In our industry, it is all too common to get to a plateau of development and then stagnate.
It is truly difficult to run the floor, talk to customers, cook countless steaks, run food, and then – at the end of the day – not just want to go home to get some precious…..vital sleep.
Back in my bar management days, when I started pushing my staff to expand their industry knowledge, “Hey guys…learn more” did not work as well as I hoped it would. 20 years later, running my hospitality coaching business, it works just about exactly as well.
At some point, I asked if my team wanted to start a book of the month club with me. What they felt they could agree to was an article of the month club; this ended up working out very well…I get my continuing education and my average employee does not need to commit too much to make it happen.
My team is more engaged during our monthly discussions than anything else at our staff meetings. On top of that, the collaboration of understanding between the new and the knowledgeable creates an environment of active learning that is really fun to watch.
For each article, they are required to answer 3 questions:
- What points do you agree with the most?
- What points do you completely disagree with?
- How are you going to use this information to improve the business?
This simple, quick exercise transformed my team into mini industry experts and, side bonus, continuing education is the best method to decrease turnover.
As a Restaurant Coach, I can not recommend an article of the month club enough; it is such a great catalyst for learning and will allow you to easily identify those staff who are truly engaged in growing within your business.
QUOTE FOR THE ARTICLE: It is no surprise that people who make a regular habit of reading are more successful than those who do not. – Seth Godin
