The Face of Change

As a restaurant employee you see change in the faces of those you work with all the time. Despite the people who have been with the restaurant since the foundation was laid, the rollover of employees is traditionally at a high level.

Working in a restaurant is not for everyone. You deal with various attitudes on both sides of the kitchen, varying hours, and no guarantee on the amount of money you are going to bring in on a given shift. Incorporate local college students whose schedules change every few months and people with other family influences on their schedules and you have a plethora of reasons for employees to relocate, cut back on shifts, and unfortunately quit.

Although employees far outweigh management, the faces of management change quite frequently at restaurant chains too. At Bob Evans and Max & Erma’s, managers were shifted throughout their regions on a fairly consistent basis. Although this can be a positive experience for both managers and employees it also does not allow people to gain long-term relationships experience with those in management.

Some may say that there should not be any type of relationship past an authority role between management and employees, however, I beg to differ.

Restaurant environments differ from office, suit and tie, type facilities in that our customers are right in front of us when they have a problem. We cannot collaborate and send them an apology e-mail, it is our responsibility to ensure that they leave happy. This is an experience that usually allows management to bond with their staff. So when those managers are used to working with a certain style of employee and their form of guest relations, it can be different to then introduce a new player to the game.

However, I have been told that change is the only thing that remains consistent. With change we have the opportunity to learn more about the various types of people that we may endure further down the road.