When a restaurant chain tells you they miss you, it's a lie
Don't let your employees think you value them less than you value a lightbulb...
The pandemic was hard on hospitality businesses.
Many places had to close for long periods of time. When they reopened, in some locations they were limited to occupancy restrictions or takeaway only.
When businesses couldn’t keep them employed, people in hospitality often chose to leave the industry altogether.
As restrictions were relaxed, the shortage of qualified talent was exposed. Many blame the labour shortage on the pandemic. In reality, it’s because companies have been treating people as commodities. When someone stopped working, they were simply replaced with a new one. Just like batteries in a remote or lightbulbs in a lamp. Most places have already installed longer-lasting lightbulbs, but they still let staff burn out and leave at alarming rates.
When a chain restaurant near us reopened after its pandemic closure, the company sent us a lovely email. “We’re reopening. We’ve missed you. Please come and visit.”, was the gist of the message.
We dropped in on a sunny summer afternoon.
“Hi, we’re back!”, we said. The hostess stared at us. She was new and had no idea why we would say such a thing. (Employees probably didn’t get the marketing email…)
She showed us to a table.
Our server was a pleasant young person that cheerfully started reciting from the same script that every server seems to follow. “How’s your day going so far? Is this your first time here with us?”
We explained that we had been there many times before, and that we’d decided to come by because we’d received an email about the reopening that said they’d missed us.
“Everyone’s new here.”, the server said. In other words, apart from the corporate bean counters that saw the money roll in, no one had missed us.
When he heard that I had been in the hospitality business, our server was excited.
“Maybe you could let me know if you hear of any jobs. I’m only going to be here until I can find something downtown.”
It was pretty clear that the chain had lied to us in their promotional email. No one had missed us. They didn’t want us to come back. They just wanted bums on seats and revenue on their books.
Perhaps even worse is the fact that despite having a careers page on their website that tells people how fun it is to work there, and how employees are valued members of the family (it’s not a family-owned chain…), they really just want people that will repeatedly recite a script and collect payment from customers.
No wonder our server openly showed no loyalty toward them. He knew they valued him about as much as they valued the tables and chairs in the restaurant. He knew he was just there to fill a spot on a roster.
It’s been a while since we’ve been back there and we’re likely not returning soon.
How do you show your employees they’re worth more to you than a light bulb?
How do you empower them to show they care as much about your customers as their employer, manager, and colleagues care about them?
Hospitality. It’s the people!
Read the caption on the picture below. Good restaurants get it!
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