How many times have you watched a movie that inspired you? Whether in your personal life or professional life, movies have a tendency to invoke feel-good moments and relate to your own personal life. In this case, Remy, the main character in Disney's Ratatouille embodied key qualities of every aspiring chef. And with his culinary idol's ghost helping him pave his way with the motto "anyone can cook," we've put together 3 restaurant back-of-house management tips we've learned.
This'll be difficult without providing any spoilers, but let's just say things went awry when Linguine, the human garbage boy turned chef, took all the credit for Remy, the sewer rat turned chef's, talent. But long story short, Linguine wouldn't be able to do what he did, without Remy.
But instead of the circumstance of stealing credit, we're focusing on the aspect of praise. Restaurant kitchens are the most demanding department of a restaurant. Kitchens are hot, usually confined in a small space but cooks, sous and chefs alike are working towards one goal: feeding their patrons. And when you're grinding over a hot stove for 6 hours , a beer and a high-five for your employees could be very appreciated. Which relates to ...
Touching on the point of restaurant kitchens being tough to work in, the restaurant industry also has a high rate of turnover. One of the biggest contributing factors, is the work-life balance of employees. And a positive work environment is a combination of different things like providing the right tools like online restaurant staffing schedules, having a clear communication channel and making time off requests easy.
For some people, there's a distinct memory that pushed them to pursue their career. Almost like how Push Operations was created. Our founder was a frequent diner at restaurants. And when he saw that there was room for improvement, he took the opportunity and ran with it. But at the forefront of it all? Passion.
Much like how our founder was passionate about solving complicated problems with easy solutions, Remy had a dream of cooking in a kitchen, which is unconventional for a sewer rat; but hey, they both did it! The lesson here? Don't let your environment determine your outcome. Perseverance, integrity and passion are the key ingredients that makes a successful business owner.
Things don't tend to work if you're a helicopter manager. Especially if you're constantly hovering over your employee's work station, and "making sure" they're doing everything correctly. It's one thing to hold an employee to a high standard, and another thing to teach them how to get there.
What comes out of your kitchens is only as good as the team working in it. And with the right training, and the opportunity to learn and grow with your mentorship, you'll build a team of rockstars.
“In the labor numbers, we were reporting about a $300 to $400 difference than what we were getting through Push!”
-Tara Hardie, ZZA Hospitality Group, 16 locations
