Staffing
Increase your influence with hourly employees
Employees remain a top challenge for restaurant operators. To build a high-performance team, you must first build credibility with your team. That requires excelling in three areas: character, competence and connection.
March 28, 2024 by Scott Greenberg — Business Keynote Speaker and Author, Scott Greenberg
Prior to my presentations for business owners, I ask audience members about their pain points. When I'm speaking in the restaurant industry, I usually hear the same primary complaint — "my employees."
For more than 10 years I ran my own Edible Arrangements franchises and in the beginning I, too, struggled with employees. I'd already been working as a motivational speaker when I got into that business, so it was a shock when my employees didn't respond to my brilliant Jedi-leadership tactics. I had to unlearn what I thought to be true and search for what it really takes to influence employee performance.
Through a lot of trial and error and research into other businesses with thriving teams, I confirmed that hourly employees can be coached into high performers. But this can only happen with a manager worthy of their trust. In other words, to build a high-performance team, you must first build credibility with your team. That requires excelling in three areas:
Character
Who you are and how you are matters to your employees. No one likes a boss who cuts corners, breaks rules, or preys on customers. They don't want to work for someone who belittles their employees or gossips. Workers want a role model. They're watching how you act, how you work, and how you live.
Character is easy to understand but hard to practice. The wrong way of doing things is often easier, more profitable, or more fun. When I was young a friend who was taking tickets at a movie theater invited a group of us in for free. But one member of our group who was home on spring break from West Point still bought a ticket. Why? Because of the West Point honor code. I never forgot that. Seeing his higher standard of behavior made me more self-conscious of my own. That's what being a good role model does.
You can demonstrate character in a few small ways that make a big impression. Follow the company rules, systems, and protocols. Be in uniform and show up on time. Speak respectfully, not just to people but about people, including customers, other managers, and most certainly employees. Always tell the truth and follow through on your promises. Own your mistakes. Show your employees how you want them to be.
Legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden once said, "Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are." Living this way didn't just win Wooden the respect of his players. It also won him 10 national championships.
Competence
If character is who you are, competence is what you do. Doing it well is important to being influential. Winning 10 national championships commands respect. So does winning awards, driving sales, and hitting company goals. Employees want to work for a winner, for someone who gets things done. That's why it's important for you to be great at your job. Your technical skills will go a long way toward making your workers want to listen to you.
According to a 2016 article in the Harvard Business Review, "Modern evidence demonstrates, for example, that hospitals may do better if led by doctors rather than by general managers, that U.S. basketball teams do better when led by a former All-Star basketball player, that Formula One racing teams do better if led by successful former racing drivers, and that universities do better when led by top researchers rather than talented administrators." The authors of the article studied 35,000 randomly selected employees in the U.S. and the UK. They determined that "the benefit of having a highly competent boss is easily the largest positive influence on a typical worker's level of job satisfaction."
Work to improve yourself as much as you work to improve your operation.
Connection
People relate to each other by what they are or by who they are. When you pay for a bottle of wine at a store, a cashier rings it up and tells you the price. You pay and receive a receipt. You thank the cashier, who wishes you a good day. You're both relating based on what you are: a customer and a cashier.
That evening when you enjoy the wine with friends, you talk, share stories, and laugh. At certain points there's vulnerability and reveal of emotion. It's a nice evening that brings everyone closer together. You've related to each other based on who you are. You have no feelings about the cashier who sold you the wine. But for these friends with whom you drank it, you'd do anything.
Many bosses see their employees only as what they are: personnel, not people. They may say please and thank you, offer praise or even politely ask about their personal lives, but they don't acknowledge their individuality. That disconnect is typically reciprocated—all the employees see is a manager, not a person who happens to be managing.
People who make us feel seen will more easily earn our trust. They matter when we matter. You can't be friends with your employees, nor can you remember every detail about them. But whatever meaningful, human to human moments you can share with them will go a long way. When you onboard a new employee, have a conversation. Find out a little about them and share a little about yourself. Ask about their life goals and how this job might help move them a little closer to those goals. Find a way to relate as people, appropriately but warmly. Continue having those conversations. Look for moments to reconnect whenever you can. Maintain boundaries, but be real, be compassionate, and be kind.
Who you are matters as much as what your employees do, because you might be the reason they're doing it (or not doing it). Demonstrate strong character. Be good at your job. Connect with employees at a human level. Be someone who's credible. The result will be a team that's incredible.
