It is not just working mothers that worry about the balance of home life versus career these days.  Study after study has shown that employees that have a life outside of work have the best attendance records, performance records and are involved in less accidents at the work place than their over worked counterparts.

It may be very tempting in lean economic times to cut back the hours of your non-salaried employees and allow your salaried managers to pick up the slack.  While the impact on your bottom line may be a sort of instant gratification, the long-term result is likely to put you in the red more than you saved to begin with.

A few things to consider:

Stress- Just because a manager is away from home more with an increased schedule load does not mean that their responsibilities at home have decreased accordingly.  We all know the feeling of their not being enough hours in a day, and an over worked employee still has to juggle their home life.  Pushing tasks back into sleeping time will over time create a less than alert manager, causing reactionary time to fall dramatically.  Safety is a big issue- a tired manager is less likely to notice safety violations and less likely to be accurate in reporting, both of which can have dire consequences to your business stability.

Dissatisfaction- It may seem downright silly, but Little Johnny’s soccer game or Sally’s dance recital may be just as important as work.  Employees that are not given an opportunity to enjoy family events or handle personal problems at home quickly become resentful of their employment. An unhappy employee is an unproductive employee as a rule. Once the loyalty is shaken effort on the job is likely to decrease, the impact of which a restaurant owner will see translate to the bottom line.

Attendance- Even the most dedicated employee can only do so much.  While your plan to cut payroll may look like a smashing success in the first few months, the wear and tear on your salaried employees will show itself in time.  Emotional and physical wellness go hand in hand, and historically employees with adequate time away from work have less illnesses and injuries as a result.  Likewise, they are less likely to feel the need to “call in sick” to attend to personal matters if they have no reason to fear a backlash if they need to request time off work.

Even if your top-performing manager is eager to pick up the extra work, it’s beneficial in the long run to require and encourage downtime.  Balancing your scheduling needs while understanding your employees do have needs outside of the restaurant will result in happier employees. Happy employees get sick less and make less safety mistakes. Happy employees also provide better service.  Superior  service, as we all know, is the best recipe for a successful business.

Doubltree Head Chef gives his thoughts on the FiltaFry service.

Every employer’s nightmare is a workman’s compensation or unemployment claim.  You do not have to have a degree in human resources or employment law to successfully protect your business and it’s assets from claims.

The nature of restaurants is it’s own evil.  Accidents happen from slick kitchen floors, customers are at risk of being burned by hot liquid (just think about the McDonald’s coffee fiasco), emplyee claims (mainly around burns from fryers) and turnover in employees is higher than in almost any other industry.  This is a recipe for disaster in the way of claims against your business, but there are several things you can do to protect yourself and your restaurant.

Policies and procedures are generally well outlined if you own a franchise and the training required by the franchisor will likely cover these in detail for your new employee.  If you own a non-franchise restaurant you need to think carefully about your own policies and procedures and make sure they are clearly laid out in a manual you personally review with each new hire during the training process.  If you aren’t experienced in writing, it may be worth your investment to hire an outside agency to review your manual and make necessary adjustments.  Handing a manual to a new hire is not enough, especially if they have worked in restaurants before coming on board with yours.  They are likely to think it’s the same across the board, and may gloss over important pieces of information that could prevent an accident.  If you do own a franchise, this review is equally important.  In either situation, yearly reviews of the manuals in the form of a group meeting is well worth the effort.  By doing so, there is no room for confusion or forgetfulness that can result in cut corners and inevitably accidents in the workplace.

Paperwork is something no one enjoys, but it can be your lifeline in the event a claim comes against you.  Document everything that happens, regardless of how small.  For insurance issues, detailed documentation of what occurred, how the situation was responded to, witness statements that are signed and dated, and follow up processes implemented can make all of the difference in liability.  If the injured employee broke any of your policies and procedures be sure to detail that information along with any disciplinary actions taken.

For unemployment claims, your paper trail is the only thing that can protect you.  In each of your employee’s files you should have signed copies of their acknowledgment of the handbooks rules, details of each time they were late or called out of work, and very detailed reports on any disciplinary problems that arise.  Even if your employee is given a “verbal warning” you need to have it documented that the warning was given and have the documentation signed by the employee acknowledging the issue.  Most states are at will states, meaning either party can terminate their employment without any real reason, but when it comes to an unemployment claim it is you versus the employee on who was in the right.  Even if there was only one violation to your policies, documentation of it can protect you if it comes to review by the Department of Labor.

Hear from Friday’s Front Row Manager about his experience with FiltaFry.

When it comes to the kitchen, you can’t cut corners. This where all of the magic is done. The chefs prep the food, make it, and present it in a way that makes it the most interesting for the diners. It is imperative to be able to keep an orderly kitchen that is safe and clean. Kitchens have many stations. These vary from prep, saute, salad, pizza, and even more. This varies dependent upon what the restaurant serves and how large the kitchen is. It is important to have all that is needed to make amazing meals. For example, if you have many different types of pizzas it is important to have all of the toppings stocked up and fresh just waiting to be thrown on top. Space requirements are important to maintain and a good restaurant manager will know and understand the space limits given.

Stocking your kitchen properly is important, too. Making sure that you have all of the necessary equipment and also have them in working order can make it easier. It can be better to get used equipment as it would save you money while still providing quality materials that are smaller. For larger equipment, it might be better to just pay out full price on new materials because it will last much longer and is cheaper in the long run. The other option is to lease equipment that stop working sooner than most things.

The most important thing about running a kitchen is safety. There always needs to be more than enough space for workers to move around the cooking equipment. The workers jobs need to be done while not compromising safety. All hot food needs to be handled properly and all workers need to be trained in doing exactly that. Working out a process of how you want all things handled is key to being able to keep safety number one. There should be a list of all necessary steps for this goal. Maybe making a handbook would be the best idea. You could section it off and have all employees read the books then do on-site training to confirm that they all understand perfectly.

Keeping a safe kitchen is the key element needed to run a good restaurant. As long as you keep it a safe environment, things will run smoothly. People will get hurt very rarely, making it easier for you. You won’t have to find a replacement or deal with unemployment for example. You will also get the food out faster and the quality will make the customers come back again and again. On top of that, your employees have the right to be kept safe in a risk free environment. They also deserve it. Keeping yourself aware and alert to the space requirements from the beginning will make it a well oiled machine before people even apply to work there. These are just a few tips and tricks to keep in mind for running a safe and efficient kitchen.

As a restaurant owner, you have enough on your plate in regards to overhead costs.  Commercial insurance is one way that you can easily save money in a tough economy.

Location, Location, Location
Any established restaurateur knows that location is everything.  It affects your target customer base, your traffic and your pricing strategies. If your business is in the start-up phase, you may want to consider leasing your property.  Many times, insurance is built into the cost of the lease, which can help net substantial savings month to month.  Even if its not offered at the onset, you may want to discuss this option with the property owner as a negotiating point.

Safety First

We have all heard it before, but safety in the workplace is about more than just protecting your business assets from lawsuits.  Obviously no one wins when an employee is injured.  Injury results in lack of production, medical expenses, and workman’s compensation issues.  It also will greatly affect your insurance premiums.  Make safety a priority- educate your employees on safety procedures to keep your kitchen and restaurant free from accidents and have proper disciplinary actions in place to discourage short cuts. All too often just being a little lax on safety procedures can lead to major accidents, but even the smallest of accidents can cause those dreaded insurance premium hikes.  Many insurance claims are centered around the fryers.  Taking away this liability by utlilising cooking oil filtration and fryer management servics, like FiltaFry, can help.  Keeping accident rates low will insure your premiums stay the same.

Careful Reporting

You may think that you are on top of your claims, and that they are reported carefully, but your employees may not be as concerned or knowledgeable about the impact they have on your insurance premiums.  If an accident does occur, make certain your reports are done promptly and are concise.  Track all incidents that lead to accidents, make necessary adjustments to prevent repeat scenarios, and educate your management team as to the importance of this aspect of their job to prevent major loses.

Knowing your insurer

If you run a franchise, you may be locked in by your contract with a particular insurance company.  If the choice is yours to make, be sure to do your homework and find a company that has competitive rates and good reviews from past and present clients.  Shopping around is a must, and if you are not comfortable or knowledgeable with exactly how commercial insurance works find an insurance broker that is well regarded.  Your local Chamber of Commerce is a great place to start to find the right broker.   A broker that specializes in hospitality insurance will understand the type of claims you may face and be able to lead you to the perfect company for your business needs.

Avoid Coverage Gaps

Missing a renewal date by just a few days can cause a major increase in your out of pocket expense even if no accidents occur during the lapse.  Have a plan set in place to regularly review your paperwork associated with your claims, be certain loose ends are tied up and that the information is easily accessible.  Renew early whenever possible, as you may find this gives you a small discount and will help you avoid any last minute quote changes.

Definition: a person or thing that leads. A guiding or directing head, as of an army, movement, or political group. – Websters

Recently, while thinking of ways to better myself and my business, I decided to Google the term “Becoming a leader” and the search provided an amazing 48,800,000 results. WOW! It would take a really long time to read through all this, so I began thinking of my own experiences. Although I have only been in business for myself for a year, I have experienced a great deal in my 15 years in the work force. Unfortunately, I have seen more bad than good and it’s a sad reminder of how far we still need to go as humans. My experiences have left me with knowledge of how I would not like to treat employees and what I believe will produce the best results when employing people. By no means am I promising a magic solution to employment retention, but I have found a few key elements that seem to work really well and I want to make sure you have these tidbits I like to call jewels.

Employees are Assets
Treating an employee as an asset is typically the furthest from a manager’s mind. Actually, they are sometimes thought of as a “number” or a “liability”. If you are examining a balance sheet or performing payroll I would tend to agree with you, every employee is a number as well a liability. But when your balance sheet becomes part of your vocabulary, and employees are referred to as replaceable, there’s a fine line that has been crossed and problems will begin to occur. Resentment fuels the desire to sabotage and eventually quit. No one wants that. So what do you do? Well, know this. Everyone wants to know they have value. Not only in business, but in life. It is a fact, we spend one third of our lives working. Why not you as the owner create an environment that makes it the most enjoyable time of their life! Talk with them about where they see themselves in the next six months or year. What do they like to do? Fish, hunt, golf, etc.. Basically, get to know them and see how close the business goals are to there’s.

Create and Adhere to Strict Guidelines
Although I believe strongly in the way an employee is viewed and treated, I equally believe that there are guidelines that must be followed and adhered to. If not, then it disrupts the flow of owner to employee relations and some employees may even find themselves thinking you’re a push over. That is why you should immediately put in place a set of guidelines for the business. Your guidelines should encompass areas such as proper procedures for performing service, van cleanliness, client interaction, language, attire, etc. Make sure each employee is properly trained on these guidelines and two copies of the document printed. One for them to keep for reference and one for them to sign and return back to you. The signed agreement should be placed in their personal file. The guidelines also help to establish a baseline for them to follow, and shows that you will not accept anything less. Lastly, its equally important that you follow these guidelines as well. When everyone is on the same page, taking your business to the next level of growth becomes easier to accomplish.

Generate Purpose
If you were like me I started this business with enthusiasm beyond control. The world was (and still is) my oyster and all I needed to do was make it happen. I had pinpoint accurate purpose. Everyone wants to have that level of purpose in the job they perform each day. That’s what makes it worth getting up every morning at 4am, or going after the business that said “check with me next week” for the fourth time, or cleaning the van and machine after a 60 to 70 hour week. The same applies to your techs. They look to you for not only guidance, training, etc. but direction into the future. No one likes to take a road trip that has no destination……do they? I adhere to a quarterly meeting with my team. We meet first thing in the morning on Saturday around 7am. It is mandatory and they do get paid and feed. I keep them for about 1 hour. I figure my cost to do all this is around $50. That is a drop in the bucket when it compares to time spent replacing a tech.

Be Considerate
These guys you call technicians are no different from us when it comes to exhaustion. They are not robots (although at times I wish they were), they are humans also carrying with them emotions and feelings. I’m by no means asking you to have a kumbaya session each week around the family campfire with them, but I am asking that you be thoughtful of what they are going through. It wasn’t too long ago that I ran all the services and demos. 20 hours a week quickly became 50 to 60. At times I was physically shot and my emotions were less than desirable (ask my wife). This job is hot and dirty, especially in the summer months in the South. Ouch! So be considerate.

Show your Worth
Allow your employees the opportunity to show their worth. I know for a fact that if managers would stop micromanaging their employees they would see a better product. Most people want the opportunity to excel and be the best they can be. But they have to be given the opportunity. As a owner/manager take the time and listen to what your team has to offer. Sometimes they are totally off, but other times they may provide some serious value. Take everything said into consideration and decide if it can provide value to your business. Let your team help you be a leader in environmental kitchen solutions.

Be a Servant
Last but not least, serve. Serve not only your employees, but your community. Sure you can make a lot of money and sit back and receive a check, but what about your duty as a citizen of the human race? We are all here for not only our own purpose but the purpose of others. Although that may sound deep, its true. We have the responsibility to assist others in their time of need, to educate, and the list continues. Things that you can do include charities, teaching, helping at a shelter, etc. one activity I took on this year involves teaching at a local school once a week. It’s a fantastic opportunity to speak with younger people who want to be successful in business. Another involved a shoe collection for the people in Haiti. My family and I went around and asked neighbors and friends to give their shoes as well a dollar for each pair given. This in no way is intended to boast or brag about my accomplishments but an opportunity to empower you and see that it is the little things in life we do that make such a massive difference to others. Reflect on this quote and see what you can do tomorrow for others.

“Life is a place of service. Joy can be real only if people look upon their life as a service and have a definite object in life outside themselves and their personal happiness.” ~ Leo Tolstoy

The FiltaFry service is even offered in Hunduras!  From March 2010, FiltaCool is being offered in Honduras.

In a time where the national unemployment rate is at an all time high- over 10% in most markets- your initial response when contacted by a restaurant recruiter may be to hang up the phone.  Before you do just that, you may want to consider a few benefits that make the fee seen more beneficial to your bottom line.

Sourcing
If given the choice, would you hire a restaurant manager that has a proven track record of success with your competitor, or a manager that was fired from his last three jobs?  No doubt, the answer seems obvious.  But if the manager has a proven track record with your competitor, do you really think he or she is out beating the street and looking for a new job in a market ripe with lay offs and closings?  This is where a recruiter is most beneficial.  Recruiters will seek out those top-performing managers and bring them to you.  Despite what you may think, a good recruiter is not shady or underhanded in their process.  They simply present a better opportunity to that top performing manager and open the window of communication between you and the type of person you want running your business.

Scouring
Anyone who has tried to hire lately knows that a simple ad in the local newspaper will bring in hundreds of applications.  While your ad may clearly require five years of restaurant management experience, you’ll find that the desperate job seeker will translate that very loosely.  As a result, you find yourself wading through hundreds of applications of under qualified- or not at all qualified- individuals.  Hours of wasted time that could be spent growing your business can be avoided with the use of a recruiter.  The recruiters job is not only to source candidates for your position, but also to prescreen, interview and check references of the managers they present to you for consideration.  The end result is you only have to do a few interviews with highly qualified individuals that you know meet your expectations.  The only hard part at that point is choosing between them.

Trial Run
One of the best advantages to using a professional recruiter is that you have the ability to do a “trial run” with your new hire.  As a hospitality professional and business owner, you know that hiring a new manager is expensive.  The cost of training a new manager can equate to thousands in lost time and resources, a hefty price to pay repeatedly if your new manager decides to walk away shortly after or during training.  A recruiter’s job is two-part. They not only act as a recruiter, but often as a councilor as well.  A good recruiter stays in constant contact with their new hire and can alert you in advance of any concerns.  Its in their best interest to help you keep that person on board, as most recruiting contracts include a 90 day or more guarantee- your manager is replaced for free if either of you are unhappy.

So before you hang up that phone, consider the benefits.  You could just hire your competition’s star employee, save time and money by not advertising and wading through unqualified applicants, and have an insurance policy against a hiring mistake.  Recruiters are feeling the pain of a bad economy as well, so you may just get all of this at a more than reasonable price if you negotiate carefully.

To truly understand franchising, you cannot look at it like a business- but instead, a way of doing business. True, it is a way of owning your own business, but on the other hand, this unique niche offers a variety of proven ways to get your foot in the door to any number of industries. The truth is, franchising generates over one point five trillion dollars in sales a year, so, it’s not only a different way of doing business, but a profitable one.

A franchise is, by definition, a legal, commercial relationship between the person or company that owns a trademark, trade name, service mark or any sort of advertising symbols and the people or person who wishes to be able to use that identifying information for their business. This means following the franchisor’s business model, as well as going along with the way that they want things done, for the most part. The majority of franchises involve sales of some sort, the franchisee providing goods and services that either meet the franchisor’s standards or are actually provided by the franchisor themselves.

The franchisee/franchisor relationship is one that should be based on teamwork, essentially- there is a great deal of trust between both that must be there, and communication is key. This is a sort of mutually beneficial arrangement where many will say is actually in better benefit to the franchisor, but that is not so. For franchisees, it often means having a stronger, more solid backing and way of doing business, where they are able to turn a decent profit and even experience some growth. For franchisors, of course, they reap the benefits as well and on the whole, a well researched franchise investment should be good for both parties involved.

When you’re looking into franchise, there are generally two types. Business format franchising, which involves a bigger picture. This is usually involved, with the vast majority of franchises in this format being real estate, convenience stores, tax preparation services, lodging and fast food restaurants- though there are other businesses under the umbrella of Business format franchising. This form almost always involves not only a set way of doing things, but training, materials and often marketing programs. The simpler format is product and trade name franchising, which does usually only involve license of the use of trademark to the franchisee. Product distribution is usually fairly common.

Being able to choose which type is right for you is usually a non issue, however. The best way to find a franchise that suits your needs is to first consider what those needs are. Then, think through your long term goals and map out a loose plan for them. Once you’ve done that, consider what sorts of options you have in the way of financing, and then begin your research. From there, don’t discount a franchise simply because it is in an industry you’ve not considered. Many people find success in industries they have no experience with, as this is one of the big assets to franchising- the training is usually provided and with enough drive, you, too can be a success.