To not reprimand staff for not smiling?

[squashedalmondcroissant]

I work as a manager in a catering/hospitality business, small local chain.

I had a call from a senior staff member about a negative review we were given online that essentially said they didn’t feel that the staff member on duty (not me) was smiley enough. I have now been tasked with pulling up this staff member on this.

I am very much not someone who is easily offended or quick to jump to misogyny but something about this feels..irritating to me. (The person complaining was a man and all the staff are women). They didn’t say the staff were rude, unpleasant or ignored them, just that were weren’t smiley and ‘welcoming’. I know the staff member and they are always polite and helpful but they do have a bit of a ‘resting bitch face’ when not intentionally grinning like a Cheshire Cat!

Something about this is rubbing me up the wrong way. It seems the main complaint is the staff not smiling while doing her job perfectly competently. Should I reprimand her for this? I understand that when customer facing sometimes you need to fake it a bit but is just her natural face position so offensive to someone that she should be forced to plaster on a fake smile? I’m torn!

What the hell is this resting bitch face?

is it what we call “concentrating” when we are referring to men

stop trying to manipulate women’s bodies

If I were your staff member
You would be getting a complaint from me to HR or whatever your equivalent is about how you have been sexist, enabled misogynist attitudes, damaged my confidence and made me feel miserable and self conscious.
I'd probably also look for another job to be honest.

But then I am utterly sick of "cheer up love", "give us a smile" men snd women who pander to them.

I hope you have given her praise where due and she knows she is valued.

Sounds like you should pass this complaint over tbh. I don’t think smiling is a requirement as long as otherwise they were courteous and professional,

And if the shitty review obviously aimed at her is public and she may have seen it then maybe check she's OK because that's really horrible. Some won't care a jot but some might be really upset about it and given she sounds to be conscientious in her work I would've thought it would bruise if not dent her.

it’s the same for everyone in hospitality, customer service and customer facing jobs irrespective of gender
your expected to be friendly engaging which is down to your body language and facial expression

I'm not manipulating women's bodies. And it's just as bad if a man in hospitality appears unwelcoming. This is not a feminist issue, it's a hospitality issue.

If you work on an office at a computer, who cares what your face is doing. But if people are paying to have have a drink or a meal they're expecting a degree of warmth in the welcome and the service.
If you're in a restaurant and your server, male or female, doesn't engage with you in a friendly manner, it takes away from the experience. No-one expects to be given an ear to ear grin, but if you refuse to even give half a smile in welcome, you're not suited to hospitality.

Likewise, in my role I soon recognised that my 'concentrating' face was not going to be effective in making the vulnerable people I work with feel comfortable and welcome. So I put them first and ensure that I appear welcoming and approachable when they arrive. It's an important part of the role, and my organisation wouldn't employ anyone, paid or voluntary, of they refused to demonstrate warmth.