Staff with the right stuff!
“Hospitality” – let’s explore the meaning from the ancients..
Ancient Greeks
To the ancient Greeks, hospitality was a “right”. The host was expected to make sure the needs of his guests were met. The Stoics regarded hospitality as a duty inspired by God himself
Celtic cultures
Celtic societies valued the concept of hospitality, especially in terms of protection. A host who granted a person’s request for refuge was expected not only to provide food and shelter to his/her guest, but to make sure they did not come to harm while under their care.
India
In India, hospitality is based on the principle, the guest is God. From this stems the Indian practice of graciousness towards guests at home and in all social situations.
The words hospital, hospice, and hostel also come from the word “hospitality”. They are all about giving personal care to people who are away from their homes.
Nothing’s changed!!
There is little point in spending a small fortune in advertising and promoting your business, if when guests arrive, they are not greeted like family!
I was raised on a simple principle by my industrious Italian parents – you don’t smile we no make tha money!
The ultimate goal of any café should be repeat customers who carry strong positive word of mouth for your business.
Fundamentally, they must know how to interact with customers and make them feel welcome.
The secret is the development of your hospitable staff into a well-trained team… hospitable team!
It’s one of the most challenging aspects of running a café! But worth the effort!
The right stuff
While it would be wonderful to have perfectly trained, seasoned staff lining up to work for you, the reality is very different. For example, every café owner is after the perfect, ready-to-go barista, but there just isn’t the supply to keep up with the demand.
For this reason, when hiring, it is crucial to focus on the “unteachable” traits of a prospective employee. The right person for the job may not be an espresso expert, but they will have the right attitude and disposition for a role which is essentially about dealing with people in a friendly, professional manner.
What to look for:
- Contagious Smile – if they can’t smile at interview….
- Personal approach – did they come to you?
- Extroverts – a bubbly personality who will naturally engage with customers.
- Potential – think about what skills and talent they already have and how you may be able to harness for your business
Raw potential
Hire your staff based on their potential rather than their experience/qualifications and it will open up a much wider pool of potentials. That’s not to say a little bit of experience isn’t helpful, but cafés need to understand that training is something that’s part of the café business.
A café should expect to take on staff that will require training in order to fulfil its staff requirements. It doesn’t matter if an applicant doesn’t have the technique in place – if they’ve got the right character traits and a positive attitude, they have real potential to become a great barista.
Train with good trainers
Most cafés may not have a qualified person to train their staff and/or baristas, which is where the importance of having the right coffee roaster partner comes in. Many cafés miss out on this key relationship because they don’t appreciate how much a good coffee roaster partner can do for their business.
A coffee-roaster partner isn’t just about the coffee – a good coffee roaster partner will also provide you with high quality training.
If your coffee roaster doesn’t provide this, you’re missing out on one of the most important parts of the partnership. Ideally, a coffee roaster will ensure both the owner and manager are both highly trained, at an expert level. Other staff can then be trained in a program offered by a reputable training organisation. It only takes one bad coffee to lose a customer, so making sure your entire team is highly trained is a necessity. High standards begin at the top and with the right support and guidance; the owner/manager will be able to transfer their expertise onto more junior staff.
Just as a restaurant wouldn’t dream of totally training a chef, cafés need to appreciate that they cannot train baristas to a high enough standard, which is why it is a major advantage to have a coffee roaster partner who has the training expertise behind them.
Astute café operators must be able to recognise whether the training offered is a simple marketing exercise or a genuine, effective training program.
Continually using your coffee roaster as a source of knowledge /advice will ensure you are up to speed on the latest developments in the coffee world.
Managing Café Employees
TALK EARLY – TALK OFTEN!
A good front-of-the-house manager must know more than just the restaurant business. He or she must know how to manage people effectively.
Good managers write everything down. They write clearly defined job descriptions with reasonable expectations along with common-sense boundaries.
For example, a waiter may be expected to clear and reset tables, but not to serve coffee. Also, wait staff are still responsible for turning their tables. A good manager clarifies the job requirements, this includes the tip protocol. It should also include behavioural expectations.
Clear Behavioural expectations
All well and good to have a clear job description – don’t forget the behavioural aspects!
Reward professional, team cooperation and appropriate behaviour. Cooperative and efficient staff should get the shifts they want. Prove that refusal to follow directions can lead to a loss of shifts or loss of good shifts. The most challenging feedback is when a manager has to discuss “behaviour” .. much easier to provide feedback on “task’s”
By writing your expectations and staff responsibilities down, you protect yourself when a staff member complains about loss of shifts.
e.g., a staff member complains: “I’m rostered to work for next 2 Sundays!” You respond:
“It’s important that everyone on the team share the loads and do what is expected of them. I have clearly outlined that if you want to have a better mix of shifts, you will need to match these expectations, for example, yesterday you did not clear your table from the party of ten, and you left it for someone else to do.” This meant we got behind and the new party of guests had to wait unnecessarily. This was not appropriate team behaviour, nor was it professional.
Café Challenges
As café manager, you have to take care of your staff. When controversy arises, have an appropriate system in place for employees to express their grievances. Avoid and do not tolerate staff members acting out their feelings while working.
- Be available. Allow staff to request time to speak with you.
- Listen to staff grievances. You need to understand what is happening to make an appropriate decision.
- Be firm. You met with staff members, listened, thought about the issues, and you have made a decision. Staff members are required to abide by your decision if they wish to continue to work with you.
- Clearly outline your grievance policy at the induction
Recognise and Reward
Everyone is motivated by different things… make sure you get to know your staff and most importantly, what part of working for you, turns them on… and on… a couple of good, simple survey questions might be “ What makes you want to come to work here each day”? And “if you could improve your work environment, what would you like to see happen?”
Not everyone is motivated by money…. It could be as simple as..
- A good INDUCTION and on-boarding!! Make them feel welcome! First impression last a lifetime
- Lead by example!
- Further training & education opportunities
- Accreditation for their work
- Framed Certificate that recognises their work
- Weekly/Monthly Congratulations on best customer service Awards
- Take them out to another café and ask for their opinion/comparison
- Flexible rostering
- Genuine praise & positive feedback
- Be available to “listen”
- Suggestion/s for Café improvements taken seriously & appreciated
- There are tons more – want to find out? Ask them!
As in any business, you are only as good as your staff. A well-trained employee will put passion, technique and knowledge into each cup of coffee and every interaction with customers – they can make or break…
When your entire team is highly qualified and producing consistently superior service and products, your customers will return, time and time again.
A highly qualified and experienced team is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to a cafe. Invest in your staff, and you’ll be on the right road to making the most out of your café and your life!
Author – Ivana Agapiou