Good restaurants create good, consistent, well-sourced food in a pleasing atmosphere with service to match. In order to achieve this, chefs and front of house staff must be equally creative, consistent, welcoming and professional. And calm.

Temperamental chefs of course exist – and not only on television – but these people are best avoided as no one around them can operate in such an atmosphere and do their best cooking or other kitchen work. Their attitude rubs off on other staff in the restaurant too so choose your chefs – and other staff – prudently. Front of house managers can be equally controlling.

Intimidating verbal behaviour and especially physical abuse are not to be tolerated in the kitchen or restaurant. These traits rightly belong to the past. Staff, as most restaurateurs will testify, are the biggest problem and the biggest asset a restaurant can have.

562,700 jobs were taken by catering staff in 2004, employment in Britain topping 25 million. Nearly 142,000 jobs were filled by men, over 93,000 by women. This was reversed by part-timers (117,700 by men, 209,800 by women).

This chapter deals with:

• a broad outlook on staffing problems;
• college and agency recruitment;
• catering management;
• interviewing and job descriptions;
• an explanation of kitchen hierarchy;
• job commitment;
• staff organisation and training;
• pay legalities;
• job analysis and empowering staff;
• basic waiting and management skills, table reservations by staff and duty and cleaning rotas.

It also covers dress code, staff meals, holidays, smoking, behaviour and how to communicate effectively with customers. But first an overview.

THE IMPORTANCE OF SERVICE

Service, service, service is fast overtaking location, location, location in today’s competitive restaurant marketplace. As standards rise in quality produce and comfort, so must the service which, of course, covers all kitchen, waiting and cleaning staff and any other employees in a restaurant business.

Personal service and attention to detail set the best restaurants apart from the rest. This applies to the smallest café, the out of the way gastro pub, a town centre or neighbourhood restaurant or wine bar.

We have entered a period of high demand of good staffing due to the booming restaurant trade, but this labour supply needs to come from somewhere. Will potential employees be trained sufficiently to offer good service and high standards? This is of concern for all restaurateurs, even those at the top of the business.

The right mix

What is the ideal mix in a restaurant situation? There is no doubt that the work is demanding, seen negatively by some as relentless, while others see it as a challenge which is both stimulating and rewarding.

Restaurants are sometimes seen as theatre: restaurant staff forming a bond with staff and customers (cast members), the restaurant itself the stage and the work as lines to be learnt. Many exponents of this profession love to entertain, but they must always remember their serious professional stance coupled with humour, good judgement and sensitivity.

Staff need direction, motivation and incentive to carry out their work and to understand the need to be very flexible. This comes from management.

Front of house staff

Front of house staff need to be accepted by both sexes, have the ability to make customers feel at ease and to be trusted for their judgement.

Waiting staff

Waiters – skilled ones – offer service, they know their menu and are aware of the power to make a meal one to remember – or to forget. They are not servants. They have talked to the kitchen about the composition of the food and are able to advise which combinations go best together if the customer isn’t sure what to choose. Two cream dishes in succession are to be avoided, for example.

They are aware when to clear a table and when not to. When to pour wine. When a customer is getting restless for the bill. They are also aware of tips and how to generate this extra income. Anyone can wait on tables, but just how natural are they and are they an asset to your business or demolishing it?

Kitchen staff

Kitchen staff are creative in different ways. Chefs have the ability to prepare food, timing cooking to a split second with speed and accuracy. They can cook and present all dishes coming out of the kitchen with skill. And they must be able to do it time and time again to the same high standard. Consistency is all.

FINDING STAFF

Catering colleges are one source of kitchen staffing, but the standard in some is decidedly questionable. The teaching focuses on hotel-like service which is past its sell-by date according to employers.

Flour-based sauces, soups and stocks made from packets and heavy, stodgy food are so out of kilter with today’s food styles. This is compounded by outmoded silver service (useful perhaps for banqueting) and folding napkins into unnecessary shapes, amongst other contentious catering issues.

Some colleges have moved on thankfully, and are teaching their students the art of lighter cooking combined with slow-food cooking (daubes, terrines, bread-making for example). They are sourcing their materials with care and attention, and teaching how to run a kitchen, amongst other modern and commercial necessities.

These are the chefs who will be able to deliver the consistently high standards that customers expect and good restaurateurs wish to achieve.

However, some students, when leaving college, feel they wasted their time. The real world can present quite a different aspect of their chosen profession and they have to start the learning process all over again.

Restaurant employers are also handicapped by some students’ and non-trained staff’s backgrounds. The type of food they experience at home can be quite at variance with food offered in restaurants which they may have no interest in. There can be a mountain to climb in food education, but when a staff member sees the light and becomes excited about the type and quality of the food and service it’s a eureka moment.

This is a bleak outlook, I am aware. Staffing is a growing problem due to the fast food nation of eaters who know or care little about cooking, or who come from a background of not eating as a family around a table. Some entering the profession see the catering trade as a way to becoming famous – and fast – to follow in the shoes of the Jamie Olivers of this world without having to work too hard. Unlike Jamie, who started from the bottom of the heap and proved himself.

If at interview stage prospective staff ask how much they will get paid and how much time off they will get, without asking pertinent questions about the restaurant and the job then it’s hardly worth continuing the dialogue.

Sources of recruitment

So how to overcome this problem of kitchen staffing? A small restaurant needs a good chef who is able to communicate and teach his or her perhaps younger staff. They need to be able to instil a passion about sourcing excellent produce, and cooking it with skill and care. Apprenticeship is alive and well and should be encouraged vigorously with many students attending day release courses while working in a restaurant kitchen.

Be they local or recruited from further afield, they must be able to cover for one another in time of crisis or staff absence, making sure that the whole service runs as smoothly and as pleasantly as possible. Never hire whingers, clock watchers or lazy people. These traits could be difficult to assess at interview, granted. They can infect a good team.

Recruitment agencies

Catering agencies are employment agencies but dedicated to this specific industry. They may place permanently or temporarily. There may be 30,000 vacancies on any one day in London alone due to the burgeoning restaurant and hotel market. Job vacancies include head chefs, trainees, commis and sous chefs, kitchen porters, waiters and waitresses, bar staff and managers.

An agency charges at least ten per cent of the agreed wage, the chef or other member of staff via the agency working a probationary period. On completion, the agency will invoice the company for their percentage.

It is important to weigh up the costs and advantages if you are recruiting agency staff. On the plus side, many agencies get to know their applicants well and match appropriate chefs to appropriate businesses. It’s not in their interests to get this wrong but, of course, it can and does happen, as some agencies see the chef as merely making money for them. Agencies aren’t cheap and you may achieve just as good if not better results with an ad which may attract greater numbers of applicants.

Temporary agency staff usually are better paid per hour. This may cause friction once it is known by your other staff if their hourly rate doesn’t match the temp’s pay, so try not to enter this mix if humanly possible.

Promote from within. It is easier and more cost effective to find a commis chef from an agency than going to an agency to recruit a higher up position. The chef may be able to train up a commis chef who has been with the company for a while to the higher grade.

Other sources

• advertising;
• job centres;
• headhunters;
• existing staff;
• waiting list – people coming to the restaurant looking for a job;
• previous applicants;
• casual callers;
• education systems.