Management's Stepchild

Last week on Tuesday, kids eat free day, and once again as soon as Wynn entered the building the other managers disappeared. They re-appeared after 7 PM. They were in the back dining room talking while he ran the restaurant alone. This also seems to happen every Sunday when he arrives during that difficult transition from Brunch to Dinner. We all know sidework is sloppy then, employees are burned out, the cook times increase, and things are generally in disorder. These are frustrating times. It looks like they treat him as an outsider and don't care about anything except themselves.

Tip from Professional Sports

When a professional sports team continues to perform poorly what decision do the owners make? Do they start eliminating player after player? No. They get rid of management for mis-management.

Drink Up

Talk is that a couple of servers noticed the two bartenders had shots poured and sitting on the beer cooler Saturday night. Another server overheard one telling Stacey and Laura, who started watching. When one bartender chugged his shot she went to the bar. "Oh, the drink still left is going on the spill sheet." Nice! Is this the green light to drinking on shift? Weren't they observed drinking before? I guess liquor costs and company rules about drinking on the job don't apply to certain people. What is that old saying about honor among drunks---oops, I mean thieves?

Looks like there also exists a camera-phone shot of the drinks sitting in front of the bartenders too! Hmmmm....

Need a Runner

It's Saturday night. There is an alley manager, a weed wacker, and two trainees running food. Over all the noise could be heard the KM yelling from behind the line. "I need a runner, I need a runner." What was everyone doing? Maybe we need a new alley manager.

Refilling Drinks

The next time you refill a drink by pouring directly into a glass or mug sitting on a table instead of removing the glass and pouring over the floor, think about this clip http://www.hedfud.com/media/displayimage.php?album=2&pos=96

Negligence

There is a new addition to the kitchen. It is a self-contained fry grease filter. After a long period of filtering the hot grease in an open lexan box each evening, the broken machine is replaced. OSHA would have had a field day with the provious procedure. Come to find out that at least four cooks were burned by the old way through the months from either stepping in the hot oil or having it splashed on them. It is incredulous that management placed more value on the money to fix the problem than it placed on the safety of its cooks or complying with insurance standards.

How many other dangerous areas exist with potential for harm to employees or guests? You know, leaking roofs making wet spots on the main walk tile, doors with broken hinges ready to fall on soomeone, etc.

Speaking of danger, a good percentage of employees do not wear the required safety shoes named by brand by O'Charleys. Hope you don't slip and fall. Would liability be yours for not being in compliance.....or perhaps would it lie with management for letting you work without proper footwear.

Laura Power

Here is a theory to ponder. From a corporate decision, half of the crew of six managers no longer work for a bonus. This is contrary to restaurant industry standards. This means three of our managers no longer have their primary incentive to perform well. This may mean that these three seek employment elsewhere, leaving us with three managers. This is not enough. Even if Richard stays, he is not capable of managing the front of the house. He can barely handle the alley. This plays well into Laura's cleansing of our Mall of Georgia store. It already appears that she is and wishes to continue systematically removing anyone by whom she feels threatened. This could be anyone who saw her impaired performance at the company meeting. In her quest for power, she is in a position to hand pick the people who will be necessary to manage the dining room.

It will not be Dan. He was demoted from manager to server. Recently his squirrel management functions were suddenly stripped and he can not help anyone any more. Now we have to search out and disturb a manager if we have a problem. Shannon and HaoEn can help some, but I don't think they were even trained on the management side of the squirrel software. Their functions just appeared one day. Heather can still help us, but she is not on the floor that often. Something tells me that she will not want ADRM shifts in place of server money shifts. Managing lunch will interfere with her AA duties, extending her hours and cutting out serving.

This is perfect for Laura. I theorize that some of her transfers from the Cumming store will begin their further takeover of the restaurant soon. As a matter of fact, one of them is already training new hires in her first week here. I suspect that we will find that she already has squirrel functions. Is it time to cooperate with Laura and jump this sinking ship?

Innanimate Object

Most of the time I feel like an object rather than a person at work. I have gone for days at a time without the General Manager or the Server Manager even acknowledging that I am present in the restaurant. Not even a nod. This building is in the hospitality business, where your people are your contact with your guests. If the employees do not feel appreciated, how can they successfully make the guests feel appreociated. Could this be why the other restaurants in the area are slammed and on long waits, while we wait (usually hopelessly) to get slammed?

Good Luck and Good Times Derrick

It is now official. We are about to lose Derrick, the one manager who cares about us and is true to "Take Care of Your People." I will miss his sincere smiles and constant interaction with everyone. It is a sad day for all of us. Good Luck Derrick, and Thank You. You will we greatly missed. It looks like some unknown and possibly stormy seas lie ahead for the rest of us. I hear that most of the hostess staff is leaving too. Are they afraid of what might take over as their manager?

Contests

Tell me something. Have you ever won a contest and not been awarded the prize? I'll bet you at least know someone who has had this happen to them. I know one server is still waiting for her promised day off with a manager working her shift and giving the tip proceeds to her. That's pretty rotten! Does everyone have an even chance of winning most of these contests? It kind of depends on your scheduled in and out time and the section you are in. A lot of times you are out of the running as soon as you clock in. There has got to be a better way. Maybe this requires too much brain power in setting up the contest. How about some ideas for a better way. I am making the assumption that someone above will listen. (Unfortunately, we all know that listening skills are not required for management here)

Chux Cares

Does O'Charleys really care. How many times week after week after week for months did the surveys tell us that Nobody cared? Could it be that this is catching up with sales. Is anyone making steady money any more? Cooks get sent home early, management freaks out when a $2.13/hour employee approaches overtime, and sales are soft. Hmmm. It trickles down from the top. Nobody cares about employees or guests from what it looks like. How about sharing some experiences that show me different or reinforce my theory.

The 86 Board

The 86 Board. Well another weekend coming up. I guess we will find out what someone forgot to order real soon. If we are lucky, the new KM will take over the ordering and and his assistant will become an overpaid cook again.

Hair Brush

Things are looking better at the Mall of Georgia O'Charley's. Looks like Laura finally bought a brush and combed her hair. It kind of takes away from the Cro-Magnon look. Evil still lurks here though.