Expert Advice on Hospitality Topics

Topics: Bar staff, Bar trends, NightClub Management, Nightclub Consulting, Drink Recipes

Topics: Bar staff, alcohol, Bar trends, NightClub Management, Bar Management, Nightclub trends, opening a bar, hospitality jobs, liquor

By Chris Parry

Atlantic Publishing

Part 1: Recruiting a Security Staff

Knowing when and how to recruit security staff is an important part of any popular bar operation. Should you hire your own or deal with a security firm? If you hire your own people, what rules do you set for them? How do you avoid getting sued if someone is removed forcibly? Many venues utilize outside security firms to provide security on busy nights, and most do so as a means of simplifying their security needs and reducing liability issues. But an outside contractor doesn't always make things easier:

• Outside contractors. This means you don't need to concern yourself with compensation, holidays, sick days, wages, etc. However, it also means that your level of control over the standard and selection of those who work at your venue is reduced. Also, with security firms costing more per hour than individual contractors or staff, your bottom line can suffer. Consider hiring one or two of your own staff who you can use on regularly busy nights and filling in any gaps with contractors that may come up.

• In-house employees. While harder to find, train, and do background checks on, they are usually more loyal and tend to stay longer than contractors. If you want to have complete control over how your security behaves, how they deal with customers and their loyalty to the company, there can be no better way to work than to simply employ the best people you can find.

• Security personnel. Hiring security and calling them independent contractors to avoid liability and payroll taxes is a tactic some bar operators employ to make the process simpler and cheaper. But this can bring more problems than it solves. If your security "contractor" does injure someone when removing him or her from the premises, are you confident that your "contractor" won't claim she is an employee? Do you need that kind of a fight?

• Rules. Security guards need ironclad rules of engagement that dictate what they can and cannot do. Ensure that rules are in place that every security employee knows and signs. So, if there is a liability problem down the road, you can point out that your rules were broken and that you were not in any way negligent in your duty of care to the client.

• ALWAYS do a background check on your potential security staff. It may cost a little and extend the hiring process, but if you don't want a 300-pound cocaine addict to be throwing your customers around a back alley, you'll want to make sure you're not hiring any 300-pound cocaine addicts.

• Attorney involvement. Talk to your lawyer about drawing up any and all papers you'll need to ensure that your organization is completely covered and doing everything it can to ensure your security staff behave responsibly. Spending a hundred bucks today on legal fees can save you thousands down the road. Similarly, check with your insurance company to confirm your legal liability responsibilities to your security staff.

• Subcontracting security staff is a legitimate means of filling a need. This works if you really don't have the time to micromanage your security concerns, or to fill in during times when your regular staff is unavailable or inadequate in number. You can subcontract individuals as long as you give them a Form 1099 for any cash paid over the $600 mark; this will, in turn, keep your workers' compensation bill down.

• Equip your security staff for their job. Spotting fake IDs isn't always easy. If you have 200 people waiting to go through your door, your security staff can't spend five minutes with every person, but there are tools available that can help. An electronic ID-checking unit will read the magnetic strip on any state driver license, verify that the license is valid, and display the holder's exact age - not to mention point out if the document is a fake or has been tampered with. These systems are small, inexpensive to purchase and limit the chance that your staff will let in an underage drinker. Talk to Intelli-Check (www.intellicheck.com) by calling 800 444-9542.

 

This article is an excerpt from the Food Service Professional Guide to Bar & Beverage Operation, authored by Chris Parry, published by Atlantic Publishing Company. This excerpt has been reprinted with permission of the publisher. To purchase this book go to:

Atlantic Publishing Company 
Amazon.com

Topics: Bar inventory, NightClub Management, bar business, Bar Management, Nightclub Consulting, opening a bar, bar control, Control, inventory control

By Chris Parry

Atlantic Publishing

Part 3: Theft-Reduction Procedures

More often than not, scams and thievery can be detected and/or prevented relatively easily. Strict enforcement of all employee rules is a must and vigorous prosecution of any offenders is essential. Employees must be made clearly aware of the dire con­sequences of flouting the house rules - every detail must be addressed.

• Have a manager total the cash at the end of a bar shift. While the bartenders may feel distrusted, you can always point out that the rule is in place to protect honest staff.

• House rules. All new members of staff should be required to sign a confirmation that they have read the house rules, fully understand the impli­cations involved and agree to follow the rules to the letter.

• No drinking on duty. Prohibit all bartenders from drinking while on duty. Also, strictly regulate off-duty drinking. Off-duty drinking can see fellow bar staff overpouring, giving away free drinks or undercharging their colleagues, and while staff should be encouraged to socialize with patrons after hours, this should be closely watched.

• Bartenders should not be involved in the
  stock-taking and inventory-counting process. Nor should they be involved in receiving, ordering or issuing inventory. It might be a painful process, but this really should be a management-only function.

• High-value inventory. Strictly enforce all security procedures for liquor, wine, beer, spirits and any other high-value inventory. Only key personnel should have access to storage areas, and everything that comes out should be duly noted.

• Require bartenders to record post-shift bar-
  par readings. This refers to the number of bottles left in fridges and behind the bar after a shift has ended. Engage in spot-checking of this count to ensure that no thieving is taking place.

• Prohibit the practice of recording more than one transaction per drink ticket. If your bartenders are allowed to use a "running" ticket, they can easily neglect to record all the drinks they have actually sold and pocket the difference.

• Strictly enforce voiding procedures. If an amount is rung up on the register, the bartender should not be allowed to void it without management approval.

This article is an excerpt from the Food Service Professional Guide to Bar & Beverage Operation, authored by Chris Parry, published by Atlantic Publishing Company. This excerpt has been reprinted with permission of the publisher. To purchase this book go to:

Atlantic Publishing Company 
Amazon.com

Topics: liquor inventory, Bar inventory, bar inventory levels, Bar staff, liquor theft, Bar Management, bar control, inventory counting, inventory control

Topics: inventory managers, liquor theft, managing liquor inventory cost, bar business, Bar Management, bar control

By Chris Parry

Atlantic Publishing

Part 1: Scams to Watch For

Employees can very easily fall into a habit  their employers, and if you're not careful, you can be caught out for thousands of dollars, not to mention disgruntled customers. Keep an eye out for these 14 favorites:

• The substitute. An employee buys his own bottle of a fast-moving spirit, brings it in at the start of the shift, and over the course of the night substitutes his own for the bar's bottle. Every time he sells a shot of this product, he then simply pockets the money, thus earning a large profit on his own alcohol while your stock stands still. While these people are not thieving your stock per se, they're thieving your business, so ensure you stamp or mark all of your spirit and liqueur bottles; check the empties regularly, and keep employee bags away from the bar and stockroom areas.

• The short-pour. Your bartender short-pours every shot of a particular fast-selling spirit by between 25 and 50 percent, keeps note of how many shots she's sold from the bottle and when she's sold the number of shots that usually come from the bottle, she pockets the money from the remaining shots. Make sure that you check register receipts against the bottles used, and if possible, you use a computer-controlled pouring system, to take the opportunity to scam out of the employee's hands.

• The "00."   Some registers can be opened with the press of just one button or from entering in a total of $0.00. Unbeknownst to some bar operators, this is the number-one means of rip-offs by staff. A customer buys a beer and gives the bartender a fiver. "Keep the change," says the customer as he walks off, so the employee hits the "register open" button, puts in the five-dollar bill and takes out five dollars in coins and singles for his or her pocket or tip jar. How do you avoid this scam? Remove that button. Your cash register provider can do this with no problem at all, and if a customer needs change in the future, your bartender simply asks him to wait for another sale to take place. Or even better, provide change machines.

• Bogus breakage. Oops! A full vodka bottle hits the floor and the bar loses, big time. But did it really hit the floor? You might have a breakage bucket in which your staff are to put any broken bottles to show that they actually broke, but how do you know that the contents weren't poured into a hip flask beforehand? Or worse, that the contents were sold and the proceeds pocketed? The answer is simple: start a "you break it, you pay for it" rule. Of course, you don't need to enforce this rule if you don't think people are taking advantage, but it will stop the thieves.

• Wasted waste. 'The beer lines were a little gassy today." Well, that might explain the two gallons of beer waste in the drip trays - but does it really? Pocketing the money for a draft beer and pouring a glass of water into the drip tray is an age-old scam and very hard to detect. Make sure your staff keep measurements of any beer waste and keep track of who wastes what. In time, any trends should become apparent, and even if certain staff members aren't crooked, you'll be able to tell very easily if they need lessons at pouring beer.

• The backhander. Your security staff might not feel that taking ten bucks to let someone into the front of the line is wrong, but at the end of the night, when the person who paid that ten bucks has to go home because she's out of cash, it's your potential bottom line that suffers. To combat this, simply ask someone you know to go to the door and offer a kickback to jump the line. If the kickback is accepted, you need a new security guard.

• The over-charger. Your bartender either rings up a price higher than what you've set for a drink or charges regular prices but rings up "Happy Hour" prices, pocketing the difference. To combat this, ensure that cash register tapes are changed at the end of every shift and the bartender explains any "Happy Hour" discounts. Likewise, ensure that all drink prices are posted clearly for your customers so that they can identify an overcharge.

• The over-pourer. This bartender simply pours more than he or she needs to and hopes for a hefty tip. Keep an eye on your inventory, and this one should be easy to spot.

• Rounding up rounds. Bartenders tally up a round of drinks as a "total price," rather than as separate items. This makes it easier to inflate that price without it being noticed by the customers. They then pocket the difference when they ring it up. To combat this possibility, keep drink prices clearly posted behind the bar or on table menus.

• The "soft" scam. Your bartender simply neglects to charge for the mixer component of a drink, thus peeling a small bonus for every mixed drink he or she sells. This should be easy to spot if you check register ribbons, but if you don't, your staff can make a fortune.

• The "padded" tab. When your customers run a tab, the bartender pencils in an inflated total, takes the money from the customer, then later erases it, replacing it with a correct total.
  Removing pencils from behind the bar and telling your staff that they must use pens is the best way to fight this one.

• The substituted cash register tape. This ingenious little plan involves the bartender leasing a cash register just like yours and bringing in his or her own prepared cash register tape, substituting it for the real tape and pocketing the cash difference. Essentially, if you keep bartenders from "Z"ing their own tapes, you'll prevent this from being possible.

• The refund. This is a simple, small-time scam where the bartender claims that a discrepancy in his or her takings was refunded to a customer for money lost in faulty vending machines or gaming equipment. Have any customer seeking a refund fill in a small claim form, with phone number and ID details included, and this shouldn't be an issue. Most customers won't mind doing this if they have a legitimate refund claim.

• The jigger switch. The bartender brings in his or her own shot glass that seems identical to your normal barware, but is actually smaller. After several short measures, the bartender can start pocketing money without the inventory showing a shortage. Fight this by clearly marking your pouring measures and doing regular checks of your bar equipment.

 

This article is an excerpt from the Food Service Professional Guide to Bar & Beverage Operation, authored by Chris Parry, published by Atlantic Publishing Company. This excerpt has been reprinted with permission of the publisher. To purchase this book go to:

Atlantic Publishing Company 
Amazon.com

Topics: liquor inventory, Bar inventory, liquor theft, bar business, Bar Management, bar control, inventory counting, inventory control

Topics: Bar staff, Bar Management, hospitality jobs, bar control

Topics: Bar staff, Bar drinks, Bar Management, bar control

By Chris Parry

Atlantic Publishing

Part 1: Hiring the Best Possible Staff

Finding the Right People

A successful bar operation depends on people more than anything--the people coming into your bar and the people behind it. How you treat your staff, how you find them, how you train them and how they work are keys factor in hospitality success. Many bar managers find that one of the most difficult tasks in their job is finding the right people to join their staff. If you want the best possible employees (and you shouldn't want anything less), these rules might assist you in your search:

• Headhunt. If you want simply to fill a handful of roster slots with physically able bodies, classified ads may be a fine option. Classified ads will certainly bring you applicants. However, the best hospitality people are generally not unemployed; they're already working for your competition. Take a look around the better local establish­ments. If you see someone worth headhunting, make him or her an offer.

• Ask your existing staff. They can be a great source of new staff; they usually know plenty of industry colleagues that would be a nice fit in your bar, and though you don't want to form "cliques," a personal reference from someone you respect sure as heck beats a cattle call.

• Offer a finder's fee.  If someone working for you brings in a new employee that stays with you past a probationary period, a $75 bonus will get your existing people thinking hard about staffing possibilities.

• Keep applications on file! If someone walks in the door and asks for a job when none has been advertised, you can bet they already know and like your establishment and truly want to work there. Motivated souls such as these make prime pickings, so don't disregard their applications - keep them and get in touch when you need to.

• Time is money. Don't waste too much of it by interviewing everyone who applies to you. If an applicant isn't to your initial liking, thank him or her for the application and move on to someone who is.

• The need to earn. It's traditionally thought that the more stabilizing factors there are in a person's life, such as being a student, having a mortgage or being married with children, the less likely that person will be to leave suddenly or jeopardize his or her job through tardiness.

• What are you looking for exactly? Different roles require different skills. While not every position requires abundant experience, every position does require a mix of stability, intelli­gence, personality, honesty and a willingness to work. If an inexperienced applicant shows these qualities, look past any lack of skills and make an investment in a quality human being with training.

• Every employee is a reflection of your corporate personality. It's important that employees view every customer as a potential friend, not an irritation. Certain people can light up a room with a smile, and if you can find two or three of those people, your customers will be back.

• Never interview an applicant who has just made his or her application. Let him or her show enthusiasm when you call about an interview at a later date. If the applicant can't make it or doesn't show up, you're better off without.

• Ask the right questions. If you want to be sure you have all the information you require from each person, put together a list of questions in advance. This will allow you to get comfortable, focus on the answers and stay on target.

• Don't be afraid to ask for a demonstration. If a prospective bartender has trouble uncorking a bottle of wine or mixing a good martini, it's better that you find out ahead of time.

How Do You Test for Honesty

Dishonest employees are not always going to make themselves obvious. Sometimes the person with the biggest smile has something even bigger to hide. When hiring your staff, how can you go about discovering who is to be trusted and who should be shown the doors?

• Background check. This might seem a draconian tactic to determine if your potential employees are who they say they are. You can run a check on your prospective staff online through an outfit like US Search (www.ussearch.com), who will take the person's details and run a check on credentials for only $59.95 - $99.95 for a criminal background check. The results of these searches can, in most cases, be e-mailed to you within 24 hours, with full details taking up to seven days.

• References. Thorough checking of all references is a must, especially for a person interviewing for a position of trust. Call every company listed on the employee's resume and be sure to ask the correct questions: Why did the person leave? How long was she there? What position did he hold? Would the company gladly take him back if given the opportunity?

• Credit check. If prospective employees will be in a position where they're exposed to a large amount of money, it may be prudent to run a credit check before you employ them.

• Sometimes the simplest approach is the best. Why not just ask potential employees if they've ever taken something that wasn't theirs? Watch their body language when you ask the question. Do they blush? Do they avert their eyes? Do they fidget? Do they nod their head, as they say "no"?

 

 

 

 

This article is an excerpt from the Food Service Professional Guide to Bar & Beverage Operation, authored by Chris Parry, published by Atlantic Publishing Company. This excerpt has been reprinted with permission of the publisher. To purchase this book go to:

Atlantic Publishing Company 
Amazon.com

Topics: Bar staff, bar business, Bar Management, bar control

By Douglas R. Brown

Atlantic Publishing

Goals

The goals of receiving are to ensure foods are fresh and JL safe when they enter your facility and you are receiving what you ordered and are paying for. Transfer items to proper storage as quickly as possible.

Let’s look more closely at two important parts of receiving:

1. Getting ready to receive food.
2. Inspecting the food when the delivery truck arrives.

Receiving Policy

Introduce a receiving policy. Remember, it's easy to "lose" products in this part of your operation. Let's say, for example, you have no one specifically assigned to check in orders. Normally one of your line cooks will do it. Let's also say that one day your order is late and arrives in the middle of lunch rush. No one can check the order for accuracy, so they just sign for it in a hurry. If this happens, it is virtually impossible to correct any mistakes at the time. Furthermore, if your line cooks don't get to put the order away until several hours later, you will lose product because it has sat out too long and is now unsafe to serve.

Receiving Tips

There are several important guidelines to keep in mind and tasks to complete as you get ready to receive food:

• Calibration. Make sure all scales and thermometers are in place and calibrated.

• Sanitary carts. Make sure your receiving area is equipped with sanitary carts for transporting goods.

• Plan ahead for deliveries to ensure sufficient refriger­ator and freezer space.

• Mark all items for storage with the date of arrival or the "use by" date.

• Lighting. Keep the receiving area well lit and clean to discourage pests.

• Remove empty containers and packing materials immediately to a separate trash area.

• Keep all flooring clean of food particles and debris.

• Delivery truck. When the delivery truck arrives, make sure it looks and smells clean and is equipped with the proper food-storage equipment. Then inspect foods immediately.

• Check expiration dates of milk, eggs and other perishablegoods. Make sure shelf-life dates have not
  expired.

• Frozen foods. Make sure frozen foods are in airtight, moisture-proof wrappings.

• Reject foods that have been thawed and refrozen. Look for signs of thawing and refreezing, such as large crystals, solid areas of ice or excessive ice in containers.

• Rejecting canned goods. Reject cans that have any of the following: swollen sides or ends; flawed seals or seams; dents; or rust. Also reject any cans whose contents are foamy or smell bad.

• Check the temperature of refrigerated and frozen foods, especially eggs and dairy products, fresh meat and fish and poultry products.

• Look for content damage and insect infestations.

• Rejecting dairy products. Reject dairy, bakery and other foods delivered in flats or crates that are dirty.

• Weighing items. Meats, fish and most items ordered by the pound must be weighed and tagged. Food items purchased by count need to be checked and counted. All items received must be counted, weighed and date stamped. Don't deviate from this critical step.

• Invoice accuracy. Check the accuracy of the invoice with regard to the purchase order, specifically price, damage, quality, quantity, brands, grades and variety. Items that are not correct need to be noted and returned before the driver leaves and the driver must sign the form. The vendor's invoice also should be checked against the actual purchase order.

• Don't let delivery people into your storage areas.

• Items packed in ice. These items need to be removed from the ice prior to weighing.

• Check animal cavities in fish and poultry for ice.

• Delivery personnel should be friendly, not rushed, and professional, but not too friendly.   Ensure they know that it doesn't matter if they are in a rush; you are going to check everything in and count and weigh everything prior to their leaving.

• All food products must be date coded, rotated and put away immediately.

• Placed in order. Products should be placed on the shelves in the same order as the inventory sheets and purchase order forms. This will help in inventory counting and control.

• Determine which employees are allowed to access the storage areas. Storage areas are prime targets for theft. Not only employee theft, but if areas aren't kept locked and secure, outside people will be able to get in and help themselves to your products.

• Garbage can liners. In the kitchen, consider using clear trash bag liners as another method to deter pilferage.

• Keep your back door locked, well lit and on an alarm system. A small viewing panel or glass with a wire-enforced panel will enable the receiving employee to see who is at the back door.

Topics: food inventory, receiving inventory, food inventory control