Keeping your guests happy & profits higher through proper par levels

Keeping your guests happy & profits higher through proper par levels

“Proper planning prevents poor performance”

By: Bob Tousey, FMP, MBA, JD

        Wowing your guest is one of the keys to success in the restaurant business. Another key is controlling your costs. These two goals are not mutually exclusive. A strong restaurant manager maintains par level on everything that is needed to run a restaurant including mundane items, such as uniforms, cleaning supplies and paper goods. This article, however, will focus on the two items that effect your prime costs, inventory and labor.

You never want to be the restaurant that is known for running out of food. You must be prepared to meet the demands of your guests. I am always reminded of my dad when I think of having enough food. While he was not a restaurateur, he loved to entertain and always said the key to being a good host is never running out of food or liquor. The same rule applies to a restaurant. Running out of food or liquor is not only a lost sales opportunity, it also adversely affects the restaurant’s reputation. However, you also do not want to have too much food as it goes bad and must be thrown out. Such waste causes your food cost to rise and your profits to decline.

You also want to ensure that you have proper staffing to provide “WOW” service each day. Another rule my dad had for entertaining was always make sure your guests are having an enjoyable time.  Nothing saps the joy out of a “night out” more than slow and inattentive service. So, you must have your aces in their places each shift. But you do not want to overstaff as that will cause your labor costs to rise and again profits decline and that saps the joy right out of owning a restaurant. So, the manager must strike a delicate balance to ensure proper inventory and labor levels. The key to doing this is to have accurate par levels for perishable inventory and labor. There is a method for accomplishing this and the rest of this article will unpack that method as well as throw in a couple of practical tips.

Most restaurants maintain a sales history, so they can anticipate and compare future sales. But as most of us know there are factors that affect sales other than the date on the calendar. A few include weather, events, and competition in area. Therefore, it is essential to keep track of these events as well.

Most of us use a software program or computer spread sheet to keep track of this information but I don’t really care if you use technology or do it the old-fashioned way by logging it in a book. What matters is that you have the numbers along with any other information that effect sales. I want to be reminded of the blizzard, the one-time event honoring a hero or that the restaurants power was down for two hours. All this information will help establish accurate par numbers.

But you can not only rely on past sales, you must know if anything is coming up that could affect future sales. Has a competitor opened or closed across the street? Is it graduation weekend? Are their any events such as parades, tournaments or school events expected? If you are near graduation venues, graduation weekend will cause a great increase in sales. Check with the school and/or venue to determine what dates they will be held. Check on any sporting events scheduled, check with local churches and other organizations to see if they have events planned that can impact your business.

It is essential for the general manager to be engaged with local groups and to attend networking events. I am reminded of the Saturday afternoon when a restaurant I was managing would have normally been slow, so I only had two servers, bartender, a cook, a prep person and myself working and suddenly, we got “slammed”. We literally got our rear ends handed to us. We were totally unprepared to execute this rush. I latter learned that there was an ice hockey tournament a few miles away. I was new to the restaurant and embarrassed to say that I did not do my due diligence, so I did not even know there was an ice hockey rink nearby. Please learn from my experience as it was a very painful and damaging lesson to learn.

When I am working with a new restaurant, I now drive around the area, talk to other businesses, guests and team members to learn what is in the area. Then armed with that information I grab some food, carry out menus and begin to visit the venues to establish a relationship with them as well as obtaining the dates of major events. The information and relationships are not only helpful in establishing my par levels but also for marketing the restaurant.

Let me insert a marketing tip here. Please note I said bring food. I have learned that food goes a long way to establishing a relationship and if they are not familiar with your restaurant it provides them an opportunity to learn about it. You don’t need to go wild with this. Chances are you have food that is still great but close to it’s expiration date, instead of throwing it away use it to build relationships. Check with your accountant or accounting department but the value of the food might be charged to business development instead of waste. This accounting adjustment could affect your current food costs. This is not a trick, it is a legitimate adjustment as food will likely result in increased future sales.

Leading up to the event, drop off carry out menus at the venue, remind the venue that you would like to partner with them leading up to and on the day of the event.  If you are properly prepared this can be a wonderful opportunity for your restaurant.

Once you have all the information log it on a planning calendar, so it is right there when establishing pars (which should be done well in advance, not the week before). Remember to let your staff know ahead of time that you will require additional staff.

Here is another tip that will improve operations as well as guest satisfaction. If you know that the guests will have limited time, consider preparing an express menu for them. Include items that are easy to prepare and can be served quickly. There is nothing worse than to have guests who are rushed for time and someone not thinking orders a thick well-done steak. Have your regular menu available but let them know that the express menu items will be a lot quicker.  Both your guests and your team will love you for it.

If you anticipate that you will be busy through out the day that it will be hard for the team to take breaks and the kitchen might be too busy to cook a shift meal, consider ordering in pizza for the team. For some other great ideas to implement on an extremely busy day I encourage you to read my article on preparing for Mother’s Day. Remember “proper planning prevents poor performance”.

It's never too early to prepare your team for Mother's Day

It’s never too early to prepare your team for Mother’s Day

By: Bob Tousey, FMP, MBA, JD

        Mother’s Day is over a month away, but it is never too early to get ready for this opportunity. Make no mistake, Mother’s Day is an opportunity for your restaurant. It is one of, if not, the busiest day for many full-service restaurants. This is not only an opportunity to make money for you and your team, but it is an opportunity to show off your restaurant. If you wow guests on Mother’s Day, they are likely to tell others and return themselves. If you disappoint chances are they will not be back and may take to social media and review sites to share their disappointment. This is not a time to be pennywise and dollar foolish.

        Do not wait until a week before to prepare, begin now. If you have already begun, I congratulate you for being proactive and setting your restaurant up for success.

Look at last year’s sales figures. Has anything changed that will impact sales (more residential development, the opening or closing of other restaurants, has the economy taken a nose dive or significantly improved).  Then get your management team together and critique how you performed last year. Did you have adequate staffing? Think about back of the house as well as expeditors, food runners, bussers, hosts, bartenders as well as servers. This is not the day for the management team to be filling hourly positions. They need to be engaged in both the back and front of the house, ensuring everything is running smoothly and adjust if it is not. They also need to be greeting guests and wishing the mom’s a “Happy Mother’s Day”.  Do you have the staff you need to execute properly? If your answer is no, get your hustle on. This will be your last opportunity to adjust, hire staff and have time to properly train them before the big day. Inadequate or untrained staff will not lead to successful execution. Make sure to adjust your staffing pars for the holiday and let everyone know it’s an all hands-on deck day. Everyone will be needed.

        Once you have assessed your staffing, its time to examine and adjust your par levels for the big day. Running out of food will not make your restaurant a hit with the guests. Make sure your par levels for ordering and prep have been adjusted considering the increased volume you will have on Mother’s Day.

        Get the schedule up early. Let everyone know what hours you expect them and give those who will need it time to adjust for child care. The team will likely be working a longer day.

Begin preparing you staff for the big day. While a strong manager is always engaging with staff during the shift, it is especially important, leading up to an opportunity such as Mother’s Day. Reinforce great behavior by complimenting the staff and kindly but firmly correct errors. Use your pre-shift meetings to let the staff know what to expect. Remind them this in not a normal day. Reinforce to the front of the house staff that this is their opportunity to make good money themselves. Schedule the staff to be in early for a solid pre-shift. Have some coffee and donuts ready for them to enjoy before and during pre-shift. Make sure they are not starting the shift hungry.

         

There will not be time for long breaks nor will the back of the house have time to prepare food for team, but your staff will get hungry. What I have done in the past is plan with a local pizza place to periodically bring pizza’s in for the team. Do this early so you know that they can accommodate you. Don’t try calling for delivery on Mother’s Day. I set aside a prep table for the pizza and left-over donuts. Please make sure the table is near to a hand wash sink so the team can wash their hands before and after eating. I had a good relationship with the pizza shop manager and was able to trust him to make the call on how many pizza’s and when. He was extraordinarily honest and did not take advantage of the situation. Hopefully, you can establish such a relationship. He gave me a bill the next day and we paid it with a tip for his delivery person, who was extraordinarily helpful, consolidating pizza and throwing out empty boxes each time he came by.  I also made sure to have pitchers of soft drinks on the table with disposable cups. This way team members could grab a quick slice and drink when they had a moment. Pizza is the perfect food as it is easy to eat on the run.

        Ideally, you should have a manager managing the back of the house (not cooking or washing dishes), a manager running the wait. The last thing you want to do is put the kitchen in the weeds because an inexperienced host sat too many tables at once. The host probably understands not to double seat, but I have seen too many ignore what is happening in the kitchen. There should also be at least one manager working the floor. Ensuring the guests are happy and being served properly. It is always wise to have at least one manager floating to assist where needed. This is the ideal situation, but it will vary based on your team’s size and management team. Make sure your aces are in their places. This is the equivalent of the world series for the restaurant industry. 

        There is a lot to do. So, if you have not already started, don’t put it off start today. This is your time to shine and make the Mom’s happy. If your budget allows it is always a nice touch to give mom’s a little something. Also, remember your team will include mother’s as well. Make sure to do something nice for them and acknowledge that you recognize they are making a sacrifice being there. For your team members that have moms at home send home with a little thank you to her for her understanding and wishing her a happy Mother’s Day. If your budget can withstand it maybe send a slice of cake home with their son or daughter for Mom.

Leadership of a project by Bob Tousey, FMP, MBA

        Leadership is influencing people to successfully work together to achieve a common goal. When I think of leadership I think of two statements. One is from Stephen Covey “begin with the end in mind” and the other was from Harry S. Truman “the buck stops here”.

        As a leader it is important to have a compelling vision of what you want to accomplish. The leader needs to be able to communicate the vision in a manner that others understand it and get excited enough about it that they want to be a part of it. If the team does not “buy into” the vision it is going to be very difficult to make the vision successful. One way of earning the “buy in” is by asking for input from all the stakeholders. All includes all. That is from the very top to the people who will be charged with carrying out the vision and everyone in between. If you're making a change to a restaurant don’t forget to include the dishwasher if he or she is going to be affected by the change. You might be surprised at the valuable input you will receive.

        It is also important to talk to others who have been successful in carrying out a similar project. Find out what success they had and what challenges presented themselves. Don’t reinvent the wheel, learn from the success and the mistakes of others. Also, if the project is the subject of government regulation, check with the regulatory agencies. Speak with zoning, the building department, health department and liquor boards. Make sure you know what lead time is needed to get a permit approved, how long it takes to schedule an inspection, check out local codes. Do not rely on your contractors to have all the correct information. Remember Harry Truman’s saying the buck stops here. "Here" is with you the leader. Your superior or your investors are not going to be impressed with a response of “I thought the contractor knew that”. Its your job as the leader to know that.

        Once you have all your input its time to put together your plan. Again, include your stakeholders in the planning process. As discussed when seeking input, you may be surprised at the valuable information you gain. The planning stage is when you want to think of all the “what if’s” and plan for them. Once the plan is established and acceptable to the stakeholders its time to implement it. Depending on what is being planned the next step might be finding a location, construction, training or possibly something I have not even thought of.

        Whatever the next step is remember the leader is the one who remains ultimately responsible. Therefore, the leader must keep his or her finger on the pulse and make sure everything is going according to plan. This means observing the process and coaching the team. When the leader observes he or she wants to make sure his or her eye is on everything. A friend of mine who has been a multi-unit manager recently told me, that managers thought he was so smart because he noticed everything. He confided in me that he was able to notice everything because he was not involved in the day to day operation. He was just watching, gaining an overview of what was going on and by doing so noticing things that those involved in day to day operations might miss. So, remember the leader must always allow time to just observe what is going on. Chances are the leader will notice something that needs to be corrected.

        Even when the initial project is complete and you’re in full operations it is important for the leader to remember the vision and share it with others in a compelling manner. It is important to remember the plan and for the leader to keep his or her finger on the plans pulse to make sure the plan is still consistent with the vision and still being carried out appropriately. It is important to continue observing and coaching. Remember the team will focus on what the leader focus on. If something is slipping its probably because the leader lost focus.

Guest Relationships: Critical to your restaurant's success

Guest Relationships: Critical to your restaurant’s success

By: Bob Tousey, FMP, MBA

Those of us who remember the television show Cheers remember that the title of the theme song was “Where everybody knows your name”. Cheers was centered around a neighborhood bar with plenty of regulars who engaged in friendly banter with each other and the bar owner. This was quite common in years gone by as many bars and restaurants were family owned and the bond between owners and guests were very strong.

My great grandfather owned and operated a bar and grill like Cheers in the early 1900’s. From what I am told he remembered every guest’s birthday and wedding anniversary. He not only wished them well but provided them with a take home gift.  Now with many restaurants being corporately owned and run by managers the neighborhood feel of restaurants is no longer common place. In my view, this is not a good development. For long term success it is important for the operator, whether owner or manager, to be the face of the restaurant in the community. This means the operator must be active in the community outside the restaurant as well as in the “front of the house”.  He or she should be attending community events, greeting guests, visiting tables and getting to know the regular guests and the restaurant’s neighbors.

There are many ways this can happen and in a future post I will explore ways to be a good neighbor and establish great relationships. In this post I will share one story which demonstrates how important these relationships are to the restaurant and their guests.

About ten years ago, I was a manager for a large corporately owned restaurant. I enjoyed getting to know my guests and this story demonstrates how creating these relationships helped a family as well as defused what could have been a challenging situation.

The restaurant is located near a hospital and a family became mid afternoon regulars. As they often came in during off peak hours it was easy to take some time to get to know them. As I got to know them I learned they had a relative who was seriously ill in the hospital and that the family shared my strong Christian faith. This knowledge became very helpful when a new server told me that a family was very upset and nothing she could do would please them. I immediately went out to see what I could do to make their visit better. As I approached the table I realized they were my friends with the relative in the hospital. We were all very comfortable with each other, so I was able to sit at the booth and ask them about their relative. I learned he had taken a turn for the worse and they did not expect him to survive.  With my knowledge of our shared faith it was instinctive to ask them if they wanted to share a prayer, which they did. We then talked as friends about the news they just received. It turns out our service and food were fine they were just upset about the news they received, and it affected their perception of how things were going. Without any prompting from me they apologized to the server and a nice bond developed.

After their relative passed they were no longer daily guests but did visit regularly. Having gotten to know this family allowed me to speak to them as friends and me from responding defensively.  Normally, I would not offer to pray with guests, but because of our relationship, I knew that they valued prayer and we had a shared faith, so I was comfortable doing that. It meant a lot to them and the server appreciated it as well. Becoming friends with your guests allows you to serve them in extraordinary ways. 

A huge controllable expense many restaurants ignore: Employee turn-over

A huge controllable expense many restaurants ignore: Employee turn-over

        

This may be a restaurant's largest controllable expense

By: Bob Tousey, FMP, MBA

       The margins in the restaurant business are so thin that effective managers must pay careful attention to each cost item in their budget. One controllable cost that many managers ignore is the cost of employee turnover. For years, many managers have considered employees to be expendable and would let good employees walk out the door without any effort to encourage them to stay or understand why they are leaving. I remember one manager saying "let them go, we can replace them". This combined with the natural turn over in an industry that hires a lot of students and part time workers its no wonder the restaurant industry has some of the highest turn over rates in the country. Let's take a moment to examine how dire the situation is.

       The Bureau of Labor Statics estimated that turn over in the restaurant and accommodations industries in 2016 hit an astonishing 72.9%. The Center for Hospitality Research at Cornell University estimates the cost of employee turnover is $5,864 per employee lost. The estimate includes costs associated with recruitment, selection, orientation & training as well as lost productivity. With the cost of turn over so high, it is something that deserves priority attention.

Before we discuss how to reduce the turn over cost it will be helpful to make sure the readers know how to calculate the turn over rate in their restaurant. This will allow them to recognize how implementing some of the ideas in this post can affect their bottom line. First, for count all the separations which occur during the period that is being examined (month, year, etc.). Only include permanent separations whether voluntary or involuntary. Do not include employees out on the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), other leaves of absences or those on temporary lay-off. To determine the average number of employees for the period you average the number of employees that worked during the period. When doing the calculations remember to use actual head counts rather than full-time equivalents (FTE’s) for both the total separations and average number of employees. Once these numbers have been determined you simply divide the number of separations during the period by the average number of employees for the period. Let’s say the period is one year and you have 35 separations and the average number of employees is 50. The turn-over rate for the year will be 70%. With an average turn over cost of $5,864 that is a loss to your restaurant of $205,240. I bet that gets your attention!!! If you were one of those who thought that employees are expendable I bet, you are rethinking that. While a manager will never eliminate turn over it can be reduced.

       How to reduce the turn over rate will depend on your restaurant’s situation. As discussed previously turn over will always exist. However, the industry can do better. A good first step, is to begin to conduct exit interviews when possible. This will help you get a good gauge on why employees are leaving which will help you identify opportunities for improvement.

       Retention begins at the recruitment and selection process. Encourage strong employees to refer candidates to you. Often good employees will recommend other good employees. This can be done by offering a bonus for referring an employee. It is recommended that the bonus be paid in at least two or more increments such as half at the time the offer is accepted and half when the employee completes his or her probationary training. Another idea is to keep the lines of communications open with those employees who left on good terms. They can be the source of great referrals and maybe be able to return themselves. A great and fun way to communicate with alumni is to institute an electronic alumni newsletter. The newsletter can include information about what is going on in the restaurant plus alumni only specials. Not only is this be a wonderful way to keep in touch, it could also generate business on a traditionally slow shifts. Have the alumni show the manger their electronic newsletter (which is easy with cell phones and tablets) to be eligible for the special. One suggestion is on on a slow bar shift offer a $5 burger to alumni in the bar area only. This will encourage alumni to mingle with other alumni. Have mangers and top performers there to welcome them and talk. Another idea is to use culinary and hospitality programs at local colleges as a recruitment source. Social media and traditional advertising forms can also aid the recruitment effort.

       Once there is a strong recruitment program in place, it is time to consider the selection process. Managers should ask strategic questions that are geared to learning a candidate’s level of knowledge as well as determining whether they are a good fit for your restaurant’s culture. Once you determine that the candidate has the knowledge necessary and is a good “fit” you should ask for references and check the references. Obviously, it is important to confirm dates of employment and position held. Many employers will not share reasons for departure or if they would rehire, but by engaging in conversation, you maybe able to learn a candidate’s strengths and weaknesses.

       Once you the candidate accepts the offer it is important to effectively and efficiently use the orientation and training time to provide the new employee with all the tools necessary to succeed in the new role. Make sure your trainers are your "cream of the crop" employees. Have the management team meet with the new employees throughout training and most importantly make sure the new employee has mastered everything they need to know to be successful. If the employee demonstrates potential but needs more time, please extend them a reasonable amount of time to master the material. Often an employee who takes a little longer really masters the material and turns into a champion member of your team. The investment in some additional training time pales in comparison to the turn over cost. It is also important to provide ongoing training. This can be as simple as including a 3 to 5-minute training component to each pre-shift meeting. This should be part of a structured training plan and each component should be repeated throughout the week. It is important for management to determine whether the employees mastered the training goal. This can be done through observation or a short quiz can be given. Managers and top performers should be coaching on the topic throughout the week.

It is also important to recognize top performers through team member of the week or month programs. Provide an incentive as well as posting their picture so fellow employees and guests can recognize the achievement. Another effective way to keep employees happy and knowledgeable is to offer a shift meal before the shift begins. The manager selects a menu item to be served. This allows employees to eat before their shift, to gain menu knowledge plus ensures they will be on time for their pre-shift meeting. During the pre-shift meeting a member of the culinary team can take a minute or so to describe the item offered. It is also important when possible to honor requests for time off. Obviously, there will be times that you can not do that. This will occur on blackout days such as Valentine’s Day or Mother’s Day or when there is not adequate coverage. There are many times though a time off request can be granted and if it can be please grant it. One last suggestion is for management to be clear and consistent in its expectations. The managers should also be respectful and professional in their demeanor.

Hopefully, this article will provide you some ideas on how to reduce the controllable expense of turn-over costs and will make your restaurant more profitable and efficient. 

Food Safety: Managing Allergens

Food Safety:  Best Practices for Food Allergies

By: Bob Tousey, FMP, MBA

Tousey Hospitality Group

bobtousey@touseyhospitalitygroup.com

Every food service establishment needs to be concerned about customers who suffer from food allergies.

Allergies affect 1 in 25 Americans and 1 in 13 children.  There is no cure for food allergies and the only way to prevent a reaction is strict avoidance. 

This a big concern for the food service industry because approximately 5 million people with food allergies eat at a food establishment daily.  The way your establishment manages food allergies could determine if someone with a food allergy will eat there.  Remember it takes only 1 person in a group with a food allergy to affect the group’s decision where to dine.

This post is not intended to be an exhaustive study on food allergy management but to suggest ten best practices that you can put into place to keep your guests safe. 

Before we discuss the best practices to follow it is important that we identify the most common food allergens which are also known as the “Big Eight”.  They are:  Dairy, Wheat, Tree Nuts, Eggs, Peanuts, Soy, Seafood, and Shellfish.  Ingredients which contain or have been exposed to these allergens are quite common. For this reason the first best practice is to always have someone on duty with special training in allergens and who is knowledgeable about all ingredients. The National Restaurant Association’s ServSafe offers an excellent online training program that can be completed in a few short hours and the last time I checked the cost was a reasonable $22. 

Other nine best practices include:

• ·         Having the server immediately notify the Chef or Kitchen Manager that an allergen free order is coming in to the kitchen;

• ·         For a Manager or Chef to verify with the guest exactly what the allergy is;

• ·         Having a separate deep fryer for preparing allergen free food (one that does not contain peanut oil and is not used to fry fish or any other allergen);

• ·         Having a separate toaster that wheat products or other allergens are not toasted in;

• ·         Maintain separate cooking tools for preparing allergen free meals (these should be stored separately and clearly marked and only used for allergen free meals);

• ·         Train staff that when preparing an allergen free meal on a flat grill to place aluminum foil on the grill in order to create a barrier between the food and the grill’s surface. By doing this the allergen free food will not come into contact with allergens which have been previously cooked on the grill;

• ·         Train staff to wash hands and change gloves prior to preparing an allergen free meal;

• ·         Clean and sanitize all food preparation surfaces that will be used for  preparing an allergen free meal;

• ·         Once prepared place the allergen free meal on an identifiable plate (an inexpensive solution is to simply double plate all allergen free meals) then have the chef, manager or server deliver the allergen free meal separately from other meals and to then check back to make sure everything is satisfactory.

This post would not be complete without a discussion of what to do if a guest has an allergic reaction in your restaurant.  Even with the best safeguards this can happen.  Remember that not all guests will alert you to the allergy and even best practices and not perfect. 

• ·         Make sure someone stays with the guest;

• ·         Find out any pertinent information that will be needed by emergency personnel (type of allergy, any medication administered, etc.)

• ·         Have someone call “911”;

• ·         Have someone wait for emergency personnel and direct them to the guest;

• ·         After the incident meet with all staff involved and critique the incident to determine if similar incidents can be prevented in the future and if you can manage them better if they do occur.