Written By: Chelsea
LY Dinner Sales: $6936
Projected Sales : $7056
TY Dinner Sales: $8485 (Nailed it!!!!)
+/- : 22% over LY and $1429 over PS (WHOA!)
Dinner Covers: 280
Avg PPA: $30.30
Weather: cool crisp evening.
Special events?: Last night of SXSW!!!
Who worked: Clair, Lindsey, Krystin, Ruthy, Dusten CL, Kelly Cktl. Leigh SA and Hiroe FR. John and Melisa Host.
Flow of Business, Cuts and Ticket Times: Started off steady, filled up by 5:45, on a wait by 6. Wait times were 30-45m throughout pretty much the whole course of the night. Off the wait by 10:15, went 3 on, cut Kelly and John. 2 on by 10:30, and 1 on by 10:45. Had a 6 top get sat after the wait was over, but that was it. Ticket times were overall good.
Had a table get irritated that Tori's group was sat ahead of them, as they had been waiting a while and had seen Tori's group just walk in and get sat quickly. I explained that they had put their name on the list prior and were just coming back when they received the ready text, but they weren't really having it. I reminded John to prioritize in these situations, and that employees can wait a little while if impatient customers that have been waiting a while (especially if over quote time) are complete and in the lobby. I sent the table an edamame on the house to apologize for the situation, but one of the diners waved it away, saying they didn't want it. Luckily, Lindsey was able to turn around their mood and they were much happier throughout the meal and while leaving.
Specials: Whole Aji - 2, Chef's Nigiri Set - 17
3 Staff members that stood out (why/how):
- Leigh was 30 minutes late, thought her shift started at 5:30 instead of 5, just like Brennan last week. Wrote her up and put it in her file. Saw she already had a late doc, so added to it. Side note on this one, I have seen both 5 and 5:30 on Saturday night schedules as start time for the SAs. Although they definitely should be checking their schedules when they get them, can we pick one in-time and stick to it to reduce confusion?
- John and Melisa were pretty smooth at the host stand, but John started to run his hands through his hair/on his face when he was stressed. I mentioned it to him (as could tell he wasn't really aware of it), and it got better. Caught him again and gave him a hair tie.
- Krystin, Ruthy, and Lindsey were very helpful today, Krystin was all over bringing up the sushi dishes, Ruthy was assisting all with running food, Lindsey helped out when folks would ask for help and she also was good with keeping a positive attitude through the shift when tensions were high.
- Clair and Dusten had some communication issues today. Clair was still putting her tickets on the magnetic strip, and Dusten gave her a pretty hard time about it, hiding her tickets in the office. They both had some tension resulting from this, and after the shift I talked to both about using constructive communication when these situations arise, and to not carry it with them throughout the shift.
Any VIP's in? Tori, can't recall any other notable folks off the top of my head.
Comps& Void Detail: Emp day off for Tori, Kitchen error void, one salmon kama that was burned and then the customers said they didn't want it when we let them know it would be a little longer.
R&M needs:
86'd items/ need more: 86'd soft serve pretty early on, the machine had been on all day and the coconut mix was a bit chunky, it caused blockage that Dusten discovered while breaking it down. 86 Gyu/BF carpaccio, ama-ebi, seaweed salad, low on crayons.
Regarding Clair, the tickets on the rail issue from last night is a symptom of a larger problem I've seen with her over the last several weeks. I omitted a bit I wrote about her in my Sunday blog last week, wanting to give her the benefit of the doubt. Seeing no change in her demeanor or work ethic I am compelled to not pull any punches. Lately Clair has been a very "out for self" server. If she feels something is outside her immediate set of duties, or a new rule she doesn't agree with, she simply will not follow. I've seen her leave the SA's to bus her tables while chatting away. I've seen her chowing down in the dish pit repeatedly (not while managing). Just last night, she asked me to check her out. I asked her to fill a few soy sauce containers while I did that, not my soy sauce containers. Not anyone's soy sauce containers in particular. Just ones that had been collecting. She had nothing else to do and everyone else was still busy, including myself. If a server wants the closer to check them out and the closer is busy, that server helps the closer so that they can be checked out. This is a years-old policy. She was argumentative, and said, "I already filled MY containers." THAT attitude is one she carries with her throughout the entirety of her shifts. If it isn't her job, it isn't her problem. I know she is going to school again. I was a full time student with a full time job for 3 years. I know how that can wear on a person. Regardless, the insubordination and the lack of team mentality wears on everyone that is here to work and keep this restaurant successful. I don't have a solution to this issue, but I witness it more when I am serving than managing. She knows what she is doing. She knows what she should be doing. I will be watching her carefully tonight, and if I see any sort of behavior that has long been deemed unacceptable, I will not hesitate to write her up. She has been here long enough to know better.
ReplyDeleteJust an update folks:
ReplyDeleteClair had a good shift Sunday night. She and I had a good talk also. We addressed our interpersonal issues as well as the work related issues that started them. We covered a lot of ground and I am optimistic things will improve.
-The SA does come in at 530 the rest of the week. Saturdays often have a line at the door so it is the 1 day of the week were the in time is 5 pm.
ReplyDelete-Seating Tori's table before a table that was over their quote time was extremely poor judgement on John's part. It's understandable why that table would get so frustrated. I don't want comps to get out of hand, but in that situation I would probably offer something more than edamame. A round of drinks usually makes people happy. Sometimes just waiting until after they've had some food, comping a roll or some drinks, and following up with an apology at the end of the meal can be effective. People are usually more reasonable and understanding after getting some food in them.
-I'm glad that it sounds like the situation between Dusten, and Clair has been resolved a bit. There are a couple of things I'd like to address. If there was this pattern of behavior with Clair it would have been nice to have addressed it sooner rather than letting it build to a point of frustration. If Clair has the attitude that she's not going to follow the rules if she doesn't like them, it's something we need to address. Dusten, I also expect you to wear your manager hat at all times. If you have seen any employee eating repeatedly in the dish station, and haven't informed me sooner, I feel as if you are falling short at implementing policies. Finally, I'm not quite sure why hiding credit card receipts seemed like a good solution. We've been talking about this in pre-shift all week. You simply ask a employee to do something, if they don't, write them up. It's that simple. No need to get frustrated or take it personally. I will follow up with Clair about some of these issues tomorrow before the shift.