Ops in Real Life vol. 13

In this thirteenth edition of Kendall Solves It, we have a question that arose from observation, being in the community in real life.

Community Question: How do you balance employee feedback, customer satisfaction, and profit?

Background: When my bestie and I were trying out a new spot, we had the opportunity to listen to our waitress. She shared a little bit of insight that made my observations clearer. There were not many customers but an excess of staff. It led to understandable frustration with the staff because they made money off tips. We'll save the tips conversation for another day. I could only wonder if the take-home was worth coming into work when they experienced consistent redundancies in scheduling. She shared that the new owners were new to the restaurant industry. After, our waitress, who was great by the way, clocked out, we stayed a little longer. We were sure to close out our current tab, so she could receive her tips from us. Shortly after she left, I noticed lack of efficiency. Our wait times for beverages and a check were unprecedented with our new waitress, when the establishment was still in a lull. This was not due to being overrun by customers, this may have reflected training.

Kendall's Insight and Action Steps: If you know me personally, you know that I have a people-centric approach. I believe that when we prioritize humans, profits will come. My insight will reflect that pragmatically. In analyzing this in real time, two things stuck out to me: the newness of the ownership and the disconnect between the employers and employees.

• First thing's first: have a profound understanding that the roles of employers and employees are different NOT better or worse. Why is this so important? Because we see businesses crumble because employers do not understand that fact. We also seen human beings worked to death being the casualties of unethical employers.

• Newness to an industry does not negate success. I've built a career on doing things I've never done before, and you who is reading this likely have, too. With that newness, research and consulting are paramount. There are a lot of things we can figure out, but new owners inheriting or purchasing an establishment with an existing team need to know that research alone won't give all the insight necessary to succeed. That is wildly different from building something new, where you have more freedom in building the foundation including the ideal the team.

• Know when to learn the landscape and when to reinvent the wheel. In this instance, with admittedly limited knowledge on the full scope, a full reinvention of the wheel was unnecessary. Now, I am sure the new owners saw some needs for improvement, for change, but some intentional change management is necessary when rolling out new initiatives with an established team who outlasted the previous leadership.

• Now, regarding the problem of disconnect, some of the consulting must come from the key stakeholders - loyal customers, surrounding community, stockholders, but quite importantly the employees with the most influence on the team.

• Get to know your staff. Have one-on-ones. Make it a point to connect with the longstanding employees who have weathered all the past changes. Restaurants are known to have high turnover rates, but get to know the rates for your particular establishment. Understand some of the pitfalls and how they recovered.

• Don't just gain trust to make mandates. Also listen to feedback because they're the ones implementing. Your staff likely sees your customers before you do, so they have valuable insight.

  
  

This is just a brief analysis of what I observed having a girls' night out. I know...I can't really turn this part of my brain off unless I'm in full creative mode - singing, cooking, or writing (not about business.) I certainly hope this insight is relevant to you or someone you know. Community-driven solutions are so important to us. I am committed to addressing real-world problems that impact business operations.   

For tailored solutions, consider scheduling an introductory call. We are happy to develop processes and systems for your business. 

Cheers.

K.T. Braxton, MBA