Thursday, November 15, 2012

Everyone Is Important!

Recently, I gave a speech to a group of foodservice professionals about action steps to become a better company team member and employee. I was part of a panel of five, so I only had twenty minutes. It was an interesting audience for me because, unlike when I speak at our annual catersource Conference, many of these foodservice professionals had not heard me sing the praises of the hospitality industry before.
When I speak to groups that have never heard me before, I need to remind myself to start a little slower than I do when speaking to professionals who are Roman “alumni.” I began by asking them, “Who owns your company?”
After a brief pause, so they could take time to hear their answer to my question in their own minds, I shared my thoughts. Here is a summary:
To become a better team member or staffer, you need to realize that no matter what position or duty you are responsible for in a company, that one single job is crucial to the success of the business. An executive chef is no more important than a person who packs orders or loads trucks, even though one is paid more than the other.
All of the work of the executive chef—or the whole culinary team for that matter—can be negated quickly if the wrong stuff is packed for an event. In fact, team members with lower pay often are the more dominant reason for a company’s success or failure; a team is as strong as its weakest member.
As I came nearer to the end of my speech, I started to pump up my energy and focus. I don’t know why, but when I forcefully told the audience that they, not the actual owners, were the true owners of their company, I could see a change in their eyes. Evidently, I had just presented a new idea that took them by surprise.
I explained that they didn’t just have a job description or duties to fulfill, they also needed to think about what they did and didn’t do on a daily basis as an owner would. Taking ownership is the only way to gain an upper hand on their contributions to the business.
I left them with this simple concept: If you actively take ownership of your role in a company, the company will experience new and renewed success. In addition, by taking ownership and responsibility for your job, you are able to take ownership of your own future.
I asked them to remember that the real owners of the company will identify clearly those team members who are thinking, acting and responding as owners would. In the hospitality industry, you can’t hide the good or not-so-good performance of any employee.
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n all my years of speaking, I’ve never had so many audience members visit with me immediately after the speech to tell me how much they were affected by the ideas I’d just presented. Whether you are a real owner, or a “staff owner,” you may want to consider opening a discussion like this with your team.

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