26 May 2021
Hey guys, my name is Wilson. Today I'm going to be sharing with you the
three red flags on firing your staff. Because if your cost of goods sales are skyrocketing
through the roof, or everyone hates your staff, or you have these crazy negative reviews,
you know that something is going on. Which is the reason why I'm going to be sharing
with you the three red flags that you must see, and whenever you spot, you should fire
that staff right away. And on the topic of firing, how do you actually
fire your staff? We're going to be jumping into that at the
end of the video. Make sure you guys stay tuned. Otherwise, let's dive right into the three
red flags. The number one red flag is your numbers. And what I mean by that is if you've been
running your business for the last year, or two years, and your cost of good sales range
from 20 to 25%, and all of a sudden you hire this new cook, your cost of goods sold skyrocketed
to 30%, 35%, 40%, then you know something is wrong.
And it is because of the fact that most likely
they're either either not handling your delivery of your cost of goods sold, or your ingredients
properly. Because you have a lot of wastage, and in
turn the ingredients that goes to waste does not generate revenue for you, which in turn
increases your costs of goods sold as a percentage of your revenue. Another problem that might occur is that they
keep giving out free food. They keep serving different items, and they
might be working with your front of a house staff, and giving them free food. They may be giving free food to all your staff,
and all your employees. And that itself does not generate revenue,
which in turn drives up your cost of goods sold. Which is a reason why it's super important
for you to understand and know your numbers. When you're actually tracking your numbers,
then you would know when these spikes happen and these irregular things happen.
So super important to be able to track your
numbers. Cost of goods sold is one high indication
of something that is going wrong. So for example, if you hired a new manager
for that matter, instead of a new chef, and your costs of goods sold is really high, then
instead of not handling with delivery of the ingredients, your managers might be comping
a lot of meals. They may be giving away a lot of meals to
clients and customers, and in turn that drives up the cost of goods sold, but the revenue
stays flat. Which means that your cost of goods sold are
once again higher. They might be actually stealing money from
you as well. Because if they don't put and they don't enter
that meal into the POS system, and in turn they have the food that is being served, your
cost of goods sold are increasing, whereas revenue is staying plateaued, then that's
why your costs of goods sold as a percentage would increase, right? Because at the end of the day, for every meal
that you serve, your revenue should go up.
So it's proportional, right? So after you actually understanding your number,
it is super important. So whenever you have staff that you bring
on board, and these numbers are changing, then that means something is wrong. Another example of not knowing your numbers
is the labor costs, okay? And so what I mean by that is when you hire
a manager, they are doing your scheduling for you. And all of a sudden your labor cost is going
up from 10%, or from 20%, to 25% to 30%, then that means they're not utilizing your staff
properly. Then that means that your staff haves a lot
of idle time. That means your staff has… You have too many staff in your restaurant
all at once, right? So it's up to your manager's job and duty,
in order for them to lower and maintain a certain level of labor costs for your food
and beverage business. So these are all very, very key red flags. Knowing your numbers is something that you
must, must do when you're running a business.
Because this itself is a red flag that you
should always look at when figuring out whether someone that you hired was a bad apple, or
not. The second red flag that you should definitely
look at are reviews. Okay? When I'm talking about reviews, we're talking
about in personal reviews. We're talking about online reviews from online
sites like Facebook, like Yelp. You need to make sure you keep a very, very
close pulse of what their view is like for your restaurant, if you're not always there. So for me, because I'm not always at my restaurant,
I keep a very close eye in terms of all the reviews that we generate.
Because I need to understand is… And are my managers managing the shop properly. And if I see a lot of negative reviews about
the service that is being provided in my shop, then I know exactly that something is going
on at my shop. Whether my managers aren't managing properly,
or that my manager is having a poor attitude all the time. Then I know that is something that I should
attend to, and start firing.
Because they don't have that customer service
needed in this industry. At the end of the day, you need to make sure
that you talk to your customers as well, because they are the one that really gives you the
honest feedback. So many times, we've failed to talk to our
customers, because we don't feel like we need the outside insight. We don't need that communication with them. This is something that is completely not true. You are serving your front line, your customers
are the receiving end of it.
So at the end of the day, it's not about what
you serve, it's about what they receive, and how they feel like they're being received. How they're being served. Which is the reason why it's so important
for you to talk to your customers, to get the feedback directly from the horses month. Okay? So if and when you're talking to your customers,
your regulars, and they're telling you that, "Hey, you know what, you should look out for
this staff, or that staff." Or, "You know what, I'm having poor service." Then you know that that staff that is on duty
is someone that you should consider firing, or giving them proper training.
Or at the end of the day, just identifying
your values and how you want things done. Okay? So it's super important for you to be able
to keep tabs with your staff, either in person, or on review sites like Facebook and Yelp. The third red flag that would show up, that
shows you something is going on in your restaurant is turnover. And what I mean by that is if all of a sudden
a lot of staff are quitting for for no apparent reason, they don't talk to you, you don't
talk to them, but then they're quitting. They're like, mm they're not happy. Then you know something is wrong. You know that something, or someone, is the
bad apple, that is poisoning the rest of the pool. And it's up to you to make sure you investigate,
and not just take these resignation letter as is.
Don't just accept it for the fact because
of the industry, because this is a high turnover industry. No, never do that. Understand, interview, have an exit interview
with every single staff that quit. And truly understand why is it that they're
quitting. It is because when someone is quitting, there's
no vested interest. They're going to give it to you as is. So for them, they're not going to be biased. They're going to tell you something is going
on. And those answers, and those feedback, are
just so invaluable for your business.
It could be other staff that is making a scene,
harassing the rest of the staff. Which is the reason why they don't feel safe,
and they don't want to work there anymore. Or, it is because your manager is not giving
them, and treating them fairly. Giving them enough shifts, or treating them
like crap. At the end of the day it's up to you to investigate
what is truly going on. And for that matter, you could be the one
that is the problem. You could be the one that is having that red
flag, in your customer, and your staff's point of view.
Which is a reason why it's so important to
receive, and conduct these exit interviews, when people are quitting. And when you have this irregular spike of
turnover. Then you know something is wrong. And, if you're depending on your manager to
manage your staff, then you know that you need to look into your manager's performance. And if you talk to them, if you align with
them and still things are not improving, then you know that is cause for termination. So there you go. The three red flags that you should be truly
aware of, and very, very clearly keeping an eye out on when running your food and beverage
business. Now that you understand that something is
going on. You figured it out, that it was your manager
who is your friend for five years. And now you want to fire them, because they
are not treating your staff properly, and you talked to them, and now you're trying
to fire them. How do you fire them? That's the biggest question.
That's the most difficult thing that I always
encounter. Because human nature, we don't like conflict. We don't like talking about these things. Which is a reason why so many people struggle
with firing people. How do you fire them initially, if you set
the bar right, and if you set the expectation right, firing becomes super, super easy.
And what I mean by that is when you first
onboard someone, when you first onboard a friend, when you first onboard a manager,
clearly identify your expectation for them. Whether it is values, great. What kind of values do you have and how is
it that you want to manage your staff? How is it that you want to run your business? Make sure you guys align in the values. Because if you don't, when your manager do
something differently, and you expect something differently, then there you go, that's a clash. But when you align with the values, if you
know whoever you're bringing on board, should be and likes to do things your way, then you
know that conflict would not exist. Because they will always do things the right
way, which is your way.
Okay? So aligning that expectation, and aligning
that value right from the get-go is key, when you want to be able to onboard someone. Now let's say that they don't live up to that
value, and that they don't serve the customers right. Because you know what? At the end of the day, they're just not enjoying
their job. But whereas when you hired them, they said
that that's what they're… that's what you're expecting.
When these things don't align, and when you're
clear about it right from the get-go, then that manager that you hired, that friend that
you hired, he knows exactly that they're not a right fit for your organization. Which is the reason why they'll understand. It's an easy conversation when you talk to
them. You're like, "Hey, you know what? I understand right from the get-go, your expectation
was to hire someone that's going to bite their tongue all the time.
That's going to give super 200% in customer
service. But you know what? Unfortunately right now I'm not in a place
to do so. So you know what I understand I need to part
ways." It's super simple like that. Firing becomes much more like a conversation,
because the expectation is set right from the get-go, right? Vice versa, if you tell your staff that you're
paying them 15 bucks an hour, that you know what, you have all these kinds of holidays. And in turn, you don't provide that from them
and that it doesn't meet their expectation. Then in turn, they might quit on you because
the visions don't align. Expectations don't align. And you know very well the reason why they
quit. It is because you're not living up to your
end of the bargain, not meeting up their expectation. So at the end of the day, how do you fire
someone? Make sure you set the right expectation right
from the get-go. This makes firing someone super easy, and
it makes firing someone much more like a conversation, because it's not the right fit.
Okay? So now you know the three red flags to look
for. You know how to fire someone, go out there
and fire all the bad apples. I really hope you have enjoyed this video. If you did enjoy this video, make sure you
guys subscribe along the journey. In the link below, I've listed everything
that I've learnt in the last 10 years, okay? From choosing the right location to getting
free rent, to jumping into the minds of the customer, and offering them exactly what they
want, and what they need. Two marketing principles that allowed us to
grow our ice cream shop into a international chain. All this in the link below. So if you guys are serious about building
a food and beverage business, I would highly recommend you check out the link below. Otherwise, subscribe along the journey. Smash that like button. Show me some love. I'll see you guys in the next video..
