The Northern Stories of Chef Lao Tan

Chapter 10 Learn and Learn
In [-], the catering industry in the provincial capital was in a period of change.

People go to restaurants to spend more and more rationally, and they have transitioned from eating big fish and meat in the past to eating good and healthy food.

In the past, rich people could afford restaurants, but now ordinary people frequent them, and eating restaurants is no longer something to show off.

The guests have all become gourmets, knowing the taste and characteristics of the food, they can tell one, two, three.Many restaurant housewives can also cook one or two dishes, and they are no worse than chefs.

When people enter the store for consumption, they have higher and higher requirements for environmental sanitation and food quality, and they are also more and more pursuing dining experience.It is only the basic requirement to eat well, but also to eat with confidence, comfort and happiness.

Changes in consumption and dining concepts have prompted corresponding changes in restaurant management and operations in order to keep up with demand and development.

If you lag behind, you will be beaten and eliminated ruthlessly.

Take an obvious example.

There used to be a new restaurant opened on the same street. As long as the decoration is not too bad, the food is acceptable, but the service is not very good. When it opens, people go in to eat, and the more newly opened, the more people eat.People have the mentality of joining in the fun. It doesn't matter whether he eats or not, let's go in and have a meal first.

It’s not working now, restaurants are everywhere, you can eat whatever you want, you can find everything.If you want to eat local dishes, there are home-cooked restaurants; if you want to eat Sichuan and Hunan cuisine, there are Sichuan and Hunan restaurants; if you want to eat dumplings, there are dumpling restaurants; if you want to eat hot pot, there are hot pot restaurants;Only you can't think of it, no one can't do it.

When passing by a newly opened restaurant, people sometimes pass by without even looking at it.

The gates of restaurants are indeed low, but the era of small investment and quick results has passed.

Since the reform and opening up, the society has developed rapidly, and it took 30 years to complete the road that Western developed countries took 50 years and 80 years to complete.The rapid development of the economy has led to the improvement of people's living standards, and the improvement of living standards has stimulated the growth of consumption. The prosperity of the catering service industry is a good witness.

With the growth of people's consumption ability and the improvement of dining experience, the traditional catering model will inevitably be impacted. The transformation of restaurants is also in line with the trend of the times and is the need for development.

The catering industry began to develop in the direction of diversification, standardization, standardization and specialization.

Several phenomena have changed.

The first is that the kitchen in the form of a small workshop operated by a master leading several apprentices no longer exists-the era of a master chef holding a fire in one shop has passed.

The second is that restaurants with qualified dishes and services are no longer profitable-people start to pursue dining experience.

The third is that the traditional management model is no longer effective—most of the hotel employees are born in the [-]s and [-]s. Most of these children have never suffered from poverty and have their own ideas. It is not easy to use the method of managing the post-[-]s to work with one's own mood.

Those born in the [-]s and [-]s are a special group with strong personalities. Whether they are in the kitchen or the front desk, they don't like to be talked about.

In the generation of Lao Tan and Wang Gang, the master in the kitchen is the grandfather, and the younger brother is the grandson. The words of the master are the imperial decree.So I respect my master, lest if I get angry, I will lose my job.

Now everything is reversed, the younger brother is the grandfather, and the master is the grandson.

The master is afraid that what he said is too much, and the younger brother will leave with his buttocks and stop serving.Now it is more difficult to find a chef in the kitchen than to find a chef. Whenever a restaurant says to recruit a chef, there are plenty of people who sign up.When you talk about recruiting younger brothers, just wait, you won't be able to recruit for a while.

Now I have to coax my younger brother to work, so I'm afraid I won't do it.

The same is true at the front desk. Girls in their eighteenth, nineteenth and twenties are more difficult to manage than boys.Let alone let people say that being late, asking for leave, and violating discipline are commonplace, and they are not taken seriously at all.For a few criticisms, it is better to be sensible, to be able to accept it with an open mind, to directly contradict those who are not sensible, and to leave immediately if it is serious, and quit.

There is a shortage of waiters in every restaurant, so if you don’t work here, you can still go to work at someone else’s house, and you don’t have to worry about not being able to find a job.

At last year's Oriental Food and Beverage Management Forum, Lao Tan proposed that the future catering industry will no longer be a competition of core technology, but a competition of people.Whoever has a stable workforce wins.At the same time, it is pointed out that team building is becoming more and more important, not only to build a strong management team, but also to build a united workforce.

When this point of view was put forward, many catering people did not agree with it, but the facts have proved that Lao Tan is right.The biggest problem facing the catering industry now is the problem of people. There is a shortage of people in every family. The red papers for recruitment are posted every day, and they are always recruiting people. There is even a phenomenon that restaurants cannot open because they cannot recruit people after renovation.

The transformation of any enterprise starts with the leader, that is, the boss.If the boss's thinking does not change, the enterprise will not change.

As a result, many training institutions such as Chinese studies classes, president classes, and boss training camps began to develop.I used to say that training is a matter for large state-owned enterprises, government agencies, factories and mines, and education departments, and has nothing to do with restaurants.Many restaurant owners think that it is enough to do a good job in food and service, and there is no need for training and learning.

There are also some bosses who have the mentality of giving it a try, and sign up for a class to have a look, listen to it if it is useful, and pass the time if it is not useful.

So the first batch of catering owners who recognized the usefulness of training and learning came into being.

After listening to the teacher's lecture, they realized that doing a good job in food and service is only the basic work of a restaurant, and requires higher management.

Through learning, I know what hiring, employing, retaining, and educating people are, what kind of structure a boss should have, and how to be a boss.

Knowing that the initial competition of enterprises is technology, then talents, and finally culture.

Through learning to understand one thing, customers entering the store to consume is not as simple as eating, but also dining experience and cultural experience. Food is not only "food", but also "beauty".

If you treat the hotel as a business, its vitality will not be too long.

The average life expectancy of Chinese restaurants is three years.Forty percent of the hotels are over five years old, 30% are over ten years old, 5.00% are over [-] years old, and less than one percent are over one hundred years old.

This is a status quo in front of all catering people.China is a big gourmet country, and the gourmet food has a long history and overflows both at home and abroad, but there are very few century-old restaurants, far less than our neighbor Japan.

Why?It's all about money.

On the recommendation of his friends, Mr. Xu signed up for the Chinese Studies Class and the CEO Business School.Through the first stage of study, I have made a lot of progress. I feel that my mind has broadened, the pattern has gradually opened up, and my thinking has undergone tremendous changes.Realize that the previous management has been outdated, not only outdated, but also a dead end.

Today is no longer the era of competent people management, but the era of teamwork to create a win-win situation.The relationship between bosses and employees is no longer a simple employment relationship, but a cooperative relationship, a partnership.It's no longer good to think of yourself as a superior boss, just an investor.

Invest in a restaurant with your own money, gather like-minded people together, do something everyone likes, and create wealth together.

Mr. Xu met several hotel colleagues in the study class. When communicating with them, he found that he was late in learning, while others had already started to learn.Not only did I learn by myself, but I also brought the managers of the store to learn together.

One of the bosses shared that the executives not only grew up after finishing the study, but also applied what they had learned to their actual work and improved their management. The work attitude of the employees has changed a lot, and the employees who are going to leave the company will not leave. Turnover has also increased accordingly.

Mr. Xu thought that he had to learn from others, and asked the management staff in the store to receive training. Only when they improved could the employees improve and the restaurant develop.

Thinking of letting managers come to study, but also thinking of the cost of learning.The tuition fee for one person is [-], and the eight managers in the store add up to [-], which is not a small amount.

I don't know if other hotel management staff pay for their own study or the boss pays for it, so he wants to ask.

Boss Wang, a famous hot pot restaurant in the provincial capital, came to study with his management team.Mr. Xu came to the front and chatted with him first.

Mr. Wang said: "I heard that Santaizi has opened a large-scale farmyard, which competes with that old yard. If you have time, go and have a sit."

Mr. Xu said: "Big Brother will definitely welcome you warmly in the past."

Mr. Wang asked: "How do you feel? Did you gain a lot?"

"The harvest is quite big." Mr. Xu nodded, and then asked: "Brother Wang, I think you brought the management personnel here, are they at their own expense?"

Mr. Wang understood what Mr. Xu meant, and said with a smile: "Brother, why don't we come here if we are asked to spend money? Are they willing to spend that money? We can't take care of it ourselves after we finish our studies. They are the direct managers, so vote for them. Some value."

Mr. Wang patted his head and continued: "In the past, we all spent money blindly and invested in the area below the neck. Hehe, there is nothing wrong with investing more in the area above the neck. It will gain knowledge. In addition, we will invest more in the areas above the neck. It’s not a problem at all, they can only make money if they are good at management, and they can make money if they are good at management, so we don’t have to worry about it.”

"Today is the second batch. I have finished the first batch. Now I hardly participate in management. I assign tasks every month, and the rest is inspection, reading reports, and studying. I think you can also report It's time for the Chinese studies class, let's learn Chinese studies, we lack something in our heads, especially the things left by our ancestors."

After Mr. Wang finished speaking, he went to chat with others. Mr. Xu's face was a little hot, and he thought that he had learned for nothing for a long time, and the pattern had not been opened yet. Why did he think about asking the management staff to pay the tuition by themselves?

He began to think about the management of the restaurant in his mind.

Zhang Li is a talent, and Li Shuang is also good. These two people have no problems in their work and are worth cultivating.Hu Jing has been working with her for five years, and she followed her when she was not married. Although she lacks in management, she is loyal and has no second thoughts about the hotel, which is worth cultivating.

Wang Gang must be cultivated, and he should learn most.It would be good to ask him to study earlier, it is too late now.I didn't realize this at the beginning. If I asked him to study with me at the beginning, I don't need to find the head chef now.

Both Li Xu and Wang Shulan have worked with him for many years, so let's cultivate them.

Zhou Hongyou and Yuan Hua have just been here for less than three months, so let's take a look first.

Lao Tan is a talented person, what he said is similar to what the teacher said, and some truths are more thorough than the teacher, so there should be no training.In addition, he just came, and whether he can be the chief is still a matter of discussion.The ability is indeed there, it depends on whether he can get together with Wang Gang.

Wang Gang looks straightforward and honest, giving an honest and kind appearance, but he is actually smart.The kitchen is full of people he finds, it can be said that he can cover the sky with one hand.His narrow-mindedness can't hide it from others, he controls the kitchen in his own hands, and doesn't let others intervene, for fear of running him away.

The layout is small, so you have to ask him to study hard, if not, enroll him in a Chinese studies class and let Confucius educate him.

Mr. Xu went through these management personnel one by one, gave different evaluations respectively, and figured out who to call first and then who to train and study.

(End of this chapter)