You’ve got order forms, rosters, temperature checks and even a policy on uniforms, but does your catering business have an organisational plan?
An organisational plan is vital for any “Food and Beverage” business owner to ‘create’ the business in the minds and on paper of all the staff and to draw clarity and direction for each of them to your entrepreneurial vision. It is even more important when you have casual staff in kitchens and on the floor that only receive small amounts of induction, as it forms a consistent image of the operation.
Organisational plans are important for businesses all around the world as they communicate the fundamentals of how their unique machine works, how everyone contributes to the bigger picture and how important everyone’s role is to achieving success.
Know where you stand
One of the most common challenges I hear F&B business owners and caterers talk about is how to continually motivate, communicate the vision and get staff to understand the direction of the business – from management to chefs and floor staff and everyone in between.
Having an organisational plan and chart which shows the interaction between the roles and implants your greater vision of your business in the mind of all your team is a sure way to increase understanding and motivation.
For example, a waiter’s role is to engage with customers, take orders, deliver food and make guests feel welcome. However, a waiter who can see how their role fits into the overall mechanics of your business is not only a waiter, but the initiator of the machine rolling into action to encourage happy customers. With this in mind, how they interact when they take an order, how they present the food to the customer and how they up-sell will be aligned with the vision of your operation.
With this model, a business owner or manager can not only praise the staff when they are doing well, but show them the ramifications of their work – linking them back to the bigger picture and motivating them for outcomes greater than their pay packet.
Job Satisfaction
The food and beverage environment is stressful, pressured and fast for all involved. Paying attention to all staff is a positive way of raising the job satisfaction of everyone involved.
When I start working with a new client, I always ask the staff what would make their jobs better, easier and more fun. In return I get intelligent, simple yet effective ideas. Make a point of asking your staff regularly, you won’t know until you ask!
