Cutting back to improve quality of life
Restaurants rejigger managers' workweeks
Larry Halstead
Web Editor/Staff Writer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
From the October 10, 2005 print edition
The tradition of the restaurateur as an auteur departing a distinctive style holds that the pivotal person in charge needs to be ever-present physically or at least in spirit. Compelled by the desire to create a signature eating establishment, the traditional manager makes the restaurant his or her life.
Increasing numbers of today's casual dining establishments are taking a hard look at following such a tradition. With the blessing of a new generation of managers who work within a formula and are likely not control freaks, big chains are seeing the advantages of scaling back managers' hours.
Today's managers, many with young families, are clamoring to cut back on the workload to free up more family time.
"The real issue is the number of days worked not the hours," said Malcolm Knapp, president of restaurant industry consulting firm Malcolm M. Knapp Inc. in New York. At Cracker Barrel, managers work five-day weeks, said Knapp.
CBRL Group Inc., owner of the Cracker Barrel chain, guarantees its managers a five-day workweek, but that comes out to about 55-60 hours per week, said Robert Harig, senior VP of human resources. "In the restaurant industry, work days average 10-12 hours," Harig said.
Garden Fresh Restaurant Corp. moved its managers into a 40-hour workweek in 2002 after testing its "Best Job" concept for five years. Known as Sweet Tomatoes in the Tampa Bay area, the soup and salad chain made the move to cut costs.
It worked, to the tune of more than $1 million per year, by reducing the number of store managers from four to three and streamlining operational systems by eliminating redundancy.
But the real benefits showed up as improved morale, lower turnover and better systems.
During the testing period, Garden Fresh analyzed all its systems and cut where it could, said Wendy Jewell, executive director of human resources. Every daily responsibility in the stores was looked at and prioritized.
Inventory frequencies were changed to twice a month instead of weekly, cash counting was reduced to twice a day and more tasks that managers had been performing were delegated to the key crewmembers.
"It frees me up to spend more time with the guests," said James "Smitty" Smith, GM of the Brandon store. Smith has been with Sweet Tomatoes for 12 years and was promoted to GM after six.
When the plans to change managerial duties came down from corporate, all the GMs thought the idea was crazy, Smith said. Nobody wanted to give away any responsibilities.
http://www.bizjournals.com/industries/retailing_restaurants/restaurants/
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