" the restaurant mentality"

Over the past 4 years I have studied communication/ pr and relationship managing and marketing, prior to my studies and throughout the duration of the course I have also been a part-time waitress in a number of restaurants. I believe that my experience and knowledge in the field of relationship management and the very nature of communications has given me the power to add the sort of value to a customers experience which allows me actually build relationships with them based on the simple understanding of knowing what their specific needs are; and how to exceed their expectations and in return receive a bigger percentage of tips/ and or money(my end objective)

What I covered in detail over the past year is the vital role which emotional intelligence and relationship management plays in managing not any organisation, but specifically one in the service industry.

That what is even more than important than having waiters who know what they doing, is having managers who understand the very nature of the relationships which they have with their staff,their suppliers as well as with their customers and the way in which those relationships directly affect their organisational success and ultimately their profitability and survival over time.

the reason why I have mentioned all these things, is because recently i was fired from a part-time waitress job for not saying good bye to my customers who had already paid the bill and told that i didn't have the kind of restaurant mentality to work there.

the situation:
i had just started working at the fat cactus in gardens. i had trained for two shifts for which i wasn't paid. throughout my training i was not required to job shadow any one specific fellow staff member, but i was told to follow their newest waitress around as she was a friend of Mine. the training which i received during the shift which she didn't work with me consisted of me asking questions and standing around "looking busy" which included doing virtually all the prep work for the shift while the other waiters sat around eating their staff meals and joking with each other.

on my second training shift i wiped all the table and bar surfaces in the restaurant, i also changed ll the ashtrays outside for tables which belonged to the day staff. in addition to that i polished all the cutlery which was available to polish at the time, made the little burger flags with another waiter. wiped the windows and set out the candles and lamps for the night shift. besides one other waiter who was basically just telling me what to do I did all the prep for that shift by myself. i cleaned tables, changed ashtrays, took peoples orders and learned the menu without any instruction to do so.i greeted guests and sat them down. I also asked the kitchen staff many questions about where everything goes in the kitchen to prepare myself for my first shift.

on my second official shift i was the first waiter there. i seated two tables who then ordered from me. as none of the other evening staff seemed to care about serving them or pay them any attention i took their orders. with their orders in my head i went to the computer to ring them up only to discover that one owner in particular had not programmed my card yet so i had no access to the computer. after asking various staff members what i should do, because these people had already placed their order and were waiting for drinks it took about ten minutes for a manager to eventually tell me to run to Woolworth's and get a card. nobody seemed to worry about the two tables which were waiting for service until i mentioned it repeatedly and another waiter was instructed to take them their drinks so long and attend to them.

Throughout the night i exceeded all my customers expectations, i know this because of the verbal feedback, thank-yous and tips i received ( not because i sucked up to them, but because I had build relationships with them based on the simple communication which took place between us throughout their experience.)

when the clock struck 10 o clock, nobody wanted to serve tables anymore. as the tables came in I noticed that the old waiters paid less and less attention to them and were willing to give their tables away to myself and the other waitress who had worked a double that day. we were all tired and wanted to go home but we dealt with it differently.

when the last table walked in just after the kitchen had packed up, i was the only person left who actually wanted to serve them. I then told them that I would check with the owner on duty that night to see whether the kitchen was still open. he told me yes, so i served them with the same level of service i had given the rest of my tables. they were happy, and gave a big tip because they could see that I was the only person in the restaurant who wasn't rushing them.

throughout the duration of their eating experience that night:
- nobody wanted to serve them even though the kitchen was still open so technically so was the restaurant
- they were told to order their food immediately
-they were basically pushed out of the restaurant as people started packing up the entire restaurant including carrying all the outside tables inside and closing the doors.
-they were faced with miserable tired waiters who just wanted to go home and made it very clear to them that they were the reason they couldn't.

- then they got me as their waitress.
they were happy and content and paid their bill with a smile despite my apologies about the goings on around them. i did my cash up and left to go home as did all the others. the manager and owner as well as two of the waiters were there to close up at the time. with it being my second shift, and little to no training I made the mistake of assuming that the manager and other waiters would say good bye to my table and see them out ( i had also been busy cashing up and failed to notice that the table was still sitting in a hidden corner on the other side of the restaurant) i had completely forgotten that they were still there.

10 minutes later i received a missed call on my cell from the restaurant, i had no airtime at the time to call them back, so i drove back to the restaurant to see what the problem was thinking that perhaps i had made a mistake with my cash up.

upon my arrival the owner asked me why i had just left with my table still sitting there, i told him that i was sorry but i was new and had not been informed of the procedure to follow in that situation. i apologised politely and mentioned that i had forgotten they were even still there because i couldn't see their table on my way out. the table was still seated, completely unaware of what had been going on. i told him that i would stay until they left to say good bye to them.

he responded by saying that that wont be necessary as i don't have the kind of restaurant mentality that he wants in his staff and that i no longer had a job there. i got a fright, thanked him for the opportunity and apologised again before i left.

Upon my return home i thought about what had happened and I became angry not because I unfairly lost my job without any warnings or proper training but because I was told that after everything I did since working there that I never had the "right restaurant mentality" to work there.

I can admit that I made a mistake, but i cannot agree with the way in which in was dealt with.

that after a few drinks ( throughout the day !) and little or no attention to my work performance throughout the night and respect or appreciation for what those customers and many others would experienced about his restaurant that night because of the direct face to face communication which took place between myself and them throughout their experience.

I received an average of 15 % of tips based on my turn over at the end of the night. he received the profit on that turnover and positive feedback and word of mouth about the service experienced by each table I served.

the facts and figures speak for themselves and there is no doubt in my mind that I would have been a real asset to his organisation over time, had he possessed the emotional intelligence required to build effective relationships with his staff and his customers perhaps he would have realised that it was my own skills, knowledge and experience combined with the emotional intelligence of realising exactly what would please that table that night which exceeded their expectations which earned the big tip i got.

that they had not even noticed i had left, that perhaps what was more important to them that being greeted upon leaving, was being served with a smile by someone who appreciated their business (me) despite also wanting to go home. that perhaps it wasn't pleasant for them to be rushed out and have the entire restaurant packed up around them, with waiters making comments out loud about wanting them to leave. that perhaps my apologies and friendly interaction were the only thing that they were satisfied with that night. that perhaps after they had payed their bill they just wanted to be left alone to finish off their time together.

I don't want my job back, or even an apology but the purpose of me writing about this is to say exactly how I feel about it. i think it was unfair, uncalled for and irrational. I think it was disgusting that he could address me after a few drinks and just fire me for something so small with no warning.
i am shocked at his poor level of control over his emotions, his blind sightedness of his actions and the absolute lack of respect for me as a person and more importantly as a staff member.

since this hapend last week, i had a birthday party. all 25 guests there heard the story, every time they hear or see fat cactus they will remember the story and tell their friends. they will also tell future potential employees. besides my guests, i have told my peers at college, 2 lecturers, my parents, and anybody else who asked me why i was fired including customers who i served in my short time there.

so i don't need an apology or my job back. what id like however is to highlight the negative word of mouth which has been generated about the restaurant because of what happened and the negative implications of that. the rest of my story tells itself but what i learned from the experienced is absolutely process. i hope that he will learn from it too...