America's Got Talent But Not Everybody is Looking For it

Do you watch all those reality shows on TV. America's Got Talent, American Idol, America's Next Top Model, So You Think You Can Dance, The X Factor etc.

The goal of those shows is to uncover talents, guide them through the process, educate and coach them, so they develop their talent and hopefully they will have terrific new career. Those young talents are full of hope and are surrounded with professionals who have their true interest at heart.

Obviously those TV shows have gained a huge audience as America enjoys witnessing and following the birth of new talents. It is inspiring. TV shows are not the only one who chase talents. Other amazing and successful companies also seek talented individuals, so they stay at the forefront of their industry. That includes Apple, Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Amazon, Intel, Sony, Samsung etc.

It definitely makes sense for companies to recruit talents as the more you have, the more successful you will be. Those TV shows and companies are the perfect proof that talent means money, and long term success. But how come restaurants in Los Angeles are not interested in recruiting talented individuals?

I have worked in the restaurant industry for almost two decades and I have never encountered a restaurant seeking talented employees. To find workers restaurant owners post ads on Craigslist and basically recruit just anyone and pay them the minimum wage. Most restaurants struggle as the competition is intense. Restaurants open everyday, so although a restaurant is doing well for the first few years it does not guarantee long term-success.

The only way to build a lasting business is to recruit talented, passionate people and give them a chance. Restaurants must care about their employees if they want the workers to care about the customers. You lead by example. Show them you care and they'll care for your guests. Pay them the minimum wage, do not offer them any training, nor education and they'll be quickly as uninterested about their job as you are about their career. You have to give, if you want to receive.

Workers expect a company that cares about them and they'll give you their best. The problem is that most restaurant owners are only interested in their own pocketbook. They spend their day to nickle and dime, paying their workers the least, and giving them the least. Yes controlling cost is great, but it is just one piece of the puzzle. Saving has never created long-term success. 

So why don't more restaurant owners in Los Angeles do not try to recruit talents?

Andre Plessis
Restaurant & Hospitality
AP Consulting

When should you receive your tips on credit cards

Q. When a customer pays their bill with a credit card and the payment includes a tip, when can the employee expect to receive the money from the employer?
 

A. Payment of a gratuity made by a patron using a credit card must be paid to the employee not later than the next regular payday following the date the patron authorized the credit card payment. Labor Code Section 351

 

Andre Plessis

AP COnsulting

My employer deducts my tips from my paycheck. Is this legal?

California Labor Code Section 351 

351.  No employer or agent shall collect, take, or receive any gratuity or a part thereof that is paid, given to, or left for an employee by a patron, or deduct any amount from wages due an employee on account of a gratuity, or require an employee to credit the amount, or any part thereof, of a gratuity against and as a part of the wages due the employee from the employer. 

Every gratuity is hereby declared to be the sole property of the employee or employees to whom it was paid, given, or left for. An employer that permits patrons to pay gratuities by credit card shall pay the employees the full amount of the gratuity that the patron indicated on the credit card slip, without any deductions for any credit card payment processing fees or costs that may be charged to the employer by the credit card company. Payment of gratuities made by patrons using credit cards shall be made to the employees not later than the next regular payday following the date the patron authorized the credit card payment.

Andre Plessis

AP Consulting 

Bringing out The Best in Restaurant Workers

In my career in the restaurant and hospitality industry, I have observed that ill conceived management is one of the biggest problems. Restaurant owners hire people with no clue about the tasks at hand, including managers that got promoted from servers to managers. They have not received the proper training and education unlike almost all other professions in the world.

 
Managing a restaurant, on the floor or otherwise, should be learned. You cannot properly manage a business and employees without education, passion and skills for the job. Today, in most restaurants, it is all about catching workers doing something wrong, barking orders at them and punishing them, in other word instilling fear in them with the twisted hope that it will work out.

It’s counterproductive! High turnover cost money, time and stress to no avail.

Management never ask the staff for their comments or suggestions as they are not valued. They are hired to do a task, take orders and keep their expectations low. That’s not the best way to build a lasting business.
It’s wrong and that's not what managing a business is about at all.
I have never met a manager with entrepreneurial skills that were looking for ideas to grow the business. In fact I have not met many restaurant owners who truly know how to grow a restaurant business. They usually focus on minimizing payroll, food cost, labor cost, doing inventory to see if the workers they hire and do not trust steal liquor or food. To them it’s all about minimizing cost, rarely about growing the business. 

And that’s why most restaurants close down in record time and by the thousands (about 9450 last year in the U.S.)
I rarely meet a restaurant owner who understands how valuable his or hers workers are, who trust them, ask for their comments and suggestions. Workers are at the forefront of the business. They are the ones who deal with the customers all day long, so obviously they know more than managers and owners. The only thing they don't know is Profit & Loss of the business.
A good worker is invaluable and should be chosen and treated as such.
To build a restaurant business that lasts, you have to change your management style and think outside the box. For as long as restaurant owners hire managers who acts as cops on the floor, hire unskilled workers then refuse to trust them and value their feedback, they will be one step away from being knocked down by the competition.

Andre Plessis
AP Consulting
Restaurant and Hospitality Consultant