When you read the title, you might think of people who need an attitude adjustment. However, I’m focusing on the internal attitude adjustment that we, as leaders in the service industry, need to make—specifically, our approach to attitude.
With over 30 years of experience in hospitality, working in both hotels and restaurants, I’ve interviewed hundreds of leaders for various vacancies. One of my favorite questions to ask is, “What are the top three qualities you look for in a candidate?” Common answers include experience, punctuality, length of service, and eye contact—all important traits. However, what I rarely hear is a “positive attitude.”
The truth is, we can train most people to perform the tasks needed in our restaurants and hotels, but we can’t teach them to have a positive attitude. This needs to be an inherent part of their personality. We’ve all encountered that one server who clearly didn’t belong in the hospitality industry.
For example, my wife and I went out to dinner recently at a local restaurant. It was a busy Friday night (with insufficient social distancing, but that’s another story). We joined some friends, ordered our food, and continued our conversation. Shortly after, the manager brought our food and chastised my wife for ordering cheese curds with her wrap. “These are very expensive, hand-breaded, and you can’t do that!” he said. We were stunned. My wife responded with “OK,” and he left. I later discovered that my wife had actually paid extra for the cheese curds. How can a restaurant leader treat a guest this way and be upset that his server had increased the average check? The server apologized for her manager and expressed her relief that he was soon leaving to manage a new location.
In this situation, we had a manager with a terrible attitude and no understanding of guest service, and a server who didn’t respect her manager—clearly, a significant culture issue. Is it the server’s fault or the manager’s fault? It’s neither. It’s the owner/leader’s fault for placing this person in a leadership role. This not only lost my business but also made me share this story with everyone I know.
The attitude adjustment starts with us. We need to change how we perceive attitude and its importance to our business. It can make or break the success of your establishment. A leader with a poor attitude will create a culture of disrespect, likely resulting in high turnover, increased recruiting and training costs, and lost sales due to an unengaged team.
So, when you think of an attitude adjustment, consider how you perceive attitude and its importance to the success of your business.
