Manager\'s Actions on a Food

¶ … Manager's Actions On A Food And Beverage Operation

Create a list of seven situations in which a manager's actions indirectly or directly affect a guest's dining experience.

Selecting entrees

Selecting the rotation of such entrees

Hiring and firing wait staff, depending upon the staff member's level of training or comportment towards customers.

Setting policy for how waiters will greet and treat diners (including a scripting formulaic greeting, or allowing creativity in terms of customer interaction)

Setting policy for how tables should be cleaned and maintaining the standards of dining room operations

Setting reservation and cancelation policies

Deciding when a customer's special requests should be honored (such as requesting an off-menu item).

Describe the effect of these actions on a food and beverage operation's profitability

Managers must balance what consumers demand with the overhead costs of preparing, storing, and using specific commodities. Many people may like salmon, but the cost may be too high, and the fish may not have enough of a high-quality freezer life and application in other dishes to justify purchasing fresh salmon (versus canned tuna) at a diner. For a higher-end restaurant, however, finding purveyors of fresh salmon may be essential in retaining the restaurant's core clientele.

Regardless of whether the restaurant is high or low-end, the restaurant must also rotate entrees in a sustainable fashion. A steakhouse might balance an upsurge in the cost of beef by offering a wider array of dishes featuring cheaper cuts; another restaurant may have a 'pasta day' to balance out likely losses on a unexpectedly costly 'seafood buffet' day. Offering discounts on traditionally expensive foods may draw consumers, but they must be counterbalanced with savings on other entrees.

Good service is a critical element of a dining experience. Even in a low-end restaurant, at minimum it must be prompt and friendly. Managers may create a 'script' that the servers must follow, and also structure policies on cleaning tables and when to serve foods. Problems such as having appetizers served with entrees, slow order time, or a lack of attention can mean that customers do not return. Other aspects of policy may influence how much money a customer spends, such as if a server does not prompt the customer with a question about what he or she wants to drink, or if he or she would like to see the dessert menu. Hiring, firing, and training policy is also influential. A high-end restaurant may demand previous restaurant and dining experience of prospective employees, and many have training sessions every time there is a major change of menu.