As simple as employees snacking during shifts or as extreme as stealing cases of food right off of the delivery truck, theft has always been an issue for restaurant owners.  No matter the severity, these costs add up and hurt your bottom line and profitability. By implementing simple safeguards, you can protect your operation against theft and pilferage.

Prevent theft in your restaurant with these no-cost or low-cost suggestions:

• Perform pre-employment background checks on all new hires
• Keep the back door locked
• Use a meat cage to secure highly-valuable products and equipment
• Encourage employees to report questionable activity
• Do not allow employees to bring backpacks into the restaurant
• Keep the manager’s office door locked at all times
• Keep the freezer locked when not in use
• Conduct regular guest check audits to make sure servers are correctly ringing up all menu items
• Keep the dry storage area secure
• Limit access to cash drawers and the safe
• Keep all alcohol under lock and key
• Keep track of inventory on a regular basis
• Do not allow employees to share a cash draw as there will be no accountability for shortages

For more tips on improving your bottom line, or to learn more about restaurant management and recruitment best practices, visit SynergyConsultants.com

In April, the IRS announced it’s looking at new ways to utilize technology to increase restaurant tip reporting.  This could include updating the voluntary tip-compliance agreements the agency currently offers restaurant companies, such as the TRAC (Tip Reporting Alternative Commitment) and TRDA (Tip Rate Determination Agreement).

Falling under the IRS responsibility of ‘Enforcement’, this measure is to ensure that restaurants provide employees with the proper information and tools needed to report all tips.  Historically, restaurants have complied by hanging posters, providing systematic education and informing employees about charged sales, charged tips and cash sales. All efforts are important components of protection from the threat of an IRS employer-only assessment.

Bottom line: Restaurants must provide employees with the proper information and tools to report all tips. For more information on tip reporting, visit the IRS online.

US Supreme Court ruled that an employee is a “supervisor” under Title VII only when empowered by the employer to take tangible employment action.

The question of who is a “supervisor” brings more to bear on the employer / owner than you may think. Remember it is those who supervise others who (a) are considered in their actions to be representing the company; ( b) speak on the company’s behalf; and (c) just by their actions can create liability for your company due to a hostile work environment in your restaurant. Hence, this designation is very important! We need to be sure that the employees who we identify to our staff as “supervisors” are in fact prepared for this job, are trained for the job, and understand their enhanced responsibilities.

An employee is a “supervisor” for the purposes of vicarious liability under Title VII only if he or she is empowered by the employer to take tangible employment actions against the alleged victim; i.e. the power to hire, fire, demote, promote, transfer, or discipline. The EEOC had argued that anyone who exercised “significant direction” over another’s daily work held supervisor status. The US Supreme Court clarified this definition – and it is greatly in our favor.

Consider this: a “part-time” manager in your restaurant makes inappropriate comments to a server. This part-timer has been cloaked by you with authority to discipline employees just so they will have sufficient clout to properly manage the other employees in your restaurant. Server quits and sues. During litigation proceedings you are asked for a complete list of training that has been provided to this “manager”. You don’t have training information for this individual who fills in sometimes for management because s/he is considered part-time. If this part-time manager otherwise fits the description outlined by the Supreme Court – you cannot use the defense of him/her being part-time. They are, in the courts’ eyes, a supervisor. Make sure that you have clearly identified who the supervisors are in your restaurant and then ensure that all necessary training is provided to those who are actually considered “supervisors”.

Long after food is prepped, menus are printed, and specials are posted, one of the most important factors affecting a guest’s meal is just beginning. As a chef or restaurant owner, your front of house staff is a key ingredient to any recipe on your menu. A properly trained and educated staff can shed light on an unfamiliar ingredient, suggest a special entree the kitchen is particularly excited about, or make side dishes sound so appetizing that a diner cannot help but add them to an order.

All of these essential staff functions can make food taste that much better by enhancing the dining experience for customers. For a restaurant owner, things like up-selling, making informed menu suggestions, and offering accurate dish depictions are all in the hands of waitstaff. The more time and effort invested in properly training staff to perform these responsibilities, the more effortless it is for a staff to do so.

A well-trained staff can also help avoid potentially disastrous situations for a restaurant. When a chef or owner takes the time to educate staff on menu items, they can easily identify ingredients in a dish that a customer may be allergic to. In recent times, it has not been uncommon to see crippling lawsuits filed towards restaurants who failed to alert diners of potential allergens.

Even for the most seasoned chef or restaurant owner, creating a mouth-watering menu is only half the battle. Guest satisfaction is dependent upon so much more than just a great meal. When guests leave a restaurant remembering not only a delicious dinner but excellent customer service, they turn into repeat business- the cornerstone of any successful hospitality operation.

You love food. No, you have a passion for food and penchant for business. You love managing a group of people and putting your directive skills to the test. You are organized, efficient, and possess impeccable communication qualities. You thrive in a fast-paced environment.

If this sounds like you, then a position as a restaurant manager may be the role best suited for you. Restaurants across the country are constantly seeking effective restaurant managers to oversee their staff and day-to-day operations. If you believe your skill-set can be of great contribution to a restaurant, it may be wise to begin applying for restaurant management positions through a restaurant recruiting agency.

Synergy Restaurant Consultants, the leading restaurant advisory consulting firm with over 25 years of experience, specializes in recruiting the best-of-the-best of restaurant professionals, from general managers to top-tiered executive chefs.

Finding the right restaurant to work for—one that matches your work-st

yle, experience, values and requirements – is not always an easy task. Synergy makes finding your dream restaurant job a reality. We assess your experience and requirements to help you find the perfect job match. Because of Synergy’s access to an extensive network of restaurant hiring managers and other industry professionals who are looking to hire, Synergy has a high rate of success to helping restaurant professionals land a great career.

For more information on Synergy’s restaurant recruiting services or to submit your application for restaurant general manager or executive chef, please visit our employment page.

No, it’s not just the taste of your restaurant’s food that determines the success of your restaurant. Poor staff management can be the element that’s costing your foodservice operation every single day.

Some very common problems with restaurant managers are:

• Poor communication skills: How managers choose to voice concerns or change behavior is very important. Yelling at the staff and making them feel incompetent is not the right way to handle poor performance. How does your manager the handle customer complaints?

  

   

• Lack of rule enforcement: Is your restaurant manager properly enforcing rules and regulations? Does he/she ensure that food quality and health standards are enforced inside and out of the kitchen on a consistent basis? Food quality and safety should always be the priority at any restaurant.
• Bad planning: How well does your restaurant manager plan? Does he/she ensure timely ordering of food and supplies? Does he regularly schedule maintenance of restaurant equipment? These are critical timelines for smooth operations.
• Unsafe working conditions: Does your restaurant manager ensure a safe working environment for staff members? Is he/she knowledgeable of best safety practices to help protect both consumers and workers as well as reduce lawsuits deriving from accidents on site? Employee safety is a key part of morale.
• Organizational structure: Is your restaurant manager consistently and adequately keeping a log of all restaurant activities? Does he/she efficiently schedule staff work schedules to ensure there is no lack of manpower? Does he/she have a “Plan B” if there are unforeseen issues at the restaurant?

The best way to avoid these issues is hiring and training the right people to staff your restaurant.

At Synergy Restaurant Consultants, our restaurant recruiting services provide restaurants an easier way to weed out potential problem applicants and only hire those with the best qualities for the job. As you can see from the above examples, your restaurant can only be as good as those staffed to run it everyday. To learn more about our restaurant recruiting services, contact Synergy today.

Good employees are the backbone of any business, but this is especially pertinent in the restaurant and hospitality industry. Efficiently run organizations require buy-in from all levels in the restaurant, most especially the managers. As a restaurant owner, you need a restaurant manager with business savvy and leadership skills in addition to a passion for food and beverage. This is no easy task!

Although the Internet has given employers access to a wider range of job seekers, sometimes results in information overload.To help restaurant owners manage the influx of resumes for various openings, Synergy Restaurant Consultants offers restaurant recruitment services. Synergy’s team works with multi-unit restaurants in all stages of the recruitment process to evaluate prospects to find the top candidates who fit the job profile. In the

With over 25 years of restaurant consulting experience, Synergy has developed an efficient recruitment system based the keen understanding of the restaurant fundamentals and human capital. Whether you are seeking to hire a staff of highly trained chefs, professional multi-unit supervisors, or experienced general managers, Synergy can help. To learn more about Synergy’s restaurant recruiting services, call 888-861-9212.