Firing

Being the manager (or owner) typically comes down to one thing: Hire and Fire Authority. It boils down even further to control over who works in the restaurant. You're coaching the team, and you get to decide who plays and who doesn't. A lot, I'd say a vast majority even, of managers I've worked with will Hire but not Fire. I've come to feel that's a mistake, a very painful mistake.

That does NOT mean I think people should be fired more often. I've met plenty of people who are too quick to terminate an employee over issues that could be fixed with just a little flexibility on the manager's part.

Not everyone is of equal caliber. I'm not very good with anything that involves moving my fingers fast...making sandwiches in a lunch rush, spreading pepperoni on a pizza. You can find a lot of people better than me. However, I am excellent with customers, and do a fine job coaching employees. So it makes no sense to fire me because I'm not fast with the pepperoni. Just about everyone is like that...it's not that they're bad for the team, you just haven't found the right position for them to play.

Almost all “employee problems” stem from management. When a manager fails to set a proper, consistent expectation the employee is going to do whatever feels appropriate. It's not the employee's fault they were not properly directed. Training deficiencies are not the employee's fault. Lack of tools are not the employee's fault.

But...more often than we realize...sometimes everything IS in place. The employee has been instructed how to do the job. They've been given clear goals. They have the tools to do the job. Yet...they don't fulfill the expectation. And most telling, they don't care.

It could be showing up on time. It could be following procedure. It could be something like being friendly towards customers. It could be halfway completing a task (garbage went out the door, but the can liners never got replaced). With most people, you can point out the behavior, make it clear (respectfully) that it's not acceptable, and the employee corrects the behavior...because most employees want to do well at their jobs.

Not everyone. And when you start saying the same directives over and over (“You have to be here at the START of your shift, Alec, or you're hurting the team” or “Use the ¼ size ladle with that sauce, please, Smitty” or “Lisa, we talked about this yesterday—the trashbags have to go IN the dumpster”) it's time to think about helping the employee find a place where they're better suited...'cause they clearly aren't fitting into your store's culture.

This why you want to use Progressive Discipline. It gives both you and the employee in question a chance to evaluate what's going on. The employee is made aware of your seriousness, and is given ample opportunity to change. It also protects you from wrongful termination suits, or having to pay out unemployment benefits when a termination is for cause. As long as you're being Consistent, anyhow.

But the key thing to remember is that keeping an unhappy, unmotivated, or incompetent employee on payroll is a lot like leaving a tumor in your body. It'll only make things worse. Once you've determined the situation won't improve, you need to end the drama and let the person go.

Life Outside Work Is Critical

Keeping perspective is really the key in the QSR world. When you start taking things personally (they never are) and treat each challenge like the end of the world (they're not) you're going to get stressed out and make bad decisions. These bad decisions will more often than not make life more difficult for your subordinates...and that's really the cardinal sin. You have to keep your cool so you can keep the needs of your team in mind.

The best way to do keep perspective is realize the importance of the service industry. It's important: People pay money for the convenience, for the experience, to have their day made a little better. There's a reason so many people make their livings (albeit most of them just barely) in the service sector: it's imporant.

That being said, no small child ever got cancer because of a late pizza. No one lost their life because a coupon wasn't rung in correctly. Economies of nations do not fall because food cost is high one week. These are all things to be avoided, and your ability to make the day go by without these problems is why you're the boss.

But it's just work. It's just a job. It's a big part of who you are, but it's not the whole package. You spend quite a few hours of your week outside the store too. You've got a family (or hopes of having one). You've got hobbies. Friends. Books you like to read, movies you like to watch, volunteer work you like to participate in.

If you work to live—instead of living to work—you'll be more balanced. More able to put that dropped meat patty into perspective. (Really, those things don't cost much. If that's your biggest problem in life you're golden). You'll be less likely to fly off the handle, throw things, yell and scream. You'll be a more compassionate human being, and compassionate human beings take better care of their team. A team that feels looked after tends to work better.

By an odd paradox, having a life outside work will make you a better person. Being a better person will enable you to do a better job at work. Having a life outside the store lets you have a clearer focus on what you do in the store.

So leave on time, or even a little early, whenever you can. Don't show up absurdly early for no reason. Stay away on your day off, live your life instead of stopping by or calling every hour. And if you're sitting there going, “But then the store will fall apart!” you need to get yourself a management team that's up to the job. Teach, train, and a develop your junior managers and use them in a way that takes advantage of their skills.

That's all there is to it: get a life. If you have one already, don't be ashamed of it. If you're putting in your share of the work and the hours, very little will be gained by doing more. Everything in moderation, people, even your job.