to be fed up with my staff?

[rimmer]

Dh and I run restaurant. Have a number of waiting staff. We pay over the minimum wage and they keep all the tips shared between themselves - we take nothing for ourselves. AIBU to want them to work harder and faster? It feels like me and DH are busting our arses and they are just standing about or on a permanent go-slow.
It seems like when I give instructions they either don't hear or don't understand so I have to say it over and over. I mean how many times can I say "Can you pass me some butter please" before it would have been quicker to get it myself.
I am aware that waiting tables is not the best job in the world but please can someone offer some useful suggestions to ease the situation or should I just accept that they only work on a slow pace and get over it?????
TIA

you know "why should they work hard for minimim wage" attitude really pissed me off. I always worked hard, not matter what the pay because I wanted to do a good job. 50p over the minimum wage PLUS tips is fine for waitressing and can be very good for what is essentially unskilled work. Margins aren't that great in many restaurants and it is often all that is affordable. I waitressed for years when I was at aschool and uni and always worked hard becase I was being employed to do a job and wanted to make a good account of myself. now if you are being treated badly or unfairly that it is a different matter but it doesn't sound that is the case here.

Rimmer = reward the good ones by letting everyone keep their own tips and sack the slackers if its continues.

QS has some good ideas.

The fact is if they don't want to do the job then there are plenty of others that will so they need to pull their socks up.
You're a business not a charity.
Have they all got KPI's and clear job spec's ?
I would take them into the office one by one see if they have any training issues, give them a month and then sack the non performers otherwise it's not fair on the one's who do a good job.
However £10 a day in tips is shite, I used make £70 a week as a student in 1994 so that says to me the service could be a hell of a lot better or maybe even the food isn't up to scratch. Maybe you need Gordon Ramsey type make over ?

Myself and my DH also run a small business. We also pay our staff just over minimum wage and as someone says above we are not capitalist oppressors. It's hard trying to survive at the moment and if we could afford to pay our staff more, we would. But as it is they get a good working environment, staff discounts and we offer cash incentives based on sales.

When our staff have started slacking in the past we have given appraisals to individuals and in a couple of extreme cases let people go.

Our business is on a knife edge just now and staff appreciate they are lucky to have a job within such a flexible family unit. They know their work is appreciated and I think it helps them work harder.

I know catering can be different but it still boils down to getting your staff to work as a team. Staff can often end up taking advantage if they think you'll put up with it, I think you should get tough.

Is that all that motivates people, then money ?
It always makes me laugh the socialist go on about paying people more in wages without improving performance and yet where do they think this money will come from exactly ?
It's a case of work harder, make the restaurant a success first and then perhaps people would be happy to pay more for their meals.

Or sack the lot of them and then after 6 months on the dole they might work harder for their next employer if they are lucky enough to find one.

So this wasn't you then dittany?

By dittany on Sun 14-Jun-09 16:46:08
LovelyTinofSpam, have you ever heard the term "you get what you pay for"?

I'm putting words in your mouth though?

So yes you are putting words in my mouth. Why you would want to do that goodness only knows.

I quoted you directly. That is not 'putting words in your mouth' - it's quoting your direct words.

I used to run a restaurant for a large chain. I found better results when the staff kept their own tips. I also got the ones who were doing well in tips to have a chat with the others about the sort of things that seemed to get them the tips. Do they smile and chat with the customers, or simply deliver food? Maybe if you are in a tourist destination they should be encouraged to promote the attractions of your local area. If people think they have genuinely been helped they will tip more.

Another thing I wanted to do, but wasn't allowed to because of the constraints of a large company, was employ the best staff by paying maybe double the minimum wage but only having half the staff. This way they have to work fast but at least they are being better paid and if they can't keep up they're out. You'd get them flocking for jobs too from other places paying minimum wage and if you're rural it may be worth the effort for them to travel further to work....Never got the chance to put my theory into practise, but I still think it's a good one!

This is bizarre.

I have had many low paid jobs, mainly through 6th form and uni and the first jobs out of uni. This is normal, surely? I always did my best irrespective of what I was doing or where.

Not every job can be a well paid career job. That's not how it works, is it. One normally starts off on a lower wage and moves to a higher one through qualifications/experience/luck/a combination of those things.

There certainly are many people working for minimum wage in various industries who are being ripped off. And it's nice to earn better money when you are older. But to say that people working waiting tables to earn some money to pay through college should be earning way over minimum wage is bizarre. It can be a hard and tiring job, to be good at it you require a certain skill set, but it's not like you need a degree in biochemistry and 20 years experience, or that it carries loads of responsibilities. So why pay those rates?

This thread is bizarre.

I too think the conditions working for rimmer sound great and above industry average.

Dittany, not it wasn't actually, it was the comment "I'd be making the least effort possible for just over minimum wage too." that really got me riled but there

I dont think rimmer has said anywhere that the money should be a motivator. she just wants them to put in the required effort befitting of the the job she requires them to do. I don't see what the big deal is about that.

Plus there are absolutely stacks of jobs which pay min wage, large swathes of the retail sector, unskilled manufacturing positions, a lot of junior office roles, cleaning etc etc etc

I don't understand all this stuff about it being abnormally rubbish to get 50p over min wage. And awful awful lot of people would see that as good money.

Dittany you are sounding a bit like that model who wouldn't get out of bed for less that £50K. And that is definitely not something I ever thought I'd hear myself say.

Let them keep their own tips rather than pooling and sharing.

Are you sure they know exactly what they are meant to be doing when they are not serving customers? How do you train them? Is there a list or rota of jobs to be done ie clear tables, re-stock condiments, etc.

Are they all mean to be doing all jobs or is there a clear rota where w group serves customers, x group clears tables etc, y group makes meals, z on till etc?

I have to agree with the "keep your own tips" mindset. When I worked as a waitress, I got excellent money in tips, because I worked hard and made sure I took good care of my customers. I wouldn't appreciate taking up the slack for other employees and then having to share my tips with the slackers. That's a bit of a slap in the face for those that are good workers.

The customer feedback cards are good as well. That means it keeps you on your toes - you can get good feedback as well as bad.

The best place I worked had an extensive menu, and we were required to know everything on the menu (main ingredients, how it was cooked, and so on)so that we could answer customers queries when they were looking at the menu. Hair was required to be above the collar and put up, uniform clean and well presented, appropriate footwear. If not, you were sent home to remedy the problem (and not paid for the time it took you to fix it). We had a cleaning list/shift lift of things that needed to be cleaned/refilled/done during each and every shift. If you didn't have something to do with your customer and had a few free minutes, you did stuff off the list and checked it off. If someone else had a huge group or big order in their section, you helped out.

They were strict, took no nonsense from staff (but were fair), fired employees that weren't pulling their weight, and you worked hard the whole time you were there. But because they expected excellent performance from staff (and got it), business was great and tips were excellent. There weren't a bunch of incentive programs, we got paid minimum wage, and this was a 24 hour restaurant in the states, so sometimes the hours weren't the greatest. But I really enjoyed that job and would happily do it again (if I wasn't currently a SAHM).

I think part of the problem is that some people feel that because the job pays minimum wage, that they can make minimum effort. In this type of job, I have always noted that the best way to get someone moving up to speed and stop slacking is to give them 2 choices - improve or be sacked. And seeing slackers get sacked will actually improve the morale of those who are not slacking.

have you considered going on management training courses? you may find that there are ways to speak to your staff assertively without worrying about upsetting them or being aggressive. also, definitely scrap the shared tips. there is absolutely no incentive for the lazy ones to pull their finger out. or for the good ones to work harder if they're supporting slackers. don't worry!

Just wanted to say not to read too much into the £10 in tips thing - OP says this is a tearoom/ cafe, so if the average bill is for, say, a couple of sandwiches and a coffee, then 10% of that isn't going to be a whole lot.

I have sat in places and seen a waitress look after a couple and then as they leave the tip is put discreatly under the saucer - only for someone else to clear the table and pocket the tip as they do so.