Straight from the horse's mouth...

Our store is frequently visited by our Area Director. I've known him for over 10 years now, through a number of stores, and generally I like him a lot. He's honest, shoots straight with you, and knows his business. I get to interact with him fairly regularly, and he remembered my name a few years back when I came back to Red Lobster after 6+ years of working elsewhere. He's asked me for years to be a manager, and my answer has never changed. I don't want to work in a restuarant the rest of my life, though at this point it seems like I've been in this industry since birth (well, since 1991 anyhow).

Last night was a busy night for our store, and having the area director around rachets up the stress for some people. I do my job as I always do it, and don't worry about having him around. I actually enjoy having him there, because it keeps the screw ups and screw offs on their toes.

I think he was caught by surprize a bit when some of our service staff pulled him to the side and described the economic impact that this new stupid system is having on them. I refrained from adding anything, as it got heated at times, and I was busy training a new server. The thing that really set things off was that we had a bar tender take over a server station in the middle of the evening, and that really rubs some/most of the wait staff the wrong way. The bartenders are paid significantly more than servers, they are tipped out by servers, and now they are taking business away from servers. I've continued to tip my bar staff 10%ish on most nights depending on the service I receive, but I know other servers have lowered their amount, and I've heard the bar tenders complain about it. I'm on great terms with our bar staff, especially with one I close with 2-3 nights a week, and I understand they had nothing to do with this. The result of our staff members talking with our area leadership were that of hitting a brick wall. He (area director) stated that we shouldn't expect things to change in the next year. I heard at least 3 people say that was the confirmation they were waiting for and that they would be seeking employment elsewhere. These people are the senior staff our our resturant, the people who train the new staff. These are excellent servers, with great relations with their guests and other staff, and people who have gone above and beyond in their service to Red Lobster. What has Red Lobster done in return? They have stabbed them in the back, greatly reducing their earning potential, and told them to their faces it's going to stay this way. Great way to take care of your employees.


Related Tags: Red Lobster, resturant, management, unhappy employee, bad leadership, food service