September 2008 Blog Posts (134)

Don’t outrun the Bear, just outrun the other Hunters!

Five Myths of Professional Advancement

For the next few weeks, I've decided to take my first shot at writing a series of blogs dedicated to a better understanding of the five negative mindsets or myths I believe many of us succumb to when attempting to move up in the ole corporate ladder. Personally, I feel these can apply to anyone, at any time. With that said, I issue this prediction, “Put into practice any one of these mindsets - whether in the corporate world or private business… Continue

Added by Andy Swingley on September 23, 2008 at 4:29pm — 21 Comments

Gwyneth's GOOP

I harbor mixed feelings about Gwyneth Paltrow. On one hand, she's a terrible actress. Her it-girl status back in the '90s was unwarranted. She doesn't have much to offer the world other than her faux British accent. On the other hand, she's moved on to better things like reproducing and minding her own business — for the most part.

Now she's back, but this time she's less offensive... maybe even a little more interesting. She played a bit part in the summer smash hit Iron Man… Continue

Added by restaurantdotorg on September 23, 2008 at 12:32pm — 1 Comment

Non-Operator Great retention and motivation idea every manager can use.

IThis is not my idea but comes from Max Hitchin in his e-book 25 Successful Ways To Motivate and Incentivise Your Staff He talks about an ideas he used that he calls the 3x3 principle. He introduced it when we owned a Pub in Bondi Junction – Sydney in the 1990’s. Here is how it worked in his own words.

I would arrange a one on one meeting with each of our Managers and Assistant Managers. At the meeting I would ask them to give me three… Continue

Added by Mel Kleiman on September 23, 2008 at 9:50am — 2 Comments

Spray Can Safety, Part 1

Aerosol whipped toppings are a potential liability in your kitchen. And once again, it's the can's fault.

Imagine this scenario: It's the height of the dinner rush, and the kitchen is hopping. Table 13 has ordered dessert, and one of the line cooks is pulled off his job breaking down chickens to quickly plate a couple desserts. He rinses his hands, then grabs the spray whipped topping and finishes a couple slices of brownie, places them in the pass and goes back to his chickens –… Continue

Added by OnTop(r) on September 23, 2008 at 9:31am — 1 Comment

Non-Operator How to Overcome Burn Out Job Seeking

As some of you may be aware, I have been on the job search market for a few months. It has been interesting to say the least.

I have not reached the burn out point, yet. Therefore, I thought I would

share with you my top 10 reasons to escape "burnout" in job seeking.

There have been posts about what to do and not do in the job search market. This is not intended to be a rehash of that. Rather, these are

points that I thought of, that may be of interest to all of… Continue

Added by Keith Bernhardt on September 23, 2008 at 5:30am — 7 Comments

Two real generation Y bloggers tell us "How to motivate Gen Y."

The following blog post was written by Alex Selhorst (15 years old) and John Cameron Katz (15 years old). A while ago, I told them I am always giving pointers on how to inspire generation y. They politely told me I should let them give the pointers and they wrote this blog. I'm speaking at a conference all day Tuesday so I asked them to be Guest FohBohist for my Tuesday Spot.

So here it is, their blog on How to Manage Generation Y, from 'the real' generation… Continue

Added by Amanda Hite on September 22, 2008 at 5:54pm — 8 Comments

The Management Journey

It may be a good idea to see the past in order to get direction for the future. This may be the obvious for the seasoned managers, but

this may help a few of you who are just starting out.

It had been weeks since I received the advice from my boss,

"I needed to develop my people skills."

Hmmm.

I still had a very narrow idea of what he was talking about.

People Skills to me meant:

I was pleasant with the customers

Got along… Continue

Added by Bill Baumgartner on September 22, 2008 at 5:27pm — 2 Comments

Let the sunshine in - it's a fine time to dine!

I've e-mailed a number of people and would like to post their replies:

From McDonald's -

“McDonald's is often our customers’ restaurant of choice because of our every day value and convenience. Challenging economic times affect everyone - no matter where you shop or choose to eat. However, because we have long-term relationships with suppliers that are not contingent on the current or next promotion, we’re uniquely positioned to provide our customers with consistent value across… Continue

Added by susan holaday on September 22, 2008 at 11:13am — 15 Comments

Non-Operator Are we really going to be 10,000,000 employees short in 2010

My answer to this question is NO.

Two main reasons.

1. We keep finding new ways to use technology to make the workforce more productive.

2.Baby Boomer are going to be in no hurry to retire.

What can the restaurant industry do to attract and retain this older generation of workers?

Last week there was a great article supported by some great research on the Staffing.Org… Continue

Added by Mel Kleiman on September 22, 2008 at 6:40am — 3 Comments

You Know You've Worked There Too Long When...

You know you’ve worked there too long when…

You’ve worn out the plastic color code on your Office and Liquor closet keys.

You’ve gone through phases of Shoes for Crews. (Going back to Euro Clogs, soon)

You went from not having insurance, to having insurance, to not having insurance, and you still work there since you can take time off whenever you want.

You can go all day without using the bathroom, but as soon as you have two margaritas, you need to go every 15… Continue

Added by Stoligirl on September 22, 2008 at 12:08am — 10 Comments

Service that stands out- Part 2

Want to make your customers so loyal, so dedicated that they return again and again?

A friend of mine from kindergarten sent me an e-mail today that speaks to that so powerfully that I want to pass it along. It came to her from an elderly nun who was a friend of her mother's many, many years ago.

It's about a supermarket that found a way to stand above the rest and make a difference in people's lives. In corporate BS, it chose to 'differentiate' itself from the… Continue

Added by susan holaday on September 21, 2008 at 5:09am — 2 Comments

Extreme Winemaking in Sebastopol

When it comes to winemaking, you can’t be an extremist without having two feet set firmly in the ground; or terroir, to use the all encompassing wine word for ecosystem specification.

Greg La Follette is cut from the same cloth as other extreme winemakers whose work is measured not only by what they put in the bottle, but also by the waves they generate while doing it. In France, I… Continue

Added by Randy Caparoso on September 20, 2008 at 4:26pm — 2 Comments

The Cornerstone to Your Management Success

Imagine, if you will, two individuals with equal intelligence and equal ability entering the marketplace.

Both given the same opportunities, what causes one individual to achieve average success, and the other to excel, really excel?

I used to ask myself this questions, because I really wanted to Excel.

As a matter of fact, ‘My Story’ was fashioned by the answer to this question.

I went to work everyday. I showed up on time, I kept my uniform looking good.… Continue

Added by Bill Baumgartner on September 20, 2008 at 2:59pm — 7 Comments

The times they are a-changin'

Bob Dylan certainly had it right - and his words apply today as we look back on a week of dramatic downs, ups, and signs that we are in for continued tough slogging in a business climate that can only be called challenging.

I can't help but look with amazement and pride at people in our industry here in the Northeast who saw what was ahead and took measures to stay ahead of it - people like John Elkhay of Chow Fun Food Group down in Providence, RI who took a seafood, pizza and pasta… Continue

Added by susan holaday on September 20, 2008 at 5:38am — 3 Comments

5 things I didn't know about chocolate

Chocolate!

Here are five new things I learned about chocolate today:

1.) Historians trace "chocolate trees" back to the rainforests of Central and South America.

2.) Up until recently, most people drank chocolate.

3.) Chocolate is not an aphrodisiac. (I beg to differ.)

4.) Today the Ivory Coast exports the most cacao in the world. The Netherlands imports the most.

5.) Think you can't enjoy… Continue

Added by restaurantdotorg on September 19, 2008 at 12:45pm — 5 Comments

Non-Operator What does Turnover really cost

The most important decision we ever make is who we choose to let in the doors to take care of our customers. Every time we hire a new employee, we put a lot on the line. Just one bad decision costs a lot in terms of time and money, but a bad hiring decision will also cost in terms of lost productivity, efficiency, poor customer service and teamwork too. The one thing a bad hire is guaranteed to give you is more aggravation.

How would you feel if you were robbed of $500? And not just once,… Continue

Added by Mel Kleiman on September 19, 2008 at 8:03am — 22 Comments

Facebook adds 1 million new members per month. Bully bully for them!

I love it that this site is tight and cozy. Hopefully one day I can get my business going. One day i'll get out of this waiting on tables life and get my business off the ground. This is rad..

Added by jim acuallena on September 19, 2008 at 7:40am — 6 Comments

Non-Operator H is for Hurdle

Given recent market turmoil, I was tempted to write a cheerleading column entitled “H is for Half-full”, or a somewhat less hopeful piece entitled “H is for Half”, since that seems to be what’s happened to some public valuations in the past year. We may yet come back to those topics, but this week I want to dwell on an expression which operators need to know, because you’ll hear it repeatedly from investors when you’re trying to raise capital, and may even hear it from lenders on occasion. Not… Continue

Added by Rod Guinn on September 19, 2008 at 6:00am — 3 Comments

Have we reached the end of the food inflation story?

The chart of the week is the annual change in total beef, pork and chicken production. As one can tell from the chart below, protein output is expected to notably decline next year. Why is this anticipated to occur? For the most part its due to higher feed costs. Roughly 28 months ago we began introducing our clients to an emerging biofuel- ethanol. And although corn based ethanol is not the sole driver for the higher feed costs, it may have been the spark that ignited the bull. Yes its true… Continue

Added by David Maloni on September 19, 2008 at 3:53am — 1 Comment

Just curious - What are YOU using for music

Most people out there are using the old standby of Muzak, or some satellite system they inherited. Many use these because "That's what we've always done...".

I'm curious if people could weigh in on what they use, and how much they spend. Keep in mind that you should include taxes and music licensing fees.

What are YOU using and paying?

Added by Chris Dengler on September 18, 2008 at 2:04pm — No Comments