Well said, not to shoot myself in the foot, but this is the first time I've looked at our labor costs since becoming exec. Today I asked my crew, "if i wanted to do something paperwork related for the kitchen, what would it be." Half of them said something along the lines of lack of organization, citing a protocol and an actual daily to do list for each individual regardless of position.
Does that mean I should write out a list for position, eg. cook, food runner, support, morning prep or by name?
Also, were running 28% labor cost , we were at 22% for my first 2 months as exec, but I was also working 80-90 hours a week which included getting there saturday at noon to prep, then line/expo till 9pm, then to finishing up brunch prep till 9am sunday where I would try to squeeze a 30 min prior to brunch service(11-3). Another nap till 4 and then take part of a 2 man line, hoping i could squeeze in inventory/ordering and leaving by 10pm. This is not me bragging about how dedicated I am, but to disclose that my lack of leadership and inability to properly delegate has forced me to take it upon myself and it's starting to feel like I am doing more and more with less and less. My co-sous recently left, stating he was not ready to take on the sous position that it involved too much(really wasnt, i did at least 1.6x he did when i was sous and with less experience nonetheless) only to have him come back as a line cook with the same pay. Mind you, he only wanted a $1.50 raise for the sous position(he got and gets $12/hr) and my other co sous works only one shift on fri,sat,sun.
Another thing i just recently noticed is that my AM prep girls will text me on my days off asking if there's any other prep work that needs to be done. While I have given our PM crew the prep sheets to fill out(a recent thing), they are not thorough and I end up having to double check when I come in. Sometimes the prep girls will take it upon themselves to also check the line, but that is not always the case.
How do i really know what my kitchen needs, when I know I am part of the problem? And is this problem solvable? Two weeks ago out of frustration,I walked out during service, and on the owner's ticket. I was weeded all night, one owner texted me if I was able to get the order to him tonight, i replied "no" which is the first time i ever didnt do it the same night, he comes in just the rush was dying and orders 6 items(3 apps and 3 entrees). Pacing back and forth...i calmly asked the line...should i walk out??? They asked, why and i said," I don't want to work for an owner that would do this, yes i know he's the owner and even if it's for quality control---he knew we were one man down and that we were busy and still wants to order all this shit. No phone call to to let us know so we can perhaps prepare it or ask us before placing the order. Maybe, I'm overreacting." I got back to cooking his stuff and a min later, i apologized to the other cook. " You have to pull the pho broth, wrap the meat in the ice bath, strain the marinara, and cut up the gelatin upstairs and place it in the meatballs and then make meatballs, but im leaving and I am truly sorry that you are stuck in the middle of this." I left, turned my phone off because if they called, I would have returned...I'm what you call a "yes man." I say and do everything they ask with what I have and then I get mad at whoever even though I should have said no or prioritized.
I didnt show up to work the next day(first day off in 18 days), which prompted them to run only bar menu. I also kept my phone off and made a pro and con list, and made an outline for the meeting i set up for the next day with the GM. After we talked, my gm said, maybe you need a line or a prep cook to assist you, but maybe look at adding a kitchen manager to the Craigslist ad. Now, ive interviewed everyone and im surprised about the talent pool out there. While i have two stand out candidates for kitchen manager, my prep and line cooks were less than stellar. All of them were asked questions related to the position they wanted which i got from this site. Questions can be found here
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B1f_iD2p56pEYTFOUTlDc0pwajQ
and asked them to take an onion, julienne half and small dice the other along with an omelette. Omelette portion was an extra bonus to see if they could possibly help brunch and their heat control, if they used butter or oil, or if they used any cream or milk, which pan did they want. Some didnt know their cuts by name, but after telling them what I wanted they did an ok job and the people who did know fared even worse. As for the omlette portion, all took 15 min just to get it out and one cleaned their stations afterwards.
I feel slightly lost and hope a couple of new hires will strengthen the kitchen as well as me.