Shorten The Workweek?

Really? Maybe. Many other industries are adopting a four-day workweek or letting staff work from home. At first, this doesn’t seem to make sense in catering. 

The economic logic of this should prompt caterers to think about how to use a shorter workweek in a way that will fit the catering business model. You might close the company down for one day a week. If you run the numbers of expenses vs. costs, you can see that the concept needs to be considered. At least think about the idea for your slower seasons.

Caterers who close one day a week tend to select Sunday or Monday, since these are the days many businesses are closed. The advantages of having everyone off on the same day are huge. For example: You now have everyone off on the same day of the week, which strengthens your team on all the other days because everyone is involved. Some caterers close everything else, but keep their sales offices open on Monday to insure that possible prospects don’t skip them in the buying process.

Corporate business tends to be on weekdays and social catering tends to be on weekends. Some companies make the decision to become an exclusive weekday or weekend caterer. This means weekday caterers work Monday through Friday while weekend caterers work Thursday through Sunday or Monday.

Leadership For Managers

Owners tend to spend hours thinking and rethinking their business. At the top of the list of concerns is the need to create sales that result in proper profitability, followed by anything and everything that deals with staff.

Profitability and staff are the heart of all successful companies. You can add in timing, location and a lot of luck, but the real leadership targets are dollars and people.

You’ve probably heard that old saying “Sales cure everything.” This is not necessarily true. A catering company can have lots of sales volume and at the same time, lots of unhappiness because of staff problems. I once asked a client, “What is more important to you—making money or having less tension with your staff?” My client answered quickly, “Having staff who are competent and understand what they are supposed to do.”

Staff members have good days and bad days—but customers expect every day to be a good day. Two of the most important elements of a manager’s daily activities are providing direction and providing support the team needs. There can be no bad days for managers. Well, hopefully that is!