If you take a step back from your restaurant and peer in, you may see a friendly cashier or a glimpse of a cook in the back. These frontline workers have a large impact on your business, but those who give them direction impact them. This is why it is important to routinely take a step back and evaluate if your management team is effective – their work and authority trickles down into every aspect of the business. We encourage you to identify whether these management styles are occurring in your business and hindering growth and causing other employees to quit.
Stuck in the Mud
Managers have typically gotten to where they are because of their experience and hard work. However, years and years of experience can make people apt to avoid changing their ways – and the way the business works. If a frontline employee brings up a new idea for automating the process of relaying orders to the cooks, what does the manager say? “No thanks, we already have a system in place” or “Interesting, tell me more about that”? Understanding if your management team is stifling innovation and putting down other employees is important to recognize and act on.
Short Tempered
Managers with a short temper can be detrimental to any business. Yelling at staff members, making snide remarks, and/or ignoring employees are all signs of a bad manager. These kinds of actions, even if rare, can cause other employees to quit, leave a bad impression on customers who may overhear, and simply stifle growth. By not allowing this type of behavior from the management team, or any employee, it conveys the message that your business does not tolerate bad behavior and allows you to find another employee that better fits your culture.
Distant and Dazed
Do you have managers who sit in the back office their entire shift? They don’t know the names of the other employees? They don’t communicate effectively with employees or customers? Managers who act distant from their employees or dazed during their shifts can be difficult to detect. These managers often don’t receive as many complaints and don’t anger the employees they oversee. However, by not actively being engaged, they are stifling the growth of the business by not overseeing daily operations. They may be missing out on ways to automate processes, diffuse arguments, give an extra level of customer service to guests, or simply learn from employees which shifts they prefer.
What You Can Do
While each of these management styles are different, none of them are helping your business. The first step to fixing a bad management problem is to discover that it exists. To do this, it is important to regularly get feedback from your employees and customers regarding management. Check out this guide for feedback slips.
In addition, pop-in to a shift unannounced and simply observe. Is the manager on duty out with the other employees? Are they in the back office? Communicating with customers? You can learn a lot by sitting back and watching your operation occur.
If you discover that you have one of these management styles occurring in your business, it can be fixed. You’ll want to first determine whether you are going to let them go or try to correct the behavior. If you decide to let them go, check out this advice first regarding letting go of employees. If it’s determined you will give them another chance to correct their behavior, be sure to track their progress by getting regular feedback from employees and taking note of when they may be mentioned in customer feedback surveys.
When it is time for you to make your next hire, whether at the management or frontline level, Sprockets’ hiring solution can help ensure you only hire people who match your positive company culture. Learn how Sprockets can help.