My Favorite Interview Question

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.

Hiring the Assistant Manager

One thing that annoys me about the phrase "We promote from within..." is that it does not always make sense.  Sure, when there is a need for a bartender, it makes sense to promote a server because the skills are very similar- drink knowledge, customer service, menu knowledge, etc.  The skill that may be lacking is the physical activity of making drinks.  This is an easy enough skill to learn if the server can follow and memorize recipes.

When it does not always make sense is when there is a need for an assistant manager at a restaurant and  management/ownership decides to "promote from within" and hire a server and/or bartender to do the job.  There are times when this is appropriate- the employee slated for the promotion has the necessary knowledge, skills and abilities to do the job and to do the job well and when the learning curve for this new position is low.  When it is not appropriate is in most situations when the employee is promoted because "she/he has been here for a while, knows our systems ans processes and would (probably) be good at the job (plus we need someone to work nights and weekends for less money than she/he would make waiting tables)."  What management/ownership fail to realize in this situation is that the server that is being promoted was hired to do one job, serve, but is being promoted to do another with a different skill set.

Below are some things to think about when promoting a server to the assistant manager position:

- Does the server have the knowledge, skills and abilities to do the job or is the promotion just because the employee has been there for a while and it's the natural progression?
Servers are usually hired just to serve, not to manage.  Though some have the skills to be a manager, many do not.  Many think that being a manager is just like being a server except you get to do discounts and talk to tables.  I'm not trying to make restaurant management a job where only the best of the best of the best can do it, I am trying to make the point that management/ownership needs to really look at the candidate  before the promotion and not just promote because that's the natural progression of things.  Ask yourself if you would hire this person if he/she walked in off the street and answered a job ad.  Hold your employee to the same standards as you would someone from outside the organization.

- There are growing pains when you hire from within.
 One of the main issues when hiring from within is the way other servers see the newly promoted employee.  There are issues of jealousy, lack of respect and boundary testing.  Some servers, especially those who feel they should have been promoted instead, may feel jealous and create issues for the new manager when they are working together.  Some servers may feel that the newly promoted employee is not worthy of the position and not respect the manager's new authority.  They may refuse to do what is asked, may purposely create issues during a shift or, worst case, simply refuse to work with that person.  Management/ownership needs to nip this in the bud instantly by always supporting the new manager.  If not, credibility is lost instantly and you might as well start looking for a new manager.

- Customer service may suffer.
It takes a while for a new manager to get the hang of dealing with customer issues, plus it is never easy dealing with an irate guest who just wants to scream and yell.  Intimidation is always a factor when a guest is upset and, most times, the only way to get used to it is practice.  The advice here is to set-up some practice sessions for the new manager to deal with customer service issues.  Practice makes perfect.

- Set boundaries.
What do you want you new manager doing?  Should they perform interviews and do hiring?  Are they to work with inventory and check-in food/alcohol?  What is their role going to be with employee discipline?  Ensure the entire management staff is on the same page with this so no one is stepping on anyone's toes.  One of the worst things that can happen is for the new assistant manager to make a decision and for another, more seasoned manager, to revoke it.  This creates credibility issues with the new manager, who may already have credibility issues.