==== VERY small & shallow…. …Thanks for letting me vent===

blizzardstormus,

I think that I should apologize for some of the things I wrote here. I have a sympathy for the workers. When I managed in the past, I cared about them and tried to make things right when there was a problem. When they made a mistake, I was able to rectify the problem in a manner that it never happened again. I think they were glad in the way I talked to them, anger never worked.

Then, while searching through topics, I went back to the one about Scrambled Eggs being poorly prepared at many restaurants. You too, knew what is required to make them correctly, stating that you have shown your cooks how to do it. The problem is, they still overcook them, making chopped dry scramblers.

This is a problem, and I suspect that you are dealing with cooks who consider this a job, but not a career. If this is true, then I am sorry for the tone of my post. What I wrote in the first half, I stand by, but the other half was me venting too. Venting is okay as long as it isn’t acted on or visually and verbally demonstrated. I think I went too far…

mark

===Any creative suggestions on how to reprimand my cooks for their negligence? Anything I can think of means I’ll be short handed (again) and the labor pool in this small town is…===

I believe that there are labor laws that will prevent you from firing or to make forced restitution from employees due to negligence. Taking a guess here, since you don’t mention any nighttime chef or kitchen manager( just a head cook who comes in at the morning), I will point out that whoever is the manager or most likely -you- are responsible for all aspects of closing up and locking the doors for the next days business.
All you can do is talk to them and discuss their responsibilities for what is needed to close down.

One thing that I have to do at night is to turn off certain fuses at the fuse box and arm the fire control systems. I do it, but there can be at least one to two other people who double check to make sure. Who checks up on things before closing at your place?

As for the wasted corned beef, St. Patty’s Day is over. How much leftover beef, cabbage, carrots are left over? What are you going to do with it? How many corned beef sandwiches will you serve this week before it goes old and gray? Your cooks probably did you a favor.
Of course, if you do have too much leftover corned beef and stuff, you could demonstrate some generosity by donating it to the homeless shelter…. or tell your cooks that they can take some home.
If your cooks were able to lower your food costs, would you show your appreciation? Give them a raise? I bet not, as I feel that you may be….

==== VERY small & shallow….===

Last year, we cooked so much corned beef that it was ridiculous. The days after the celebration, my boss kept on trying to sell the stuff, but he was damned if he would give it away to charity. It was criminal as to how much of it went straight into the trash. I wonder if you are like him….small and shallow. He was the type that would force waitresses to make up for cash shortages and as I posted above, I think it isn’t legal.

===…Thanks for letting me vent.===

That’s all you can do. Talk to them in the manner that other forum members have suggested, except for what Adjudicator posted.

mark

You had to toss ten pounds of beef. Your cost was how much? twenty bucks? If they are good employees, let it go. It will cost more than that just to run the help-wanted ad.

i would have the responsible party deep clean the oven they forgot to check. with the addage, maybe its too dirty, to see in there. lol
then, have that beer.

Scold them over a beer, then suggest a check list for shut down…with a signature line to say " I checked everything and it was correct "

quote:

Originally posted by chicagostyledog

Cut your losses, not your staff and enjoy your good business. People make mistakes and if anything can go wrong, it will, especially when you’re on a fast track. Have a great St. Patrick’s Day.

CSD

I totally agree. I had a line cook who left $80 worth (our cost, so really over $200 in lost sales) of scallops out. He was so remorseful and mortified no punishment was necessary! He was a good employee who happened to make an infrequent, albeit costly, mistake. But I didn’t want to alienate someone who was an asset to the kitchen. If your guys are valuable to you, just keep on truckin’. If it happens with some regularity, that’s another story.

quote:

Originally posted by chicagostyledog

Cut your losses, not your staff and enjoy your good business. People make mistakes and if anything can go wrong, it will, especially when you’re on a fast track. Have a great St. Patrick’s Day.

CSD

Could not have said it better!

"Don’t no more" and then buy them a beer. Humans make mistakes…they could have left the fryer on and burned down the building.

Cut your losses, not your staff and enjoy your good business. People make mistakes and if anything can go wrong, it will, especially when you’re on a fast track. Have a great St. Patrick’s Day.

CSD

Split the retail cost of the corned beef between the guilty parties and deduct the same from their paychecks. That sounds reasonable enough to me. Accountability is at issue here…[8D]