task oriented, rate yourself and tell me why." See what they say. Ask your current staff, too. Do you have a good mix of people and task oriented staff? If not, consider hiring the opposite of what you have the most of. It will make a difference in the service you provide.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Thursday, November 11, 2010
129 Cardinal Sins of Service- Part Three
More thoughts on the the 129 Cardinal Sins of Service that was originally published by Eric Ripert. I have already covered the first 9 here and here.
9. Chipped glassware.
What bothers me most about chipped glassware is not that it is poor service to serve someone a glass with a chip in it, but rather it is a safety issue. A guest could cut his/her lip by drinking from a glass with a chip in it. If a guest cuts a lip, there are much bigger issues than poor service- try lawsuit.
10. Tables not completely set when guests are seated.
This has more to do with impatience and lack of communication than anything else. As most hosts can attribute, it can get very difficult to manage guests when there is a wait for a table. The guest can see there are open tables and are wondering why he has not been seated. He can be demanding and rude. To appease him, the host may take the guest to the table regardless of the state it is in. In this case, the host needs to manage the situation as best as possible so as not to take the guest to the table before it is properly set.
The other issue here is lack of communication. Many times someone will tell the host that "table XX is ready to be sat" when that certainly is not the case. The host, going off the information and trusting that information, seats the guest when the table is not quite ready. The remedy here is for the host to visually ensure the table is ready to go and ensure the communication lines are accurate.
11. Dead or wilted flowers on the tables.
If you have enough money to put fresh flowers on every table as the centerpiece, you have enough money to replace flowers when they are wilted and dying. Dead or wilted flowers look tacky and gives a poor impression to the guest.
12. Tables not leveled.
This annoys me as both an employee and as a guest. There are few things worse than setting your drink down on a table that wobbles. A wobbly table is annoying because every time I put weight on the table, I think it is going to tip. Oh yeah, don't fix it with coasters either, it looks tacky- fix the table.
13. Salt and pepper shakers that are half empty.
This looks like the job being done is "half-assed." Makes the guest think "what else are they scrimping on if they cannot refill the salt and pepper shakers?" Taking care of this shows you have attention to the small details.
9. Chipped glassware.
What bothers me most about chipped glassware is not that it is poor service to serve someone a glass with a chip in it, but rather it is a safety issue. A guest could cut his/her lip by drinking from a glass with a chip in it. If a guest cuts a lip, there are much bigger issues than poor service- try lawsuit.
10. Tables not completely set when guests are seated.
This has more to do with impatience and lack of communication than anything else. As most hosts can attribute, it can get very difficult to manage guests when there is a wait for a table. The guest can see there are open tables and are wondering why he has not been seated. He can be demanding and rude. To appease him, the host may take the guest to the table regardless of the state it is in. In this case, the host needs to manage the situation as best as possible so as not to take the guest to the table before it is properly set.
The other issue here is lack of communication. Many times someone will tell the host that "table XX is ready to be sat" when that certainly is not the case. The host, going off the information and trusting that information, seats the guest when the table is not quite ready. The remedy here is for the host to visually ensure the table is ready to go and ensure the communication lines are accurate.
11. Dead or wilted flowers on the tables.
If you have enough money to put fresh flowers on every table as the centerpiece, you have enough money to replace flowers when they are wilted and dying. Dead or wilted flowers look tacky and gives a poor impression to the guest.
12. Tables not leveled.
This annoys me as both an employee and as a guest. There are few things worse than setting your drink down on a table that wobbles. A wobbly table is annoying because every time I put weight on the table, I think it is going to tip. Oh yeah, don't fix it with coasters either, it looks tacky- fix the table.
13. Salt and pepper shakers that are half empty.
This looks like the job being done is "half-assed." Makes the guest think "what else are they scrimping on if they cannot refill the salt and pepper shakers?" Taking care of this shows you have attention to the small details.
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