People are the key (Advertorial)

Each of us sometimes eats out and doesn’t matter if we go to expensive restaurants or just for fast dinner at the corner. We all eat and a place somehow impresses us. If you are the one who doesn’t look for the right place to meet your fiancé’s parents or to talk to your friends, if you don’t care if you will have a calm table, eat a delicious meal and drink fine wine with people you like; if you are the one who comes to a restaurant every single day, if you check whether forks are clean and a waiter keeps smiling. If you are the one whose job is to manage all this stuff, offer delicious meal, fine wine and make gorgeous atmosphere for all those people who eat and spent time in your place…the only thing you care is to make all those people come back again. If you are a manager or an owner of the place you surely know that a clean fork is just a small part of a successful restaurant. This all is about people; people to people.

Lucia Macášková, 
Consultant Lugera & Makler.
Lucia Macášková, Consultant Lugera & Makler. (Source: Courtesy Lugera & Makler)

Each of us sometimes eats out and doesn’t matter if we go to expensive restaurants or just for fast dinner at the corner. We all eat and a place somehow impresses us. If you are the one who doesn’t look for the right place to meet your fiancé’s parents or to talk to your friends, if you don’t care if you will have a calm table, eat a delicious meal and drink fine wine with people you like; if you are the one who comes to a restaurant every single day, if you check whether forks are clean and a waiter keeps smiling. If you are the one whose job is to manage all this stuff, offer delicious meal, fine wine and make gorgeous atmosphere for all those people who eat and spent time in your place…the only thing you care is to make all those people come back again. If you are a manager or an owner of the place you surely know that a clean fork is just a small part of a successful restaurant. This all is about people; people to people.

People are the key. But which people are important? The ones who give you money or the ones, who clean forks, bring plates, prepare food and sell your services? Yes, your guests are the most important but don’t forget that it’s thanks to your people that you have guest! Realize that if you want to have happy guests the first step is to have happy employees. But, how can you achieve it? It’s not easy to make working conditions so attractive that hardworking, loyal and open people will want to work just for you. Where and how can you find these people? And if you have such people how can you keep them?

Modern companies understand importance of human resource management (HR management) and try to do as much as possible so that thank to great developed HR processes they can make the performance more effective in order to achieve nice income. If this is important in companies where a final product is touchable (automotive, electro technical production), imagine, how important is implementing HR processes in companies offering services. It’s time to understand that a company providing HoReCa services relies on his employees. They are the ones who present the company, who can make very positive or very negative impression on your customers. It doesn’t matter if your cuisine is delicious when your guest has to content himself with waiter’s faint smile. Remember: your staff can convince guest to come back again as well as that this restaurant is just a restaurant with nothing special. There is so many places were you can just eat!

To employ people means not only signing an employment agreement and expecting results but investing time, energy and money to people. Do you want to be successful? Make a change! Make your restaurant, bar, fast-food better. Make it different! Make your staff better. Build the best restaurant with the best meal and gorgeous services!

Think about it! Show your people they are important, ask them what they need. Probably you think there is no help because you don’t have enough money to give them what they want. But it is not only about money. Praise them, show them better way, teach them. Make sure your employees understand their work and how important it is. Monitor what their strengths and weaknesses are, which part of a job is interesting for them and which they do just because they have to. Search and find your employees? potential. Evaluate them; give to your people opportunity to be promoted and lead them to achieve their goals. Open your doors and ask them to present their ideas, listen to advice and implement changes. Prove your people they are a part of the company, can develop it and their try will be appreciated.

Do you remember when an excellent waiter left your company last time? Did you ask him for the reason? Did you find out what was wrong or if there was a chance he would have stayed? If you have asked, you could now maybe know that the salary you offer is much less than a standard is. Maybe you would know that your competitor gives to employees trainings, benefits, maybe people working in a restaurant next door can invite their family or friends for dinner once a month with great discount. Just try to imagine what you have and you don’t give. Your costs don’t have to increase if you want to give a nice job to your people. Maybe there is a lady in a kitchen who loves arranging flowers. Let her do it. You will have beautiful interior and she will be happy it is her work. Say “Thank you, I really like it”. This could be the first step. It’s probably a small step, maybe you think “it cannot work”, but who says it will be fast or easy? Who says that one try will change everything forever? No, it’s just the beginning. Expect your people will be skeptical. Why should they trust you? Do you ask them and you have no response? Don’t give it up. Try it again. Ask them again. Explain them they have to express their opinion, they have to think. You are a person who should know them and who has to find a way to them.

If you want your guest are happy, make your employees happy. If you want them to be happy, it’s you who can manage it. Get to know your people, ask and listen to them. Give them a chance and show them the right way. What you give, you will get back. If you succeed in making your employees happy you can succeed in running business.

Forks on the tables will be clean, meals and wine will be delicious, your guest will feel at home in your restaurant and the waiters will keep smiling because they will by happy.

Lucia Macášková, Consultant, Lugera & Maklér

Author: Lucia Macášková

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