Who you are is who you attract.
People like to work with people who like them and who are like them. Your crew and restaurants ultimately reflect the values, commitment, resolve and personality of the people supervising them—which brings up two questions:
Are you hiring the kind of people that you—and more importantly, your customers—like to be around and interact with? Or, are you attracting or retaining people who do not reflect your culture, focus and commitment? If so, maybe it’s time to give them a job at the competition.
This month let’s look closer at creative ways to build and sustain a strong culture.
Focus performance layers Why do we retain managers or servers in our company who are not good with people? Would we tolerate an accountant who wasn’t good with numbers? Smart operators rate and assess their management and crew quarterly to determine who is in the top 30 percent, the middle 60 percent and the bottom 10 percent of performers. They first recognize and sustain the performance of the top 30 percent, attempt to move the middle 60 percent upwards, and then try to improve the performance of the bottom 10 percent through coaching, resources and direction. If the performance of the manager or the crew member is still unsatisfactory after coaching and direction, then you must humanely and steadfastly prune your deadwood. Managers and owners spend way too much time dealing with difficult employees. If you don’t terminate people who are not working out, you increase the possibility of having to let go of the people who are. How do you and your managers identify the deadwood in your operations? “Fire” the entire crew. See the next point. The Life Raft Exercise This clever mental game can help you identify your high performers, your average performers and your deadwood. Here’s how it works: In your mind, fire everyone who works for you: your best, brightest, and least productive. Imagine they have all been thrown into the “sea of unemployment.” Picture them bobbing around in those troubled black waters, uncertain of what has happened. Now imagine you suddenly appear, paddling along in a giant life raft, scudding across that dark water. As you look over the team members bobbing about, who would you first pull into the life raft with you? Who is the second person you’d look for? Now prioritize who you’d pull aboard, in chronological order. Who’s third? Fourth? Tenth? Seventeenth? Twentieth? Now this is the most important part of the exercise: Who would you clearly leave bobbing out there? There’s your deadwood. If you wouldn’t pull them into your life raft, why do you let them continue to affect your lifeblood of customers and crew? Don’t confuse correlation with causation Resist impulsive hiring based solely on a manager’s resume. The truth is that a managerial candidate may have worked for a successful company without actually contributing to its success. Research and analyze resume claims, performance results and actual achievements by thoroughly checking references. Seek fresh talent from all directions Developing and promoting talent from within your company is crucial. It demonstrates a commitment to growth, recognition, and reward for service and performance. It reinforces the career-path promise. But knowing when to look outside your company for the right talent is just as important as grooming internal talent. Hiring managers from other companies can contribute fresh approaches and add new layers of perspective, insight and problem solving to your team. Finding the right balance of outside-in and inside-out expertise is what builds a great company. Sullivan’s Twin Laws of Character and Performance First, when hiring key employees, there are only two qualities to look for: judgment and honesty. Almost everything else can be bought by the yard. Second, there are two kinds of people who never succeed: Those who cannot do what they are told and those who cannot do anything unless they are told. Actively seek and identify tier talent Which server, cashier or cook do the other servers, cashiers or cooks turn to when they have a question or a problem? Which employees are held in high esteem because of consistent caring behavior toward the guest or fellow employees? Which employees have the greatest success selling appetizers, desserts and beverages? Unit managers should always formally recognize these informal leaders. Commit to developing your talent early and often “Most people are enthusiastic when they’re hired; ready to work and eager to contribute,” says author David Sirota. “What happens to dampen their enthusiasm? Management, that’s what.” Companies with an enthusiastic workforce are more profitable because it costs less to manage them. Don’t wait until “official” orientation to mentor, coach and encourage your new hires. Make the hiring ritual itself a motivational event. Make them feel chosen, not “hired.” And keep the praise and encouragement flowing. Talented people seek feedback and affirmation on a regular basis. Excel at retention, not just recruiting Most operators have a hiring strategy. The best have a retention strategy too. Finding and recruiting talented people is important, but the care and nurturing of talented people you already employ is just as critical. Great managers know that brains, like hearts, go where they are appreciated, so they put a premium on “re-recruiting” their own high-performers every day. If you don’t recognize your performers, somebody else will.
