The Hospitality Industry is not so Hospitable

Today we will be discussing why this industry is not as hospitable as it should be – and a couple of reasons why.

It is called the Hospitality Industry for a very good reason. The main product is just that – Hospitality. People come into restaurants, hotels, bars and receive service far better than they would get at home. The “guest” is the focus of every server and bartender. Even calling the customer a “guest” is meant to show the dedication these employees have to making their “guests” feel welcomed, important, and comfortable. Of course the food and the drinks are important – guests will go out to eat just for the food. However, what separates restaurants is the level of service they offer.

Guests have been the focus for so long, that some guests have become entitled. They expect for employees to do things at no charge that have a cost. They expect service to exceed their expectations, and if they have a somewhat poor experience, they will post their grievances in reviews, badmouthing the restaurant, and naming the server. This is a serious problem. A guest is not trained on what they should or should not expect from different restaurants. A guest is not privy to the staffing issues, the ordering issues, the speed the restaurant fills up. If the restaurant is doing their job properly, all these issues are hidden from the guest. But they expect it nonetheless. This does not make a hospitable environment for the employee. They will not only hear about the problems from the guest, but then also from their managers.

I was a General Manager for a decent sized restaurant for about 6 years. In those 6 years I cannot stress to you the amount of complaints I listened to, responded to, and helped fix because the guest had the wrong expectations. “I know the owner”, “I worked here for 15 years”, “I have worked in this industry for” (however long, its not important) are phrases I heard all of the time. Not one of these statements means anything to me, except that I now know this person is going to be even more of an issue.

Asking for special or preferential treatment is a symptom of this entitled disease that is running rampant. Restaurants cannot stand up for their teams for the most part, due to the most inhospitable group of them all – the upper management.

Removed from the grind of operations, this group has expectations that are unreasonable at times, and if those expectations are not met? The team member or manager is gone. This is the nature of the beast. Be nice or you will be terminated – this is the expectation. And its not ok. Too little patience for employee development, not attempting to understand the issues this person, this HUMAN is experiencing. The higher you go, the less connected to the team, and the more connected to financials they become. Brilliant, unrealistic ideas are tested with GM’s willing to skew the results. GM’s that have negative feedback are ousted. It can get ridiculous.

This company I worked for recently terminated over 20 GM’s. All seasoned, strong employees and employers, who have dedicated their time and sacrificed memories with their families for the company. When they did not align with new leadership? They were terminated. And the upper management that didn’t agree? They are gone too. This is no way to run a business.

I am leaving this industry for this reason – no such thing as job security, or even the same types of benefits that managerial roles offer. But the grind is real. Working 50 to 60 hours a week is expected, and leaving early labels you as lazy.

Maybe the Hospitality Industry will learn from it’s own mistakes. Maybe the leaders in this industry will begin to see that they employ people, not numbers. But it is doubtful. Like many businesses nowadays, the shareholders want results. And if they do not get the results? Nobody will be invited to dinner.