Restaurant Industry Trends - Management

Check around you - the look, feel, smells and sounds that customers notice when they spend time at your bar, café or restaurant.

On the one hand, 'the customer is always right'. On the other hand, you've got a business to run, and they sure can get in the way...(we've all had that feeling). But there are times when we need customers to 'make a better choice' - one that works for the business too. Smart operators learn how to say No without actually using the 'N' word...

A crisis can be the opportunity to make permanent and dramatic improvements. Can you use the current economic sutuation to improve the way you recruit, manage and motivate staff?

This month I’ve been working with one of my clients conducting one to one coaching with a number of their managers to help them with conducting their own one to one meetings with their team.

It is better to give than to receive... right? What happens when hoteliers give a complimentary stay or experience, a 'comp', to support a special program or fundraiser and the recipient, the lucky 'comp' winner, shows up to experience their reward?

Behold, the corporate rollercoaster known as 'The Next Big Thing': a concept is launched, buzz is created, momentum is gathered, and like clockwork the idea fizzles and fades into oblivion within months (or - depending on your team's attention span - weeks), quickly replaced by the next big idea. It's a rollercoaster each of us has been on more times than we care to admit, leaving trails of mediocre and, sadly, great ideas behind us.

Making service sense out of those that manage the dollars and cents of any hospitality business is a key but often overlooked part of any service culture. Hospitality leaders may go out of their way to pay the bills, secure revenue, finance investments and get reimbursements but they need to ensure that the accounting department reimburses service too.

In my role as a leadership coach there are a few key questions I get asked over and over. They are all presented in a slightly different way, but the themes are the same. This week I was asked 'How do I deal with poor performance in a positive way?'

I was at our local hoteliers' association meeting the other day, where one of the topics of conversation was finding good quality staff, in particular chefs. We already know that there is a lack of new talent entering the industry so it's important that we hang on to our best people. The hospitality industry has always had one of the highest labour turnover rates in all sectors of the economy, so are we just deluding ourselves if we think we can beat that trend?