In our pub business we have recently been recruiting for a Deputy General Manager. During our interviewing, it has been fascinating to learn why so many staff want to leave the largest companies in the sector and come and join little old us. We should not really be able to compete with larger businesses, but we do, and I have been curious in finding out why.
We lose on many things, particularly staff development and benefits, where bigger companies do a great job. But we win in two more key areas. Firstly, the team ethic of a smaller business, with Directors being visible and involved, which also means we get the small things done much more quickly, particularly regarding repairs. But where we really win in comparison to the Goliaths, is in managing our labour.
It should not come as a shock that as an industry, we really care about customer service. While there are many factors that contribute to the productivity levels of our teams, I think that staffing levels are perhaps one of the most significant.
Some of the candidates we spoke to voiced frustration over the fact their employers chose to set cash targets as means of budgeting their labour over the Christmas period. The staff felt they would have done much more than the target, but as a result of it, were not given enough resource to do so.
It is always a bit of a shock, and quite fascinating to me when I hear about bigger companies managing their labour costs with the bluntest of instruments. Of course, cost management is at the forefront of every operator’s mind, particularly with NLW increases looming. Simply setting a cutthroat budget to slash costs will also slash sales. We will not win over the customer if we deliver bad service, and more importantly, we will not win over our people if we are seen to act in not only an illogical way, but also in a way that impacts their job satisfaction levels. We have all seen what happens next: they either leave the company, or more worryingly, the industry.
Managerial behaviour in a devolved, people-intensive industry can be really difficult to get right. It is a bit of a truism to say that we have some great managers, some OK managers, and some poor managers. We need to find the best way to let our best managers manage, and to train our worst managers to be better at their job. In truth, it is likely this means taking different approaches for different people. There is something I refer to as ‘lowest common denominator management’ – which means adopting management practices that cater to your least experienced people, as opposed to just your best or average people.
Our most trusted and experienced managers can be encouraged to perform even better; others, who perhaps have less experience in the business, may require a more hands-on approach until they get there.
Labour is the sharp end of our industry. If you demand a 75% food gross profit, the team will accept that your economic model is such that it is the right thing to do. They might baulk a bit more at pricing when they are the ones that get the grief from the customer, but they will also accept that dealing with price increases are part and parcel of the job. However, when it comes to labour, they can see when they are understaffed.
Even if our teams believe they need more staff than what is required, it is our responsibility to spend time explaining why the way we have planned our teams is right, and how they can be more productive in their role to achieve the same goals.
This is what companies are potentially failing to do. We work in an industry where people want to understand more, and where, when explained, they are more motivated and accepting of the requirement.
We need to explain when a two on shift is better than a three on shift; why we do not need a pot wash at quieter times; why certain tasks are to be thought of as slack tasks and not as fixed tasks. Sometimes, in our rush for a result we forget these basic processes.
I have no doubt that we will need to train and explain to our new team how we work, what we care about, and how we deliver in our own way.