The Great Hall
Revolution or evolution


WebFoodPros.com: The Great Hall: Revolution or evolution
By Jacques M. on Thursday, May 11, 2000 - 12:57 pm: Edit

I would really like to get opinions of others, i have worked in F&B for 11 years and what i am interested is when one takes up a job in a new restaurant and you realise that the employers of restaurant do not live up to the standards to make the place become a little bit extra-ordinary , do you make changes drastically like making staff leave , setting up new rules and keeping a watchful eye or does one take the other route work with them and make the changes throughout the monthsss.
TQ.

By Cheftim (Cheftim) on Thursday, May 11, 2000 - 02:48 pm: Edit

I have been on both sides of this situation.

Been there when some hot shot or shots come in and wants to revolutionize the business, and been the hot shot brought in by management with the mandate to modernize.

If an operation is making any profit going in with a take no prisoners attitude is the kiss of death. You can current cash flow for what is only perceived potential extra profit. A take no prisoners attitude can alienate quality employees and even more importantly long time customers.

Hot shots come in with glorious and usually unworkable schemes. They make a mess of things destroying employee moral and customer base. Then discouraged by the lack of success they blame the hard headed employees and the unsympathetic customers and leave.

So many want to make changes like some godhead to transform things into their own image, never taking into account the momentum of an operation and failing to use that momentum to their advantage.

The times that I have been the new guy and my job was to bring an operation into the present decade, at some point, well into the process, I have found I myself to have experienced as much evolution as the restaurant/kitchen/menu I have been mandated to revamp.

The urge to weld a cleaver is always there but the use of a boning knife is much more economical.

By W.DeBord on Sunday, May 14, 2000 - 07:37 am: Edit

Usually the employees are a refection of the management or the owner. Rarely are they opposite.
An over haul takes along time and it really has to be supported by the owner profoundly! Sometimes they say they want changes then get in the way of your hard efforts to help make those changes happen.

Ask the owner what they have a stomach for? You may have to remove some employees they personally like or owe etc...


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