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CUSTOMER SERVICE

For a Happier Career Transition, Hire a Hugger!

Last week, I had a conversation with a candidate who was very honest with me about his frustrations regarding his career search.  He said very bluntly, “You recruiters – there are a lot of you, and most are not very good or respectful.”  I was initially surprised by his assertion, but then I found myself in a much more compassionate place with his frustration because I actually agree with him!

The fact is, most recruiters are so task-driven, they fail to remember that they are dealing with people who are trying to make one of the most important decisions in their lives!  Changing jobs is very stressful, and this stress can be compounded when a job seeker has to work with disrespectful recruiters who don’t follow-up with them or give false expectations of how they will help.

When I first started my career in the recruiting business, I had an energized, full-fledged, sincere desire to help everyone.  And I mean Every One!  I wanted to get everyone I talked with a new job that would increase their family’s livelihood.  While my personal motives have not changed, I am now more realistic by understanding that I can’t find everyone a new job all of the time —  especially because the job needs to be the best-fit for them and for the employer.  Our core responsibility is to find the right Happier Career Transition, Hire a Hugger | AGI Hospitality Recruiting candidates for the jobs we have to fill; otherwise, we would not be a valuable service to either our clients or the job seekers who depend upon us to help them find a better career.

For this reason, we know that our communications with each job seeker must be honest, respectful, and transparent so accurate expectations can be clear.  For example, if we can find you a new job, then great — let’s do it!  But more importantly, if we can’t find you a new job, it is best for everyone to be very truthful and recognize that a best-fit career match will not happen right now.  It’s very possible that we could help you in the near future with another opportunity that will be better suited for you; and if that’s the case, we would certainly want to reconnect.  This direct and truthful communication is imperative to ensure we are avoiding any misconceptions that would mislead a job seeker.  The job seeker understands that we are not leaving them hanging and waiting unnecessarily for immediate results.  It boils down to respecting each person’s specific and unique career goals.

Early on in my career as a recruiter, I was haunted by the way my profession had been labeled as a “head- hunter.”  After all, it’s not an appealing image, and it still strikes me as a negative term that does not sum up the spirit of what we do.  I have never hunted a head in my life, and I know for a certainty that I never will!  Hunting implies tactical maneuvers such as stealth tracking, hidden trappings, sly approaches, and deadly decoys.  Frankly, I think this term was probably created by job seekers who found themselves working with recruiters who made them feel tracked and trapped.  Recruiters who lack respect for a job seeker’s career health and well-being will definitely give the impression of being hunters.   My solution to this unfortunate labeling is to put forth a bigger effort to reflect the integrity of how we do business, as well as demonstrate our great respect for every individual we serve.  Regardless of whether or not we can help everyone find a new career, I consider myself, and all of the recruiters at AGI, to be Head-Huggers!  That’s the real nature of what we do as qualified professionals within the hospitality industry!  We embrace each job seeker with genuine hopes to help!  Our tactics include honesty, respect, and mentorship.

If you are a recruiter reading my conviction, please be encouraged!  You already know that success as a recruiter is about managing your time and tasks.  But what you need to remember is this; the best way to perform every part of your job is to have a deeper respect for each job seeker who comes to you for help.  Be truthful and forward so your candidates will have the correct and realistic expectations.  If we all work harder to accomplish this each and every time, we can change the perception of our industry! Working together as a whole, we can abandon the negative connotations of head-hunter forever.

If you are a job seeker, we ask that you hold us to this value.  Anything less than hospitable is unacceptable to me.  If, at any point, you believe that a recruiter here at AGI isn’t warmly welcoming you or respecting you, please contact me directly at john@agimangement.com .  Your concerns will remain confidential.

We wholeheartedly view our work as a ministry, and we feel called to help others through their career transition.  We hope we can consistently portray this belief and be a positive role within the marketplace.

TAGS: Career Advice, Career Path, Customer Needs, Customer Service, job seeker


Overcome Holiday Working Team Ho-Hum

Restaurant Managers can never win a popularity contest when they have to be the bearer of bad news about who has to work the holiday! But you can prepare their mind for the upcoming stresses.

A Happy Working Holiday Team!

Help Create a A Happy Working-Holiday Team!

Speak with your team a few days ahead of the holiday to prepare the mindset.  This exercise will ensure more successes than failures during busy holiday dining traffic.  The special day will not feel like a holiday to your staff, but more like a demanding and stressful work day.  The right attitude will make the time go smoother for everyone working, so discuss the expectations, and help them understand these key factors of holiday diners.  Remind them that the holiday dining crowd is not like the average dining crowd.  Holiday diners come in two main categories; 1) Planned Dining, and 2) Unplanned Dining.

CATEGORY ONE:  Planned Dining — These are guests who planned to be at your restaurant because:

  1. They are loyal fans of the food and atmosphere, and they can count on another great dining experience
  2. Your restaurant is offering special holiday meals and seasonal treats at a bargain price
  3. The dinner group agreed to meet there as part of their established tradition, or they are beginning a new tradition
  4. Empty-nesters who live too far from family and don’t want to cook a large meal will go out to dinner on the holiday
  5. Someone who has no one to spend the holiday with plans to eat out alone at a restaurant and hopes for some person-to-person outreach to make the day special
  6. The holiday is not a part of someone’s culture, so they are eating out simply because they want to do it

CATEGORY TWO:  Unplanned Dining —  Something went wrong at the last minute, so they needed to come to your restaurant because:

  1. Their home-cooked dinner was a disaster
  2. A family emergency got in the way of shopping and preparing the meal
  3. It is the first holiday without a loved one, and they are trying to “get through it”
  4. They are traveling unexpectedly and are in a slight panic in between destinations because so many places are closed for the holiday
  5. A family disruption occurred, and someone had to leave the house to eat elsewhere

Knowing about these two types of dining groups will help the team adjust accordingly and better meet the needs of every guest.

Also explain these insights:

  1. One thing is for certain – dining guests understand that working the holiday is taking you away from your personal holiday plans.  They appreciate your efforts.  Higher gratuities are often a result of guests recognizing this.
  2. You are becoming part of their permanent holiday memory; perhaps you are part of a family tradition. That should feel like an honor to be involved.  Try your best not to dwell on what you are missing out on by working the holiday, but rather, soak up every moment you are working because you are a huge part of your guests’ holiday dinner!
  3. If diners started out with a bad day, you can be someone who is there to brighten their day.  And on the other end of that spectrum, make a conscience decision that you will never be the person who darkens someone’s bright day; if they are having a good day, your goal is to help continue the pattern of the great day they are experiencing.  Stretch out the happiness.
  4. When guests arrive in big family groups, tensions could rise just because of that family’s dynamics.  Take a smile to the table at every round. If orders get mixed up because of their complex personal preferences that stray from the set menu, breathe deeply and smile.  That will help tense guests smile back, and your focus will be sharper since negativity isn’t blurring your concentration.
  5. Parents of cranky children will be very appreciative if you can offer something to comfort the crankiness.  What you offer should have no additional cost to the parents.  These free offerings could include another paper placemat for coloring, speaking directly to the children so they feel “grown up,” maybe even give them a small lunch-size paper bag and quickly show them how they can make a hand puppet with it.  Occupied children hands and minds invite imaginations and structure.  The wonderful byproduct of this is that the adults can enjoy themselves at a higher level, and grateful parents will always remember your kindness and patience during hectic moments.  They may even dub you as their hero!  Guests at neighboring tables will also appreciate your helpfulness that contributed to a quieter dining experience!
  6. The great thing about working during the holiday is that the holiday has an ending time!  It’s not forever!  Your body may ache more than usual, you may feel like your brain has worked way too hard for one day, and your energy level may be at its lowest.  But that’s okay!  The work is physically challenging, mentally stimulating, and emotionally rewarding!

A final word to Restaurant Managers – remember that you are a part of your workers’ holiday memories too!  Read through these tips again with the approach of how you can translate them into ways you can interact with your employees for the day.  You are all in this together; and together everyone can have a great working holiday!

AGI Hospitality Recruiting supports great Restaurant Management Best Practices by offering tips and advice.  You can find more advice in some of our blog archives.  Enjoy the reading!  HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

TAGS: Customer Needs, Customer Service, Management Tips


Do You Really Want to Repel Your Patrons?

Reality TV shows are so popular –not only for their basic entertainmentDo You Really Want to Repel Your Patrons?t value, but also because they offer insights into things that a “fly on the wall” gets to see on our behalf!  Reality shows feature regular people in real-life circumstances that demand over-the-top challenges from them.  We, as the audience, relish in the adventures while seated in our own comfortable armchair posts.  We sometimes cheer, smear, and spear the real people for what they did do, and what they didn’t do right.  We do this all from the safe distance of our anonymity.

Our top three favorite reality TV shows are Undercover Boss , Restaurant Impossible , and Bar Rescue because they feature the three things we love; 1) business, 2) food and beverage, 3) and restaurants!

However, unlike reality TV shows, our real-world life doesn’’t have a producer in the foreground to yell, “Cut!”  No one is there is edit away our unsavory moments, our bloopers, or give us any chances for a do-over. We operate in real-time-live-action mode constantly, so when someone is watching us or listening to us, the only functioning button option that they have is “record,” which makes an imprint on their mind (for the better or for the worst).

Restaurant Managers already know that the majority of dining guests frequent their restaurant of choice for the main reason of liking the food.  Some would argue that the true main reason is because the restaurant has the best atmosphere and customer-friendly staff.  Consider the extra miles that people are willing to travel and the higher prices they are willing to pay for a fabulous dining experience.  Now consider whether or not they would do it if the restaurant had the reputation for these faux pas that   patrons observed or overheard from any restaurant employee:

  1. Griping about how tired they are and how they can’t wait until the shift ends
  2. Whining about and/or insulting anyone, including management, coworkers, and restaurant guests
  3. Complaints regarding how they wish they could make more money
  4. Uncontrolled loud and obnoxious laughter
  5. Sad and/or worried facial expressions all the time
  6. Rude remarks about unhappy cranky babies or unruly children
  7. An irritating bragging or boastful attitude
  8. Refusals to apologize for a mistake or error
  9. Doesn’’t take complaints from guests seriously
  10. Will not offer to  do something “right” for something that went “wrong”
  11. Sarcastic comments about insufficient tips
  12. Giving the appearance that they really don’t like doing their job in the least

While we can hope that restaurant patrons will be forgiving of the occasional “bad day,” why risk it?  Once is enough, and twice is over the limit when people pay their good money for food and atmosphere.  Regardless of whether the guests are celebrating something very special when they dine, or just eating for normal food-consumption needs, the point is that they chose that restaurant to do it in; therefore, there is an obligation to make their experience a pleasant one out of gratitude and for repeat business.

Sensitivity training should become a bigger part of the standard training tactics that Restaurant Managers provide to their staff.  Unless these issues are specifically addressed as part of regular job expectations, an employee who was observed as being ill-willed could use the excuse that they “just didn’’t know” that these behaviors were actual faux pas.  If this type of awareness training is ignored, then it could be the biggest contributing factor of why the restaurant loses business rather than grows over time.

When Restaurant Managers find out that these inappropriate behaviors are occurring, what should be done?  Well, that all depends upon the company policies that are already in place.  If these things are not clearly spelled out for employees in written and verbal methods, then the employee certainly could feel that they were blindsided and not correctly informed about expectations.  Never assume that people automatically know what is appropriate and what is not appropriate; we cannot count on everyone knowing about and respecting standard social norms because every individual has unique life experiences and exposures to different influencers.  Based on that, it is best to make it clear to all employees that certain faux pas will not be a part of the company’s reputation.

Take the challenge of addressing faux pas and run (not walk) to your nearest piece of paper to begin writing down what feedback you are receiving from patrons.  The guests are the eyes and ears of the dining experience, so it is very important to know what they are observing and overhearing.  Negativity is not a welcome-mat, but rather, a repellant.  Unless you are in the bug-spray business, you don’t want to be known as a repellent!

If you are a Restaurant Manager and need to jump-start this process, go ahead and print this article out and physically give it to your staff to read.  Better yet, read it to them out-loud during your next shift meeting!  That will break the ice for everyone; easy to read, and easy to hear. After that, formal policies can be established if they haven’t been done so already.

And remember —  the only things you want to repel are these faux pas that drive away customers!

TAGS: Customer Service, Management Tips, Restaurant Managers


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