Lessons from the hospitality industry (Part 1)
Hospitality requires a unique mix of skills. Not only is staff expected to know physical hard skills, but they are also expected to perfect soft skills, which are a lot more difficult to teach or are hardly taught in a traditional classroom.
You might have been the student with the highest grades in class at high school or have received the maximum academic level whilst at University or be the holder of a Master’s degree - yet none of these achievements would have taught you the skills of prioritisation, problem –solving whilst on-the-go, about staying calm during a crisis and emotional intelligence when dealing with people who are impatient and/or hungry…wthout losing your cool. Try working in the hospitality industry. It builds your character in a way that no academic qualification can. It’s an industry where people deal with people…all types of people.
At the moment, too many of our youth are underperforming, lacking motivation and social skills. In short, many are unemployable. It may be time for a radical solution? In 2017, Sweden followed Norway, announcing plans to introduce military conscription for both sexes: Earlier this year, 95,000 18-year-olds in that country received a letter asking whether they want to do military service.( Anyone who did’nt answer within two weeks risked fines). From this large number, 13,000 recruits will be called up each year, from which 5,000 will be chosen for service.
Perhaps we can consider a different form of youth service - not military, where anybody who is unemployed is encouraged to work in hospitality. Properly funded and lasting a year or two, it could be residential – although not essential.
Team work and leading by example
Working in hospitality requires you to be a team member. It is not a place for a lone wolf, i.e.not for those who prefer to be alone rather than in a group. Take for instance a typical kitchen operation. Before a shift, the kitchen team comes together for a ‘Battle Plan’ briefing so that everyone is on the same page. These briefings underline the importance of communications -imagine what chaos and misunderstanding there would be without communication. Every ‘station’ discusses their plan of action ;from ‘mise-en-place’ to making its own ‘prep’ list, because it may be necessary sometimes to begin with making the dessert - if it needs to gel.
Throughout this entire process, the chef / brigade leader needs to demonstrate participative leadership, leading by example, working with the team — not only to show team members that the leader can do it - but also to encourage and coach them in a ‘we can have fun but it is serious work ‘ approach. The beauty of it is that every shift is like no other… and can present different obstacles to resolve.
Managing by walking around
Great managers in hospitality operations exhibit continous and purposeful motion – amply demonstrating Management by Walking Around (MBWA). They are continually moving, correcting, helping, directing and coaching whilst raising energy and confidence levels. They move between kitchen, storeroom, back door, dining room, ‘greeter’ area and front door, assessing and directing flow, focus, food, and fanfare. An energetic and dedicated restaurant manager can log over five miles during a single shift and that is a lot of walking involving interaction with his/her staff and guests. No necessacity here to go to the gym!
Prioritising with a sense of urgency
Covey’s “The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities”, comes to mind immediately. You have 12 food items that need to be picked up from the kitchen and served at 4 different tables - at different times. 8 people who came in during the past few minutes need their ‘orders’ taken. Water refills to be done at some tables whilst pre-dinner drinks need to be picked up from the bar and served without delay. Throw in bill presentation and bidding diners farewell and you have a receipe for disaster lurking around.
How do you deal with the situation? By carefully prioritising tasks, where you bring order rather than chaos, eliminating stress as you move towards ensuring that the 22 or so people waited upon at the 5 tables, leave the restaurant happier than when they came in. Working in the hospitality industry creates a pressure cooker sitation. When confronted by it you kind of snap into motion, knowing somehow what needs to be done, and in what order of importance. As each day goes by… your skill level exponentally gets better.
I’ve heard this phrase very often “let’s work together with a sense of urgency”. Unfortunately, this is suggestive and hard to pinpoint and train employees. Ideally, any senses of urgency should’nt reflect panic or anxiety. Most diners will pick up on that and become unsettled. A sense of urgency is all to do with perpetual motion and timing and it must be garnished with an enthusiastic, engaging and bustling ‘vibe’…and that’s something one cannot learn in the classroom!
To be continued
Shafeek Wahab – Editor, Hospitality Sri Lanka, Consultant, Trainer, Ex- Hotelier
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