Building and maintaining a quality bar and waitstaff can be a challenge, but once you do, the payoff is well worth your investment.
I always hear stories from other club managers about how they not only have a hard time finding quality servers, but once they do, keeping how difficult it can be to keep those employees. Not to say that we do not have our share of serve issues, but I think that we have an overall pretty solid staff and I trust them to perform at their highest level.
I look at it like this: Let’s say the event is a wedding reception. To the guests—especially the bride and groom and their families—this evening will be one that they will remember for the rest of their lives and talk about over and over again. For the service staff, though, it is nothing more than another night at work. It’s no different than the shift they worked last week or the one they will work next week. I try to remind them that this is a special night for some of our members and that they are going to be a part of it!
I admit that sometimes I use bribes to get them to perform at the level they need to, especially for those “Top Dollar” events. Even if it’s something as simple as a lottery, movie tickets, days off work, or preferred shifts for the following week, they see it all as a perk and are usually willing to work just that much harder than if they were not being offered. I see it as a win/win for both of us. They get something they can use outside of work and our members get the best service our club has to offer.
It’s not easy finding the talent, though. I have heard all sorts of horror stories about servers. Some pretty tame ones like someone giving a “No Call/No Show” on an event like Easter Brunch all the way to stories about servers stealing wedding gifts right off the gift table during the ceremony and then getting caught red handed with the items in their possession later that evening!
I try to be as sympathetic and empathic as possible when I hear about an issue that one of our servers is dealing with personally, but at the same time they have to understand that we are a business and the majority of our big business occurs on the weekend. I recently hired someone under the guise that she could work anytime. After two weeks she changed her availability to “no evenings and no weekends.” I hope she can still pay her bills with the restricted amount of scheduled shifts I will be able to give her with such a limited time frame to work. I told her that with those hours, she might be able to make more money working elsewhere. She’s a good server and I’d hate to looser her, but if her schedule is that limited, there isn’t much else I can do.
What I have learned over time is that everyone wants to get paid, but there are only a percentage of those same people who are willing to actually work for the money. By keeping the club a fun environment and have the servers in laughter before, during and after an event or a shift; by providing incentives for those that go the extra mile and by continuously coaching and guiding the staff, we have built a waitstaff here at Diamond Oaks CC that can be trusted and we have servers that are willing to assist in anyway possible.
I hope that helps and until next time, just keep selling!
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