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Reality TV shows are so popular not only for their basic entertainment
t value, but also because they offer insights into things that a fly on the wall gets to see on our behalf! Reality shows feature regular people in real-life circumstances that demand over-the-top challenges from them. We, as the audience, relish in the adventures while seated in our own comfortable armchair posts. We sometimes cheer, smear, and spear the real people for what they did do, and what they didn’t do right. We do this all from the safe distance of our anonymity.
Our top three favorite reality TV shows are Undercover Boss , Restaurant Impossible , and Bar Rescue because they feature the three things we love; 1) business, 2) food and beverage, 3) and restaurants!
However, unlike reality TV shows, our real-world life doesn’t have a producer in the foreground to yell, Cut! No one is there is edit away our unsavory moments, our bloopers, or give us any chances for a do-over. We operate in real-time-live-action mode constantly, so when someone is watching us or listening to us, the only functioning button option that they have is record, which makes an imprint on their mind (for the better or for the worst).
Restaurant Managers already know that the majority of dining guests frequent their restaurant of choice for the main reason of liking the food. Some would argue that the true main reason is because the restaurant has the best atmosphere and customer-friendly staff. Consider the extra miles that people are willing to travel and the higher prices they are willing to pay for a fabulous dining experience. Now consider whether or not they would do it if the restaurant had the reputation for these faux pas that patrons observed or overheard from any restaurant employee:
While we can hope that restaurant patrons will be forgiving of the occasional bad day, why risk it? Once is enough, and twice is over the limit when people pay their good money for food and atmosphere. Regardless of whether the guests are celebrating something very special when they dine, or just eating for normal food-consumption needs, the point is that they chose that restaurant to do it in; therefore, there is an obligation to make their experience a pleasant one out of gratitude and for repeat business.
Sensitivity training should become a bigger part of the standard training tactics that Restaurant Managers provide to their staff. Unless these issues are specifically addressed as part of regular job expectations, an employee who was observed as being ill-willed could use the excuse that they just didn’t know that these behaviors were actual faux pas. If this type of awareness training is ignored, then it could be the biggest contributing factor of why the restaurant loses business rather than grows over time.
When Restaurant Managers find out that these inappropriate behaviors are occurring, what should be done? Well, that all depends upon the company policies that are already in place. If these things are not clearly spelled out for employees in written and verbal methods, then the employee certainly could feel that they were blindsided and not correctly informed about expectations. Never assume that people automatically know what is appropriate and what is not appropriate; we cannot count on everyone knowing about and respecting standard social norms because every individual has unique life experiences and exposures to different influencers. Based on that, it is best to make it clear to all employees that certain faux pas will not be a part of the companys reputation.
Take the challenge of addressing faux pas and run (not walk) to your nearest piece of paper to begin writing down what feedback you are receiving from patrons. The guests are the eyes and ears of the dining experience, so it is very important to know what they are observing and overhearing. Negativity is not a welcome-mat, but rather, a repellant. Unless you are in the bug-spray business, you dont want to be known as a repellent!
If you are a Restaurant Manager and need to jump-start this process, go ahead and print this article out and physically give it to your staff to read. Better yet, read it to them out-loud during your next shift meeting! That will break the ice for everyone; easy to read, and easy to hear. After that, formal policies can be established if they havent been done so already.
And remember — the only things you want to repel are these faux pas that drive away customers!
How many times have you heard someone tell you that they are unhappy where they currently work? Maybe it is a secret you conceal about your own unhappy situation because voicing it would offend those who are unemployed right now. “Be happy that you even have a job,” is the common phrase we hear all over the place regardless of industry or job function. Expressing your dissatisfaction could give some people the impression that you are not grateful for the paycheck that an unemployed person does not have at the moment. While we certainly endorse the attitude of gratitude, we cannot support the idea that you should feel forced to remain in an unhappy work situation or environment strictly for the reason of appearing to others as an ungrateful person.
Plenty of research-driven articles have been written about the hazards of remaining in an unhappy job. This is a hot topic of study because there is an epidemic of employees who are afraid to find “their happy” elsewhere. These fears are valid; but as long as you stay captive to them, you cannot grow beyond them. It’s about risk-taking, sticking your neck out around the corner to see what’s over there, and figuring out how you can make your move. If it were easy, everyone would be job-hopping all over the place; but since it’s not an easy thing to do, many will settle for the “what-is” rather than search for the “what-could-and-should-be” for them.
Inferior and uncaring employers rely on the power of fear and how it manipulates your psyche to stay and endure awful conditions. Rather than try to be a better employer, they count on the fear factor that hampers your fight-or-flight response. They are hoping that you are reading all the headlines about unemployment. They hope even harder that you will not become aware of the recent Forbes article about the 65% of workers surveyed are unhappy Read Article Here . Most top-talented employees will leave If employers do not put more focus on the importance of retaining them. A working-life is relatively short; so why should any person spend valuable productive years being miserable if they have some power to change their situation?
Don’t allow the fear and uncertainty you have about the current economics discourage your search for improving your job satisfaction or quality of life! Hiring is on the rise again, and job seekers are exercising effective networking skills through a variety of social media channels (LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter), as well as keeping an eye on key employers they would prefer to work for in the very near future.
If you have identified yourself as someone who is ready to explore better opportunities, specifically as a Restaurant Manager, we can help you with that! We work closely with preferred employers within the restaurant industry across the country. Visit our Job Openings Page and see all of the opportunities we have right now. Even if you’re at a crossroads in your career path and don’t know what to do, we can offer you FREE advice and help you talk through some options. Email us with your questions at jobs@agimanagement.com or call us at 513.731.1359.
Finding Your Happy matters to us! Let’s talk!
Electronic devices are wonderful! They enable us to be connected, present, and aware of everything 24/7 if we want it that way. The convenience is something we believe we need like a fish needs water and a plant needs light. We don’t like to be unplugged because we might miss something.
But what is a healthy “plugged-in” lifestyle for a manager? Is there a point when too many plugged-in activities can blow a circuit in you? Are others around you throwing you hints that you need a break from your electronic devices?
When we say, “plugged-in” and “unplugged,” we want to make sure that it is not confused with actually “turning-off” your devices so no one can reach you when something important happens. Keep your devices plugged-in; but mentally, you should have an “unplugged attitude” and be away from your devices.
Does the following example describe your typical evening?
Eating dinner with your family is a time of the day you truly cherish. You left work about an hour ago, and your mind is calmly shifting to the other important matters in your life besides work. Your cell phone rings, and you answer it. This interrupts the peaceful moment, but you do it because you think you should. The faces of your loved ones give a glance of disappointment; but that look is very familiar. You can’t ignore the call. As 9:25 p.m. rolls around, you receive a text message from someone on your staff. This is probably important too, so you stop watching your TV show and participate in a lengthy back-and-forth texting exercise. And as usual, you just want to check your laptop one more time before bed at 11:00 p.m. to see if anything important is happening. The time on the clock soon approaches 12:15 a.m., but you’re semi-surprised that an entire hour has slipped past you again. While shuffling off to the bedroom, you grumble about how time is always being robbed from you. Curses to The Time Robber! But then, you rationalize that you are a manager, and you need to constantly stay informed. You have convinced yourself that good managers make these types of sacrifices. Never mind how grouchy you feel every morning – everyone on your team sympathizes with you because they recognize that dedication has a price. They just hope that you don’t blow a circuit during their shift!
Why are you accessible all the time? Is it a requirement, or is it your choice?
Let’s first clarify an important factor: If your business has a need for you to be on-call because of the specific nature of addressing true emergencies, then this article will really not apply to you unless you are still plugged-in when you are not on-call. We basically want to address the habit of non-on-call managers who manage their business during normal business hours, but feel that they must always be plugged-in no matter what. It’s about choosing to be plugged-in past the point of necessity such as during days off work, vacation time, holiday time, and sick time. Depending on the level of accessibility you are providing to your team, this habit could be the cause of your burnout, your stress, and the absence of that non-work-life you’re supposed to be enjoying. Perhaps the habit of being tethered is something you’ve developed unknowingly. Regardless of how the habit was established, it can be identified as a self-imposed routine that could be harming you, rather than helping you.
We invite you to think about these three elements to determine whether or not you really need the habit of staying plugged-in 24/7. Dig deep and be honest with yourself:
Now that you have a better idea of which element is causing the tethering at all times, you can begin to consider how you can establish a new habit of unplugging without feeling as if you are abandoning your team. Try any or all of these four suggestions:
Ahhh… doesn’t it feel wonderful to imagine the freedoms from plugs? We can promise you that it feels 10,000 times better when you actually do it and live by it. Catching up on what you think you’ve missed could be your validation that it’s “okay” to be unplugged during your off-time. Give your Time Robber the boot and smile while doing it!
Share with us your experiences with being unplugged and how it improved your world! Comment here or email us at recruitment@agimanagement.com — we are interested!
Right now, if a recruiter or hiring manager were to dial your phone number and be instructed to leave you a voicemail, what would be heard? If you are using any one of these examples below, let’s talk about it:
When you’re a job seeker, your voicemail instructions must be professional. This goes in conjunction with having a professional email address and answering the phone in a professional manner. This is part of the three-pronged strategy that you need to balance the entire “professional you.” It will take a conscience effort to make sure that you are increasing the odds in your favor, and not being “passed over” simply because of any negative first impressions.
These are two examples of a professional voicemail message:
The two main points of your voicemail instruction message is 1) to help the caller confirm that the correct number was dialed, and 2) that they only have to wait just a few seconds to hear the BEEP that will prompt them to leave a voicemail.
Keep it simple, quick, and precise. Pay attention to how your voice will sound to the caller. Are you speaking too fast, too slurred, or too incoherent? Decide on three sentences you will say on your voicemail instruction and practice speaking it until it sounds professional and like a natural speech pattern. Remember: the voicemail instruction isn’t to display how cute or clever you are – the purpose is to invite others to leave a voicemail so you can call them back. If you are hearing more hang-up-clicks when you retrieve your voicemail rather than actual voicemails, then that could be the hint you need to consider why that is happening.
Do you have other professional voicemail instruction ideas that you are using that you would like to share? We’re interested in hearing about them! Comment on this post, or email us at recruitment@agimanagement.com .
Mark’s phone rings. It wakes him up from a cozy deep nap in the middle of the day. He’s not quick-minded yet, but he answers his phone anyway.
Mark: (groggy voice) Hello, uh, hello? Yeah?
Caller: Hello, is this Mark Smith?
Mark: Ah, yeah, it’s me, uh, Mark. Smith, Mark Smith.
Caller: This is Bob Jones with 123HireMe. Is this a good time to talk, or did I catch you at a bad time?
Mark: Uh, no, man. This is a good time. I just woke up, so I’m, uh, hold on a minute…
Caller: Sure.
Mark: (noises, coughing, dog barking in the background) Okay. Who is this again?
Caller: Bob Jones with 123HireMe. I am looking at your resume, and I wanted to talk to you about the opportunity that…
Mark: (interrupting) What? You got my resume?
Caller: Yes. I see that you have experiences in…
Mark: (interrupting again) Where?
Caller: Pardon?
Mark: Where did you get my resume?
Caller: Well, you posted it on GetaJobNow.
Mark: Oh. Man, that was a while ago. Uh, what do you need?
Caller: It sounds like I’ve caught you at an inconvenient time today. I can call you back, if you’d like.
Mark: Well, okay. Or I can call you? Hold on a minute. (more sounds, irritable phone static, mumbling) Just looking for something to write with here. Uh, hold on, okay?
Caller: No rush on that, Mark. I’ll just call you back at a better time.
Mark: Well, if you want.
Caller: Thanks, Mark. Bye now.
Comical, isn’t it? More like a sad comedy, because chances are the Caller will probably not make it a priority to call Mark back any time soon. Mark already made his very first impression when he answered the phone and attempted to communicate. The Caller is left with the assumption that Mark isn’t really a serious job seeker. Of course, Mark could be a very serious job seeker; but if so, Mark would have decided ahead of time to allow the call to go into his voicemail so he could return the call when he was wide awake and ready to talk about a job opportunity.
Anna is out with her friends eating lunch, and her phone rings. She answers it.
Anna: Hello? Shhh… you guys! Hello?
Caller: Is this Anna Sanders?
Anna: Yes, this is Anna. Shhh… hey, you guys… I’m on the phone, be quiet!
Caller: This is Bob Jones with 123HireMe. Is this a good time to talk a little bit about your resume?
Anna: Yes, it is! I’m just eating lunch with my friends. Go ahead.
Caller: Sounds like you’re busy. I’d like to call you back if I could.
Anna: No, no, no. It’s fine. Go ahead. Shh… give me a pen, somebody! (sounds of giggles and more sushing from Anna’s friends)
Caller: Okay. Your resume indicates that you’re interested in…
Anna: (interrupts) I didn’t hear you. Can you repeat that? Hello, are you there?
Caller: Yes, I’m here. Anna, I think I’ll call you back.
Anna: No, really, go ahead. I can hear you now.
What do you think the Caller did next? Speak louder? Speak slower? Unintentionally hit the call-end button? If you were the Caller, what would be your first impression of Anna?
Take to heart this wisdom nugget: When you are a serious job seeker, it is vital that you answer your phone from a recruiter or potential hiring manager when you are in the best situation possible to communicate effectively. You cannot do that when you are suddenly awakened, when the dog is barking or the baby is crying, when you are driving, or when you are in a very noisy place. It’s best to decide ahead of time to allow such important calls to go into your voicemail and not risk making a bad first impression. It is a gamble to answer the phone when something is competing for your complete attention. The Caller can tell if you are “connected” to the conversation or not. Of course, if you are qualified enough for that job and the Caller really wants to talk to you no matter what, it’s your decision if you are willing to roll the dice and answer regardless of where you are or what you are doing.
Consider doing these TOP FIVE strategies as you plan to make your first impression over the phone with your potential new boss:
Remember: Rewind is NOT an option! You might be given the chance for a Start-Over, but why risk that in the event that you aren’t?
Need some help in this area? We can help you! Email us at recruitment@agimanagement.com with your questions, and we’ll be happy to help you find a solution!
