LOUISVILLE Ky. When business is slow and managers cut staff, crews often complain that it's a challenge to maintain sanitation standards.
Too bad, say operators like Dave Reasner, an 11-unit Dairy Queen operator in Tipton, Ind. Some things are non-negotiable, and sanitation is one of them. That point was beaten into his head by his dad as he grew up in the business.
"My father was always saying, 'We have to be clean, from the kitchen to the bathroom, it has to be clean,'" Reasner said. "Dairy Queen expects us to do certain things, but we have other things we do, and we don't deviate on them no matter how busy we are. If you have to stay a couple of extra hours cleaning it all up to make sure we're ready to go again in the morning, then that's what you do."
Reasner said good training would eliminate questions of whether someone wants to slide on sanitation practices. In other words, if they know no other standards than those clearly set, then that's the line they'll toe whether busy or slow.
Consultant Bill Marvin agrees.
"If you occasionally compromise the standards, then you don't have standards," Marvin said. "Whether the staff follows sanitation standards is usually a reflection of the manager's own practices. If he says, 'This is the way we operate,' then that's it."
Teaching sanitation standards is like parenting, Marvin added, because employees often need reminders and repeated reinforcement. Policies and procedures, no matter how well documented, aren't any good if they only stay on the shelf.
Peter Pierce, general manager at Slightly North of Broad in Charleston, S.C., nearly laughed at the mention of sanitation standards upheld at the southern bistro. Attention to detail extends outside the restaurant, where servers must sweep the sidewalk and street directly in front of the restaurant.
"They do that twice a day, plus mop the floors," Pierce said. “They get out there and get up cigarette butts and trash. It's just part of what we do because we want the place to look good."