Recently I was watching a comedy about a reformed alcoholic, who was also a brilliant chef running a high-end restaurant kitchen, and I thought this satire bore an uncanny resemblance to our shops – not the reformed alcoholic part, but the brilliance of maintaining a well run, high-end restaurant.
The ultimate goal of great restaurants is to provide an outstanding culinary experience. That exposure starts with the outside appearance, the interior décor and ambiance, then flows with the hostess or maitre d’, the table setting, the waiter/waitress, the drinks, appetizers, salads, entrees, desserts, liqueurs and coffees and finally, presentation of your bill and how payment is handled. There’s no question the keystone of a great restaurant is a masterful chef who is an inventive risk taker, creates amazing flavours and presents their creations as an artist. To be a truly great dining experience, everything and everyone has to both meet and exceed expectations. It’s not about people – it’s about the right people!
The vision you have for your business will only succeed when you surround yourself with folks who will share and execute that vision. It all starts with the hiring process. Hire attitude, teach skills and nurture, nurture, nurture!
The owner/manager’s primary job is to match skills with positions, provide clear written job descriptions, store policies, and vision statements and to create an environment for success. One of the most dreaded and yet important managerial duties is conducting regular job evaluations. A consultant we brought in years ago came up with a great formula for most team situations: “What works well, and what needs improving.” This attitude took away any confrontational language and made evaluations a two-way discussion.
All positions and skill sets needed to make our stores run well need to be filled with folks who love what they are doing and do it very well. A positive attitude is something we all need to work with and is so evident to all our customers. Negative folks can so easily poison both individual and store spirit. Owners and managers need to have the skills either to turn negativity around or the courage to fire and rehire.
One of the great difficulties we have in small business is having room to grow. When our best folks go as high as they can in our companies, how do we keep them interested? This is where the vision plays out. Nothing in this world stays the same, and a great vision statement covers that nicely. Which niche do you currently fill and what’s next? How does your business play a leading role and how do you become the very best? What other opportunities are there and where can you expand and grow? I have the amazing good fortune to be on a board where the CEO has brought together such a brilliant team. The corporation has embarked on a vision statement of bold and aggressive growth to keep the management team in place, growing and creating opportunities for their future.
The bottom line is the future of our stores and how we put together the right team, manage the success of that team, and guide them into a future of change and growth. It’s an art, but a learned art, and one we all need to improve!
Brian Minter and his wife, Faye, own and operate two major garden centers, a greenhouse range, two flowers shops and a 27-acre, world-class show garden in Chilliwack, B.C.
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