[Montelago]

Ultimately when you just walk out on a job, you are not screwing the employer, you are screwing your team, and the customers. Short story for you. I took over this place about 8 months ago after a stint with a real bum of a chef. He had a superstar line cook named Jose that worked any shift, any day, gave 100% all the time and was liked by all. After a final fight with the chef, Jose quit and walked out in the middle of his shift. About a month ago he came and re-applied here again because he always loved his job. The food & beverage director refused to hire him back because he had walked out without notice. The bridges you burn may be closer to home than you think. And if you really think about, is your pride and sense of professionalism so weak that it can't take two weeks of doing the right thing. Food for thought.

[Rivitman]

Originally Posted by Montelago

Ultimately when you just walk out on a job, you are not screwing the employer, you are screwing your team, and the customers. Short story for you. I took over this place about 8 months ago after a stint with a real bum of a chef. He had a superstar line cook named Jose that worked any shift, any day, gave 100% all the time and was liked by all. After a final fight with the chef, Jose quit and walked out in the middle of his shift. About a month ago he came and re-applied here again because he always loved his job. The food & beverage director refused to hire him back because he had walked out without notice. The bridges you burn may be closer to home than you think. And if you really think about, is your pride and sense of professionalism so weak that it can't take two weeks of doing the right thing. Food for thought.

Jose simply overstimated himself. He paid the price. His mistake. And if he IS that good, the F+B is a screwup by applying the arbitrary standard.

The word 'team' is just a word. In the working world, it is usually used to apply pressure or intimidate someone into acting against their own best interests. A great 'team' effort means the owner gets richer. The chef might get a raise, maybe even the sous. The cooks and dishwashers however, will probably not get enough to cover inflation. This makes it difficult to explain their value as members of a 'team'.

Just where was the 'team' for Jose? Did they try to help him handle bum chef?
Did they, as a group, ask the GM to re-hire him?

Probably not.
This is because they were loyal to Jose's ability to carry a workload, not Jose.

You see, there is no professionalism, and there is no team, without fairness, personal respect and loyalty. And that is a two way street.

By the way, my obligation to the customer is to deliver the best I can while under employment. When that is over, so is my obligation. If the boss puts me in a such a position as to have to end it on the spot, it's boss who let the customer down, not me.

[chef warren]

the guy that has come as sous chef is not realy performing up to standard, the boss who is a qualified chef also worked with us a couple of days ago and said he thought that he (sous) wasnt up to the job. i do see some inconsistancies in his work and yesterday he handed me a ceasar salad with no dressing, when i asked him why it was not dressed he said all the bowls were in the wash up, i know people can overlook things but not every day. he was hired by the previous head chef but i dont have much fait in his abilities. i dont feel that i can leave him in charge on my days off. he also stewed 60 euro worth of fish into a sea food chowder it was just left as pulp and i couldnt use it as chowder, i had to make fish pie from it. he also seem to forget what he is at all the time, im gonna have to make a call on it sooner rather then later

[Montelago]

Originally Posted by Rivitman

Jose simply overstimated himself. He paid the price. His mistake. And if he IS that good, the F+B is a screwup by applying the arbitrary standard.

The word 'team' is just a word. In the working world, it is usually used to apply pressure or intimidate someone into acting against their own best interests. A great 'team' effort means the owner gets richer. The chef might get a raise, maybe even the sous. The cooks and dishwashers however, will probably not get enough to cover inflation. This makes it difficult to explain their value as members of a 'team'.

Just where was the 'team' for Jose? Did they try to help him handle bum chef?
Did they, as a group, ask the GM to re-hire him?

Probably not.
This is because they were loyal to Jose's ability to carry a workload, not Jose.

You see, there is no professionalism, and there is no team, without fairness, personal respect and loyalty. And that is a two way street.

By the way, my obligation to the customer is to deliver the best I can while under employment. When that is over, so is my obligation. If the boss puts me in a such a position as to have to end it on the spot, it's boss who let the customer down, not me.

You seem a bit jaded regarding this business. There is absolutely a sense of team when it comes to a kitchen crew, and it has nothing to do with pressure from management. The rest of the crew did speak on Jose's behalf to no avail. And to suggest that the F&B was holding Jose to an arbitrary standard proves my point that in certain kitchens there is no professionalism. And what was the rest of the crew to do to defend Jose? Reality dictates that people have families and bills to pay. They are rarely going to risk their own jobs no matter how noble the cause.

And by the way, in my restaurants the servers tip out the cooks every night, and every banquet carries a service charge, not gratuity, that gets split up among the cooks responsible.