Make Sure Your Team Feels Like Partners

I don't call them employees. They are your partners, and they will be your face to the customers as well as your entire restaurant. They should feel that they are part of the ownership—not legally, but in terms of taking great pride in working in your restaurant. You are looking for staff whom other restaurateurs will try to poach or steal away, but the “partners” will say no because they love where they work. What a compliment to you when you hire people who feel that way about you and your restaurant.

One example is in a film starring Tom Hanks, That Thing You Do!, which takes place in 1964. The plot is about a band recording their first album in Los Angeles. The hotel where the group stays employs a person (then called a bellhop) who helps hotel patrons with luggage, transportation, and anything else that will make their stay at the hotel comfortable. The character takes great pride in his job, and his character always thanks everyone for coming to “his” hotel. If you need visualization, this movie should be streaming for you to watch, and I suggest paying attention to the hotel attendants and their attitudes. You want to hire staff with the same mindset.

When people are invested in their work, they show up early. Sometimes people don't own a car and take the bus to work. If someone is willing to take a bus to work, they're dedicated.

You've got to create a culture in which everyone feels they “own” a piece of the restaurant, and they want you to succeed as a matter of pride. I find that people like to have their own tables, and groups like to have a section that they call their own. This builds a sense of familiarity and ownership in your brand. The more pictures of your customers you put on the walls, the more frequently they will come back. When you find the right people to engage with these customers and other employees, you will have hired a dynamic staff.

Where Do You Find These Fantastic People?

So how do you find these incredible people? There are online classified ads and job search websites, and you might participate in job fairs and employment events. People who respond will tell you about their best qualities in glowing terms. Listen to your gut instinct. When you talk to someone on the phone or, better, meet with them, you know whether they're going to be a good fit or not. Remember, you are casting a role.

When you are hiring restaurant staff, you are going to be bombarded by employment agencies. These agencies will charge you about 20% of the salary of the hired employee. I understand the value of agencies doing the vetting and marketing to find great people; however, at this point the cost is too high, and you need your cash.

The best and most dedicated employees I've ever had in my restaurants, in my experience, came from Goodwill Industries. This organization offers programs to train people and help them get their necessary licensing to work in the food and beverage industry. Many times, Goodwill will pay for the uniform if the employee has to provide one. I find that the people who work through Goodwill are very motivated and have become some of our best staff members.

I encourage you to read books about hiring and staffing. Here is where guidance from others can help to build the right staff. It is not about creating a softball team in the off hours but hiring people who want to be of service. You want to hire people who are on the same page and understand the culture, and they should want you and everyone else to thrive and succeed through their personal efforts. I always look for people who have good problem-solving skills, with great attention to detail and time management skills. Remember that your wait staff are your salespeople and should have a level of interpersonal skills including social perceptiveness, patience, and empathy. This will all add to a better customer experience. Your wait staff needs to be active listeners with great communication skills. Lifting trays and standing on their feet all day requires the physical ability to do the job. And please don't forget math skills.

However, keep your ego out of it. If you're opening a restaurant, you are probably an alpha person. You need other alpha people to run a successful restaurant. I've learned to be able to yield my alpha personality and decide if it is beneficial to hire this type of person. Alpha people really want to be winners and will not allow for failure, and these are the people you need on the team. It is up to you to determine whether they will work with you and if you can control both of your egos. You and the alpha people need to understand that it is to both of your benefits if the restaurant succeeds, and that each of you can yield and be of service to each other, the staff, the vendors, and the customers.

Hiring the Stars of the Show: Chefs, Cooks, and Managers

One of the main staff people to be hired is the chef or chef de cuisine. You may already have that person, and all of the staff hired will have to work with your chef as a team.

More importantly, you need to know the levels of experience of the people you hire to be your executive chef, general manager, and/or lead cook. Do they know the rules and regulations of the required health cards? Different states call these cards by different names, such as food handler card, food worker permit, or food handler certificate. Health cards are always required for anyone who works in a food establishment, including kitchen staff, servers, managers, and anyone who could come into contact with food, ice, beverages, and utensils. Many jurisdictions are changing the rules to mandate that all food handlers be required to get a food handler safety-training card instead of a health card. To obtain a food handler's card, participants must take a food safety training course and pass an examination from an accredited organization. However, it is still your responsibility to ensure that your staff has complied with the health department and other government agencies.

You might not need an executive chef, but then you will need a lead cook. You personally might fulfill the role of a general manager, or you may have to hire a general manager. It's called general for a reason: you're overseeing everything, including the back of the house and the front of the house.

Your chef, general manager, and/or lead cook will tell you what staff they need in the kitchen. This could include dishwashers, expediters, chef de cuisine, salad makers, and sauce makers. They're going to give you their wish list.

Remember, this is just their wish list. You don't have to hire all those people just because the chef wants them. You don't need to create and fill those positions. I didn't hire chefs to work in my hamburger places. I had chef friends help and guide me. I hired cooks, and then my chef friends taught them how to cook the burgers as well as how to prepare the French fries and toss them. Of course, I showed them how to make my chili recipe.

Most modern kitchen teams today are based on a French chef's kitchen brigade system. Chef Georges-Auguste Escoffier was commonly known as “the king of chefs and the chef of kings.” Escoffier's legacy lives on in the “brigade de cuisine” system. Having served in the French army, Escoffier transferred his experience with the clearly defined structure and duties of a military brigade into the kitchen, assigning over 20 specific cook positions throughout the kitchen. The purpose of the kitchen brigade was to ensure that every cook had a clear purpose and the kitchen could work to maximum efficiency. This system is obviously for a much larger restaurant but can be downsized for basic needs.

With that knowledge, you can see how you may need more than one cook, depending upon the concept, food style, and price point of the restaurant. A general rule of restaurant thumb is 6 to 7 back-of-house staff per 50 customers. If you have hired the correct lead cook or executive chef, that person should have the knowledge about what back-of-house staff are needed for your hours of operation. For additional staff, I have always found that you can reach out to trade schools, culinary schools, and college students. One important rule is that it has to be an accredited school. If there is an internship available, inquire about the requirements. Some states require that interns be paid, while other states allow for unpaid internships. Most schools do require students to participate and complete an internship program as part of their graduation requirements. Remember, these students are just learning to cook and are not experienced. However, they want to enter the culinary field and are motivated to become the best cooks possible, with many looking toward the future working as a chef.

Front-of-house wait staff should generally include a server for every three to four tables per shift per 50 customers as a good ratio. Remember that in addition to the wait staff, you may also need bussers, cleaners, greeters, and possibly a cashier. Study your budget, and you can determine any positions you can pick up to save the salary, or whether the wait staff can also greet and take care of the cashier position.

Do I Really Need to Touch That?

Everybody hired must be willing to “touch the table.” What this means is that everybody fills the water glasses and clears plates. This is the kind of engagement that is required for success. You need to hire servers who, while serving their own tables, see that a teammate's table is full of dirty dishes and voluntarily clear the table. Anyone you hire who does not do that on their own as part of the team will hinder your success.

Everyone needs to work in unity. This is not about ego. This is about being of service. Don't hire people who won't perform other duties because they think they are too good or too special. I don't care how well a server can sell a meal. It will drive customers away if they are sitting at a table with no drinks or dirty dishes and they feel ignored. These patrons will notice if there are servers walking around and nobody notices that they are sitting at their table with no water in the glass. Every server should fill those water glasses regardless of whether it is their table.

Customers can see if a server is servicing someone else's table, walks by their table, and doesn't ask if the customers need anything. They know if someone is walking about with a coffee pot and doesn't come by their table to fill their cups. This changes the entire dining experience and does not build up loyalty, no matter how much the patrons might like the food.

I hire people with the understanding that no job is too low for anybody, including the greeter. Everybody has to help everyone else, and more importantly, wants to help everyone on the team. If you as the owner are willing to wash dishes and scrub the floors, then everyone hired to work there should be willing to perform the same duties as well.

Did I Just Hear a “No” from Someone I Want to Hire?

Yes, you will make some mistakes when it comes to hiring people. However, if you offer a job and someone turns you down, do not assume it was because of you and the restaurant.

This is neither the time nor the place to make assumptions and take anything personally. While you might think they are a perfect fit, the potential job candidate might feel differently. What if it is difficult for them to commute to your place? What if they were offered another job at the same time that paid more or had better benefits? What if they are struggling with addiction and decide to work in a place that does not sell alcohol? What if they are just uncomfortable with the culture and need to find one that fits them better?

If they don't accept the job, it's okay. It's all good and not a personal thing. I always tell potential staff members who don't accept a job offer to please give me a call if they change their mind. Remember, I liked them enough to offer them a job. You should feel the same way.

You should not dislike someone because they did not accept a job offer. What kind of a person does that? That's an ego thing, and it can hurt your success.

The food and beverage industry is like a roller coaster ride. People working in the industry are up and down and moving from place to place. Sometimes they never work for you. Sometimes they work for you, then leave, and never return. Sometimes people work for you, leave, and then come back. I welcome these people with open arms, and you should as well.

Speaking of Taste

Some of the most fabulous restaurants I know implement an excellent training program for the servers when it comes to setup, order taking, and serving the actual meal. However, many of them don't include tasting the menu, which is just as important as other aspects of working in the restaurant.

All of the staff (partners) need to be educated on the menu, try the various items, and really understand what your food is all about with its history, flavor profiles, concept, and mission. A staff member who doesn't know the menu and flavors is like an actor who doesn't know his lines. It leaves a bad taste (pun intended) in the patron's mouth.

How was the restaurant founded? Who is the owner? Why did they open the restaurant? What's in the food? Why is this dish on the menu?

For example, what if your restaurant started with an Italian sauce that comes from a 300-year-old recipe from the family of the owner's grandmother? The sauce that the restaurateur tops on the pasta has a history. Your staff needs to know this to tell the customers so they will want to try it.

Another example is fish and chips made with a recipe that came directly from the United Kingdom. Maybe the owner's great grandmother used to go out, fish for cod, and make her own fermented beer as an ingredient for the batter.

If you, as the owner, have not invited the entire staff (including greeters, bus people, and dishwashers) for a day of tasting, that is a big mistake on your part. You need to have the staff taste every single dish and see how it is plated. You can serve family-style, putting two to three plates down for five people. But they need to know what they are selling by tasting it, and they should know the overall mission of the restaurant. They need to have the chef explain the dishes to them, including ingredients. Some of the most celebrated restaurants started with very few resources but still made sure the entire staff knew the menu by tasting everything so that they understood its concept.

Another mistake many owners make is hiring a staff member who will not try certain dishes. Of course, if there is an allergy or dietary restriction, I am not saying don't hire them. In fact, they will probably be more empathetic to customers dealing with allergies and restrictions. But if the server doesn't at least try something, that is not a person I would hire.

A good example is Brussels sprouts, those miniature cabbage-like vegetables. They are full of vitamins and minerals and have fiber, but I knew very few people who liked eating the vegetables, especially since they were usually prepared boiled and soaked in butter. One casino actually offered Brussels sprouts as a vegetable choice years ago, but only the diehard fans would order it.

Then something happened with this forgotten vegetable. Young chefs discovered it and became innovative with its preparation. Suddenly, Brussels sprouts were roasted, charred, and sautéed, becoming a new discovery with foodies.

You want to hire people who will at least try something new. They don't have to like it and eat it again, but those people who are willing to expand their palate and tastes make the best servers.

I have dined in restaurants and asked my server what their favorite dish is. If they answer that they haven't tried everything on the menu, the restaurant has just lost an excellent opportunity to create a returning customer. If a server has chosen not to try everything on the menu, and it is not due to allergies or dietary restrictions, you need to find someone else or plan to lose sales and customers.

How Can I Serve You?

There are a variety of ways to serve a meal, including hand-carried, tray, family-style, and cart service. I recall the stereotype of the waitress in a diner carrying six plates balanced on her arm. Some national chains with the diner vibe are still serving this way.

Remember, it is about your concept and what atmosphere you want to create with your restaurant. Whether it is a meal on the go, like my hamburger places, or a long European-style meal, it is part of the experience you are creating.