Wednesday, August 30, 2017
Today's Specials:
SOCIAL MEDIA: 6 Tips for Owning Your Restaurant’s Social Media
This day and age, an online presence is quickly becoming the number one way to grow and maintain your restaurant. So how can you be sure you’re doing everything possible to build your brand? Find out with these tips.
DID YOU KNOWS…
Most Popular Millennial Apps
The average Millennial in the US spends roughly 20 hours a week on their phones. So, the big question is, What are they spending all that time looking at? This infographic shows the must-have apps that Millennials “can’t go without.” The top three may surprise you.
BK Bitcoins
Burger King in Russia has launched a WhopperCoin crypto-cash that allows customers to claim coins for every rouble ($0.75) they spend on the Whopper sandwich. Once they reached 1,700 whoppercoins they will be able to buy a free Whopper. Executives stated concerns over possible cheating with their coin system. It’s a good thing there’s no election involved.
The Taco Visionaries
Taco Bell is not afraid to blur the lines between Mexican food and untraditional breakfast options. Their latest creation is a breakfast taco wrapped in a fried egg which, according to a senior brand manager, was created with its Instagram value in mind.
POLITICAL JUDGEMENT
Why it matters to you: What do your staff’s political opinions mean outside of work?
Does the behavior of your staff outside of work impact how you perceive them as an employee? Maybe or maybe not. However, if you have been watching the political landscape lately, you may have heard of employers parting ways with staff participating in a neo-Nazi, KKK or white supremacists activity. There are multiple stories about operators firing team members for expressing their 1st Amendment right to speech away from work. The question is, does the operator have the right? The answer is it depends on what state you are in and if they have any free speech laws related to employment.
For example, states like California, Colorado, North Dakota and New York all have laws that preclude you from terminating an employee for their off-duty conduct. We live in a politically charged environment and that means we have to manage it. First, find out what your state laws are with regard to terminating an employee for off-duty behavior, and then post your own policy so your team knows the rules. You can dictate (with some limitations) that they don’t engage in their own politics while working, so be sure to include that in your policy to ensure your team knows what is and is not acceptable.
WHAT’S AROUND THE FINGER?
Why it matters to you: Many female bartenders feel they are tipped more if they remove their wedding rings.
Being a female bartender certainly has its challenges. Often, many female (and male) bartenders are the object of unwanted attention which can make their jobs fairly uncomfortable. Sometimes minor actions can be analyzed from the perspective of the guest to affect how they tip. In an article from Food & Wine magazine called “Do Bartenders Make More Money When They Take Off Their Wedding Rings?”, women explain that wearing their wedding rings often lessens the amount of tips they receive on a given night. One bartender describes the pressure on women to appear single and flirtatious because it translates into better tips.
The restaurant industry has long struggled with workplace harassment from both customers and staff, but is rarely discussed in depth. The most common trend revealed in the article wasn’t women bartenders hiding their marital status, but rather consciously avoiding behavior that could be perceived as flirtatious, even if it meant fewer tips.
Unfortunately, there is little we can do to prevent the situation based on the interactional nature of the job. Bartenders are required to be socially friendly, and how it’s perceived is not under our control. However, the situation is viewed differently depending on the establishment and the person. One bartender quotes, “The ring is a symbol to other women that I am not trying to steal their man,” she said. “I am just doing my job.”
