Consistency Matters

“My goal in sailing isn’t to be brilliant or flashy in individual races, just to be consistent over the long run.” Dennis Connor, “Mr. America’s Cup” captain of celebrated Stars and Stripes.

Chances are that if you are reading this, you get extra income based on the success of your establishment. Chances are that whoever is doing your cleaning, food prep, customer interacting and cooking gets paid by the hour. I don’t know about you, but I feel that is a stark contrast in motivating factors. We can’t always assume that what motivates us motivates everyone else the same way. How clearly are do you communicate expectations to your staff? How often do you remind them of your standards and what your expectations are? How often do you check to see if your SOP is being followed as precisely as you would do it?

I know that no one goes into management or ownership with a strong desire to babysit and check up on their employees. It isn’t the most glamorous aspect of the job, but it is an essential one. In today’s ultra competitive marketplace consistency, consistency, consistency, and consistency are uber important. Consumers are feeling the pinch in their wallets, and because of that they are more discerning and have raised their standards of what is an acceptable dining experience. I am fortunate to be surrounded by people that appear to have forgotten how to cook at home because they eat out so frequently. Being in the industry has made me tune in to their impromptu reviews and comments. I am amazed at how some of them who used to extend grace by saying “the cook had a bad night, it’s normally much better than that” are now crossing those restaurants off of their lists of dining options. They want to know what they are getting in exchange for their money, and you had better deliver.

What does all this have to do with expectations and standards? Everything. I recently had a partner in my business ask me to do some research on a particular product they were preparing. They were having consistency issues, and they wanted to find out if they changed a few things in their prep process how that would affect the finished product. I asked some questions and took some notes about his prep process, making sure to be diligent in recording the details. The next time I was in the restaurant, I began talking to his cooks about the issue, and it quickly became evident that what the owner thought was occurring wasn’t occurring quite the way he expected. The consistency issue resided in the inconsistent prep process. Everyone had their own take on how it should be done, and crazy as it may sound, the product was finishing without any consistency. Here is a perfect example of starting employees off with good training and then leaving them to find their own shortcuts and steps without checking back to see if the standards you set are still being lived up to.

In this instance the original standards were set so that a consistently quality product was served to the customer because that is what the owner thought would generate the greatest return on his investment. What happened was that hourly employees took over the process and began to perform the tasks with finishing in mind rather than having the finished product in mind. The difference is subtly significant, and happens all over the place. The key is creating a culture where excellence matters. It’s not easy and needs to be a focus for management. The key is in not assuming that what matters to you matters to everyone else that works with you or for you. If it’s important to you, make it important to them. Without clearly stated SOPs and expectations, you have no one to blame about the predicament but your self. No one wants to be perceived to have Gordon Ramsey like qualities, but if you want excellence, you have to demand it (even if you can demand it a little more tactfully than Gordon does).

How many of you have a written recipe book with clear, concise directions on how to prepare your meals? What happens when your cook takes a vacation? Does the replacement make it the same way? I remember going to a restaurant on a pretty regular basis and realizing that when a particular guy was working the line that I shouldn’t order eggs, but when the other cook was working the line the omelets came out fantastic. Does that happen at your place? With a clear training manual and recipe book with step by step directions that should never happen. You can’t afford to have that happen in this economy. In my town alone, that breakfast place now has 4 different competitors to choose from that might have a consistent omelet making it to the table.

Consistency matters. If you think it doesn’t you are fooling yourself. With some many dining options available to consumers, customers don’t speak up with their voices; they speak loudly with their dollars. Invest in your place by finding out from your customers what is working and what isn’t. Invest in your place by putting together a clear concise training manual with clearly defined expectations. Make consistency matter.