DEC 31 — I am often asked why I do the job I do and how I’ve managed to stick at it for so long. That actually is a question that I have difficulty in answering.
On the surface of it, working in the F&B industry seems quite easy. You take an order, serve food and drink and that’s it, job done. The truth is, the job is a lot harder than many people realise.
The actual mechanics of the job is quite simple. It’s the dealing with different people aspect that makes this job so tough.
Most of my staff at the moment are not highly educated people. Hell, I’m not highly educated. Actually, 99 per cent of the people I have worked with over the years have not been very highly educated. They were by no means stupid; they just did not have any paper qualifications to their name.
The F&B industry is one of the few industries that will give you a job regardless of age and education. I love the McDonald’s outlet at Mid Valley Megamall, and no, I don’t mean for the food. They have hired quite a few elderly women and a number of their staff are deaf. There are at least three hearing members of the staff there, that I have seen, who know sign language.
Passion and patience. These are the two big things that are needed to work in this industry. Yes, it could be said that pretty much every job requires this. You may be right. I can’t speak for other industries, but I do know that it is needed for F&B.
Look around you when you go out to eat. You can spot the servers and managers who have a passion for the job. They are the ones whose eyes are always moving, who move quickly, who seem to anticipate your needs. Patience? When you serve upwards of 500 people a day, you need a helluva lot of patience.
We used to get fresh university graduates come to apply for work at the hotel in Cambridge, and nine out of 10 of them would not get hired. One chap even said to me that he was too good to be working as a waiter.
When I asked him why he even bothered to apply, his response was that he needed the money while he was applying for other work. I personally have been burnt like that; spent three weeks training someone intensively, and just as they are at a point where they can be left unsupervised, they don’t come back to work.
I actually had something like that happen to me a few weeks ago. I hired a girl who started work at noon. At 3pm she went for her break and never came back. Apparently the outlet was too busy and the staff didn’t pay her enough attention. Go figure.
What do most managers look for? Experience would be a bonus, but mainly it’s getting people who want to work, who have a sense of humour and who are willing to learn. Mainly, it’s someone who has a personality and a smile.
That’s one thing that no one can teach another person. A person either has a personality or they don’t. It has to come from within. And personality and a sense of humour will get you out of so many situations in this job.
And what does it mean to be a manager? Well let’s see now. You are accountable for everything that happens in the outlet. You are, to the staff, a boss, a friend, a confidant, a priest. It’s a constant juggle of roles that the manager takes on.
So, why do we do it? For the camaraderie, for the fun, for the satisfaction of having a profitable day. That, and the fact that most F&B people are slightly loopy and probably would not be able to fit into normal society.
My top three customer questions:
3. (Pointing to the chocolate cake that has been labelled as so) What is that?
2. The steak sandwich on the menu, is that a sandwich?
1. (Standing next to the dessert counter) Do you serve cakes here?
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
* The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.
