Dear Sir or Madame,
As a long time employee in the service industry I feel that it is my responsibility to remind a few and enlighten some as to a few fundamental truths and practices regarding your dedicated cooks.
DO NOT LIE TO YOUR COOKS ABOUT ANYTHING!
I hate to break it to you but any cook that knows his ass from his elbow can see through your lie in a heartbeat. We know just as much about the daily workings of your joint as you do and more times than you think, we really do know more about what's really cooking in your shop than you do.
THEY ARE NOT SLAVES SO PAY THEM!
And I mean it! Most of us will do a 60 hour week standing on one foot and smile about it knowing that the overtime is going to be sweet, so don't try and short us on it. We can tell you down to the minute how much time we worked and we want to be paid fairly for it. In a nutshell, we don't screw with your money so don't screw with ours.
RAISES
Give them if you can, and if you can be more than generous do so by all means. You will reap great rewards for it. If you rely on a core individual to take care of recipes that you need done consistently, you will do yourself an enormous favor by financially taking care of this person.
Also, when you do have those meetings regarding raises, don't show us your latest Compensation Statement as a way of making us feel sorry for your payouts. You started the business, you knew the costs would grow and you need to deal with that. If you simply can't afford to give what someone is asking for at the time, be honest and tell them that and then give them at least something with the assurance that as things grow, so will their pay.
Please take these few statements as you will, but if you follow these few simple guidelines you WILL have a happy kitchen staff, you WILL have great product served to your customers and you WILL NOT have to train a new cook every six months. As well, you will by no means have a disgruntled employee venting their frustration on a message board.
Thank you for your time and good day.
As a long time employee in the service industry I feel that it is my responsibility to remind a few and enlighten some as to a few fundamental truths and practices regarding your dedicated cooks.
DO NOT LIE TO YOUR COOKS ABOUT ANYTHING!
I hate to break it to you but any cook that knows his ass from his elbow can see through your lie in a heartbeat. We know just as much about the daily workings of your joint as you do and more times than you think, we really do know more about what's really cooking in your shop than you do.
THEY ARE NOT SLAVES SO PAY THEM!
And I mean it! Most of us will do a 60 hour week standing on one foot and smile about it knowing that the overtime is going to be sweet, so don't try and short us on it. We can tell you down to the minute how much time we worked and we want to be paid fairly for it. In a nutshell, we don't screw with your money so don't screw with ours.
RAISES
Give them if you can, and if you can be more than generous do so by all means. You will reap great rewards for it. If you rely on a core individual to take care of recipes that you need done consistently, you will do yourself an enormous favor by financially taking care of this person.
Also, when you do have those meetings regarding raises, don't show us your latest Compensation Statement as a way of making us feel sorry for your payouts. You started the business, you knew the costs would grow and you need to deal with that. If you simply can't afford to give what someone is asking for at the time, be honest and tell them that and then give them at least something with the assurance that as things grow, so will their pay.
Please take these few statements as you will, but if you follow these few simple guidelines you WILL have a happy kitchen staff, you WILL have great product served to your customers and you WILL NOT have to train a new cook every six months. As well, you will by no means have a disgruntled employee venting their frustration on a message board.
Thank you for your time and good day.
