Stress comes with every job, and that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I’m a firm believer that if you care about your job, you are going to feel pressure from time to time. It’s a natural process that when dealt with healthily, is completely normal and okay. It is no secret that the service industry can be stressful because of the daily tasks and the lifestyle itself. Like other job fields, this stress comes naturally. With every shift, you will feel the pressure and it usually dissipates as everything winds down. Sometimes the stress will linger for longer than you would like, I personally feel like this is normal as well. We all have bad days, but sometimes those bad days turn into bad weeks, bad months and so on. The real question is: when does your job cross the line from stressful into a toxic work environment?

There are bars and restaurants that are outright bad places to work. Places that are owned by racists, sexists and those who simply abuse their employees. Environments like this are disgraceful, and they deserve their own conversations. Right now, I want to talk about something a bit different, work environments that are not necessarily morally or ethically compromised but still are toxic for their employees and the industry.

If you’ve been in the industry long enough, I’m sure you know what I am talking about. I don’t think I’ve met a service industry professional that hasn’t worked somewhere that seemed to have all the qualities of a great place to work, but underneath was an awful work environment. I’m talking about the restaurants and bars that operate well enough with a solid staff and opportunities to make decent money, but at their core, they are bad for their workers.

Every restaurant has its issues, but they can usually be addressed by owners and management to ultimately improve the work environment. The problem with these restaurants with the underlying harmful environments is that it’s not just one problem, but a whole host of problems that workers put up with because they need their jobs. These are things that need to be discussed and addressed for the good of the entire industry and its people.

In my experience, bad work environments start with bad management. This isn’t always the case, but it’s a good place to start the discussion. From owners to the lowest level of management at your restaurant, it is your entire teams’ responsibility to create and sustain a positive culture and work environment. You must also remember that your management team is only as strong as its weakest link. In my time of managing, I’ve noticed that employees don’t necessarily recognize the chain of command as managers do, especially new employees. This means that if your lowest level manager is disrespectful, unreasonable and bad at their job, it will reflect on the entire team. This is a slippery slope that can lead to distrust and ultimately disdain for your workplace.

So what qualities are red flags for restaurant and bar managers? There are countless attributes that can make a poor leader, but some are more damaging than others.

• Disrespectful/Unreasonable: This is unforgivable, in a stressful restaurant environment you need to be kind and understanding to your staff as much as possible. Workers need managers that will listen to them, even if it’s difficult. Disrespectful and unreasonable managers can break your employees will and create distrust.
• Lazy/Incompetent: These are the managers that you look at and wonder “How did you even get this job?” Lazy managers breed contempt within the workplace. Sometimes managers are just bad at their jobs and do not know what they are doing. Even if it is not their fault, it needs to be addressed.
• Too Lax: Although it’s nice to be friends with everyone and get along all the time, that’s just not the way management works. Being too lax on problematic issues and employees can make your staff feel like they are not listened to and ultimately do not matter to management.
• Narcissism: Its troublesome for your employees if their managers are so wrapped up in themselves that they can’t empathize with their staff and care only about how their employees’ work affects them.
• Vindictive: Management teams need feedback just as much as their employees. Some people can’t accept criticism and will do everything they can to get back at anyone who disagrees. This creates an environment where your employees will be afraid to bring up important issues that need to be fixed.

Again, there are plenty more qualities that make for poor management, these just seem to be the most common I see in the service industry. Not every manager is perfect, we all have our strengths and weaknesses, so it is important to find a balance for your workplace. Furthermore, managers can be coached and developed just like any other employee, so as upper management it is incredibly important to recognize your staff’s weaknesses and address them

Toxic work environments are not always boiled down to poor management, it is often beyond it, tucked away in the culture of the business. I have seen some restaurants with incredibly supportive and positive cultures, and at the other end, some places have a culture that can be tremendously harmful to the workers.

One of the common pitfalls of the service industry is expecting too much from your employees on so many different levels. For a business model that pays much of their staff below minimum wage and often doesn’t provide any benefits, restaurants and bars are notorious for putting senseless expectations on their staff.

For example, I have worked at multiple restaurants that don’t provide health insurance but also require a doctor’s note anytime you call in. I get it, if you call in at a restaurant, you are almost guaranteed to be putting your work in the hands of someone else. Despite this, if you are sick, you should not be handling other peoples’ food and drinks. You should be at home resting. Every service industry professional I know has experienced this firsthand. After years in the industry, I have convinced myself to never call in, even when I should be going to the doctor. This is simply just a norm in the industry, it seems like a lack of self-care regarding illnesses is worn like a badge of honor. Managers and owners have a responsibility to take care of their staff and ensure no one with a contagious sickness is handling food and beverages. Be understanding of your staff when they are sick and work with them to ensure they get the rest and care they need.

These expectations go beyond taking a day off, some work environments expect too much from their employees while on the clock as well. This can be in the form of extraordinarily long hours and putting your staff into precarious situations. As said before, long hours should be expected in the industry, but some establishments push this norm to the extreme and in the end, it is the workers who are affected. I’ve worked in restaurants who refused to hire new employees because the cost of training them could be wasted if they quit. The management knew that it would push their staff to their limits, but we could get through it. Although we all survived the busy season of the year running a barebones operation, we all reached the end of our ropes because the business didn’t want to fork out money to hire and train employees.

Expectations like these create a macho, unhealthy work environment. The kind of places that have a philosophy of “push yourself to your physical and mental limits and if you can’t handle it you will be chastised.” This is an immediate red flag for a toxic work environment, and if you promote this in yours, you should take a step back and restructure the way you operate. It is bad for your staff and the entire industry.

It’s natural for a restaurant to have high expectations of their employees, it ensures that the guests are happy and the business runs well. Every employer should set the bar high for their staff, but they must also understand that it’s a balance. If you expect a lot from your employees, then they will expect a lot from you. If your end of the bargain is not held up, your employees will not be happy.

Culture goes beyond just the work itself. It extends to how situations are dealt with in the workplace. Restaurants and bars are prone to management playing favorites with their staff. Often, problematic employees are given second, third, fourth chances and beyond. One of the most common reasons for this is that management often feels that the employee’s ability to get their job down outweighs their faults. This is a viewpoint I understand, good workers should be given chances, but managers need to realize when enough is enough and act. On the other end, managers often give out too much leeway because they are unwilling to compromise their friendships for the good of the business and the rest of the staff. Restaurant and bar staffs tend to be close-knit, the lines between personal and business relationships get blurred. Although this is one of my favorite things about the industry, at the end of the day it’s a business and it needs to run as such. The wellbeing of the entire staff should always come before personal relationships.

I’ve seen these reasons playing a part to excuse all kinds of negative behaviors, anything from having a few drinks while on the clock to sexual harassment. This can happen at any restaurant, and it doesn’t help that most restaurants do not have an HR department to direct complaints formally, so even heinous offenses can fall through the cracks.

Sometimes the negative culture of your business can extend beyond the actual work. The service industry has a work hard, play hard mentality. Much of the industry is driven by alcohol, so it’s no surprise that alcohol is a major part of many of its employee’s lives. I have written about the tradition of shift drinks and I will say I am an advocate. It is great to have a beer after a busy shift and it’s a good way to let your employees know they are appreciated. This needs to be handled with care, there is a fine line that can be crossed from appreciating your staff’s hard work to promoting alcoholism. Owners and managers need to be mindful when using alcohol to deal with low morale. One of the most frustrating things I see is if an employee has a bad day because of something management could address, instead of talking to the employee and dealing with the problem, they will just buy the employee drinks. Although the gesture is often appreciated, this is no way to deal with problems in your business. Just like personal problems, you can’t just drink them away.

This also extends to enabling employees with substance abuse problems. Although everyone makes their own decisions, you should always be looking out for your coworkers. Recognize when someone’s had enough and don’t be afraid to cut them off. You can’t make anyone do anything, but you can try to help, especially if you are in a leadership role.

Every workplace has its problems, especially restaurants and bars. No business is perfect. No matter where you go in the industry you will find these problems. The point is, for the good of the people and the industry itself, you should always be aware of the problems in your workplace and try your best to fix them, particularly if you are part of the management team. As an employee, don’t be afraid to analyze your workplace and see if it is worth it to stay where you are. Restaurants can easily create Stockholm Syndrome regarding the money and the work. Sometimes it’s hard to recognize if your workplace has a toxic environment if you’re making good money, but you must be critical. At the end of the day, no amount of money is worth your mental health.

Some days are better than others. Some days are truly awful. Some of those awful days turn into awful weeks. Sometimes all the bad things in your life seem to pile upon themselves to create a sort of monstrosity of despondency and devastation that looms over you in the darkness of the night and light of day.

Okay, maybe I’m being a little dramatic, but lately, I’ve been in a bit of a rut. The old saying is true: when it rains, it pours. In times like these, it’s important to focus on the things that are important to you and the things you love. That is how this drink came into being.

I made this drink because I needed something spicy. A kick in the ass you might say, or maybe just something to warm me up a bit. Either way, it’s a drink I’m proud of. It is nice to feel good about something when life isn’t going quite as well as you would like.

1 oz Del Maguey Vida Mezcal
0.5 oz Ancho Reyes Chili Liqueur
0.5 oz Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao
0.5 oz Liber & Co. Spicy Ginger Syrup
0.5 oz Lime Juice
0.25 oz Orange Juice
1 Dash Angostura Bitters

Method:
Combine all ingredients in a shaker, add ice and shake. Strain over ice into chilled Collins glass. Garnish with an Angostura candied orange slice.

To make the angostura candied orange slice:
Cut orange into wheels, then in half. Top with a healthy amount of sugar (top layer should be dry.) Put two dashes of Angostura Bitters in a bar spoon. Gently float the bitters on top of the sugar until it is saturated. Take a blow torch and heat the sugar until it is browned sufficiently. You should start to smell the sugar and the orange burn. Let cool before garnishing.

Cheers to better times.

As a kid, when the adults asked you “what do you want to be when you grow up?” I doubt your answer was a server, line cook or bartender. If you asked the average person to name a list of careers, professions like accountant, nurse or engineer would be on that list. You would be hard-pressed to find service industry work on that same list. I get it, a career is traditionally something you do long term, to build a successful and fruitful life. Longevity and advancement are important for any job and admittedly, that can be hard to find in the service industry. Most people bounce from job to job until they find something that will fit long term, it can be a hectic lifestyle.

Even with the tough lifestyle, most people in the service industry are in it for the long haul. In one survey, the National Restaurant Association found that 7 in 10 restaurant workers plan to make a career out of their work. Furthermore, the service industry makes up a huge part of the American workforce, 10% at 14.5 million people. Despite the size of the industry and the millions of hardworking people it employs, there is an underlying lack of respect for service industry work. The jobs are often categorized as “unskilled,” and food service work is simply viewed as inferior to other work. A point to which I vehemently disagree.

Everyone who works in the service industry knows the struggle of dealing with a disrespectful customer. The people who view their server as less than a human being. They say things and do things that they would never say or do to a stranger on the street. People snap their fingers and whistle at you. In a busy bar, you can be viciously yelled because you’re not working fast enough. Casual sexism is commonplace as many of my female coworkers and friends are called “babe” and “hun” daily. The list goes on and on but if you want to get paid you just put your head down and deal with it. Luckily most people become numb to it after a while. This isn’t necessarily a good thing, but it helps you handle dehumanizing nature of serving people.

It can be even worse if you work at a place where guests need to be removed on a regular basis. I’ve had about every expletive insult thrown at my face and people have said some downright horrible things to me. Anyone who has been in this situation knows the go-to insult is “get a real job.” Although I usually laugh it off with my coworkers at the end of the night, it is tremendously disrespectful to say that to anyone who is plainly doing their job. You always must remember the reason they would say such terrible things is because they are sad, awful people. (Also, they are getting kicked out by someone who doesn’t have a real job, how sweet.)

Sadly, the worst thing about being treated so poorly is that eventually, whether you want to admit it or not, you will get down on yourself. You’ll find yourself whispering under your breath “I hate this fucking job” and wondering why you put yourself through so many tribulations for a $5 tip. Personally, I have a business degree and know I could find a “professional” job, but I sometimes look at job postings and think “I would never qualify for this, I’m just a bartender” (not true.) A friend of mine whose name I will leave out often talks about how they cannot find any work with their degree that is even close to the amount of money they make serving. I hear these same stories all over the place and I’ll be the first to say that everyone I know in the service industry is better than the way they are treated.

Unfortunately, all of this it leads to some self-hate, which in turn leads to destructive behaviors. It’s self-inflicted anxiety and tension through the cycle of good days and bad days. The rollercoaster of emotions and stress about your work and your future can be overwhelming and sometimes it really is too much. People turn to drinking and other unhealthy coping mechanisms. If you are dealing with problems outside of work as well, it can get very dangerous. It does not have to be this way.

Looping back around I am here to say it again “If it is honest work, it is good work.” Service industry workers are worthy of your respect. We work long hours and depend on the kindness of others to pay our bills. Sure, there are rude and lazy people who work at restaurants, but I guarantee you will find those kinds of people in almost every industry. Ultimately, the people who stay in the business genuinely care about their guests’ experience and take pride in their work.

Further, anyone who says restaurant work is unskilled is simply wrong. The list of skills it requires to work in a restaurant or bar is nearly endless. A résumé can include both interpersonal and public communication, multitasking, working under pressure, teamwork and leadership, customer service, salesmanship, training and development, and many more. When you get into management you are dealing with areas of financial and operational planning, human resources, marketing and other skills that take a great deal of knowledge and practice. My point is that none of these skills are easily attained and must be developed to be successful in the service industry, just like any other career.

One last thing I would like to mention is that restaurant work is important. Think about it, people plan some of the most special and important events of their lives at restaurants and bars. These could range from anniversaries, birthdays/holidays, parties of every sort, and even proposals, (I have seen three in my bar.) Further, “wining and dining” is an important part of business, and many deals are discussed and closed in a restaurant dining room. Although we are simply bystanders to all of this, you can be proud to provide a venue for the special things that happen at your establishment.

Just remember, you are worthy of respect. You’re doing honest work and you are doing good work, don’t let anyone tell you differently. Service industry professionals deal with things that would make most people pull their hair out and scream. It takes a special kind of person to embrace the madness of it all and you should be proud you are capable of it.

Working in a bar means you have to accept a different lifestyle from the rest of civilized society. Spending long nights and the weekends on the clock while many of your loved ones are enjoying their regular schedules. It’s something you must accept, endure and ultimately embrace.

One of the harshest realities of this lifestyle is not being able to spend special occasions with your loved ones. Everything from birthdays to government recognized holidays, we are bound to our jobs. I’ve missed so many occasions that it hardly bothers me anymore. At the end of the day, I have personally traded these luxuries for others I enjoy by working in the service industry, mostly keeping my work at work and being able to sleep in every day.

Now, it is Easter Sunday and I’m drinking yard beer after work. I’m not religious so this holiday really doesn’t matter to me. Despite this, religious holidays are a great excuse to see family and take it easy, and I always have the thought in the back of my mind of how nice it would be to not be working on days like Thanksgiving and Christmas. I would be lying if that I wasn’t a bit salty and cynical about holidays at this point. I know, I signed up for it but it feels good to gripe.

Here it is, the Blood of Christ. It’s a marriage of scotch and red wine in the form of a classic whiskey sour.

The ingredients:

1.5 oz Monkey Shoulder Scotch

0.25 oz Dry Curacao

0.5 oz Lemon Juice

0.5 oz Simple Syrup

0.5 oz Cabernet Sauvignon

1 egg white

The Method:

Combine your liquor (excluding the wine) and the egg white in a shaker. Dry shake. Add the rest of your ingredients into the shaker (excluding the wine) and shake very vigorously. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass or coupe. Using a pipette, float the wine on top.

At the end of her last shift, a group of us were sitting around talking over a beer like we normally do after a busy Saturday night. This night, the conversation was about her plans and next steps in her career. As she explained, a coworker and I joked about her sticking around to be a resident therapist for our staff, we all got a kick out of it. As funny as it was at the time, the joke had some seriously dark undertones considering how working in the service industry can be so hard on your mental health.

If compared to other jobs, restaurant work probably wouldn’t be on a list of high-stress careers to people who have never worked in the service industry. What is stressful about delivering a sandwich to a table when you compare it to life and death situations doctors and nurses deal with? It really seems trivial when looking at it that way. The reality is, when you peel back a few layers and examine the details, the service industry is a quagmire of mental health issues and unhealthy coping mechanisms.

The first thing you must accept when taking on a bar or restaurant job is that you are almost guaranteed to be living an alternative lifestyle from the rest of society. Your money is often based on the kindness of others. You work long hours primarily at night. When it is busy, days off are sometimes not an option. There is no calling in sick. I could go on and on. Sure, every establishment is different and some treat their employees better than others but overall most service industry workers deal with the same issues.

Let’s talk about the hours first. Whenever I bring up working a double with a service industry friend, the conversation will likely turn into a sharing of horror stories of the longest, hardest shifts you have worked. The longest shift I have worked was just under 17 hours, the longest I’ve seen is 22 hours. I know many industries work long hours, but in the service industry, these hours can also come with little reward if you work for tips. My longest shifts are usually the most lucrative, but there are instances where I make just over minimum wage. As said before, many restaurants deal with this better than others and try to limit the long shifts. Also, most SI people I know are okay with these hours and anticipate them. Unfortunately, in some places, if you open your mouth about working doubles regularly, management and owners will throw it in your face because of a macho hard-work culture. Some common phrases are “Well don’t you want to make money?” or “You knew what you signed up for.” Yes, sometimes this is true but if an employee is unhappy, the conversation should be constructive and not aggressive. They usually fall on the aggressive side of the spectrum.

This leads me to the next issue: the lack of days off when its busy. Much like the long hours, this is something I see everywhere in the industry and is usually anticipated by its workers. “The busy season” is often code for the “no-days-off-season because I need to make money before the slow season.” Workers can go weeks with no days off. This means very little time to decompress and take care of yourself. Healthy habits fly out the window. You lose sleep and don’t drink enough water, and often more alcohol. Personally, I end up eating one meal a day, while walking miles upon miles. The stress of these long stretches of work, supplemented by the bad habits formed, is fuel for a breakdown. Coupled with the long shifts, it can drive you mad.

The daily work stress is enough to break any person down. Some deal with it in healthy ways but others simply don’t. In an industry so involved with alcohol, it is no wonder that many of its workers turn to it as a coping mechanism. I am no stranger to this either, I dealt with my work stress with alcohol for years. I’ll admit that a beer after a hard day of work is great, and people across all industries can enjoy this tradition. It is also no secret that I love shift drinks. The problem is these traditions can lead anywhere from unhealthy habits to full-blown alcoholism, especially in restaurants and bars. Shift drinks can be especially dangerous in a bar or restaurant with a toxic environment. Instead of a reward for hard work, they can turn into a substitute for proper management and conversations that need to be happening. Instead of dealing with the problems employees face, everyone just “drinks about it.” It is a slippery slope into creating a culture of alcoholism in the workplace, which happens far too often.

The late-night nature of working in restaurants fuels this as well. Often there is nothing else to do when you get off late at night other than having a few drinks. Once again, there is nothing fundamentally wrong with this. Most people I know frequently meet up with friends after work to have a drink, no matter what their job is. The problem comes when you do it after every shift because you find yourself in a place where it is the only thing that helps you deal with the stress of your job. This is textbook alcoholism and it is commonplace in the service industry.

Drug use is also very common in restaurant and bars. Much like how it’s easy to deal with stress with alcohol, drugs can be an easy way out. The two often go hand in hand as well, people start and just won’t stop. I think everyone who has been in the industry for a while has a story about an addict and they are all heartbreaking. I have lost friends to it, there is not much more I care to say about it.

There is research backing up the prevalence of substance abuse in the industry as well. In a 2015 study done by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), it was found that the food service and accommodation industry is at the highest ranks of worker substance abuse. In their survey, they found that 11.8% of food service workers reported heavy alcohol use in the past month, only behind the notoriously tough jobs of mining and construction. Furthermore, they found that 19.1% reported illicit drug use, much higher than any other industry. Last, they found food service workers reported the highest rate of overall substance abuse in the past year they were surveyed, at 16.9%. To myself and many others in the industry, this is not surprising. Despite this, it is disturbing to think that according to this survey, nearly 1 in 5 people who work in our industry have substance abuse problems. I can’t imagine that number going down anytime soon either.

All the long hours and poor coping mechanisms have a horrible effect on your personal life as well. People often fall into depression, sleeping all day and staying up all night. In the winter you rarely see the sun. It’s hard to find time for your friends or do things other than go out to a bar and drink. Having meaningful romantic relationships tends to be incredibly difficult as well. Finding the time and putting in the effort is nearly impossible, especially if you’re partner is not in the service industry. What I am saying is that the unforgiving nature of working in food service and not dealing with the stress in a healthy way will make your entire life a nightmare. One of my favorite things about my job is that I don’t take anything home with me, but if you are not dealing with the stress of your job healthily, you’ll be taking everything home in a terrible way.

So what do we do about this? As service industry workers, we are all in this together. There is a lot of comradery in this industry and whether you believe it or not, support is there if you look for it. Take it upon yourself to look out for your coworkers and industry friends. Not to be corny, but if you see something, say something. You don’t have to dive into people’s lives but let them know you’re there for them. You never know how much someone might need it.

Heads Above Water is a series on mental health issues in the service industry, if you have a story you’d like to tell or any suggestions on what we should be talking about or anything to contribute at all, send me a message through the contact form.

If you are dealing with mental health or substance abuse issues please visit http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/im-looking-mental-health-help-myself. It’s a great step to finding help for yourself. It was for me at least.

It doesn’t matter if this is your first serving job at a chain restaurant or you are moving into your fifth fine dining gig. There is a method to the madness of becoming a valuable member of the team and an overall asset to the business. Here are five things to help you achieve that.

Make your Intentions Clear

This should be the first thing you do when moving into a new spot. Do it in the interview if possible (it should be). Whether you plan to come into a restaurant and eventually revamp their bar program or your new job is going to be a couple weekday serving shifts to supplement your income, you need to make your intentions 100% clear. This will save you from various problems down the line. Think of it this way, if you come in with big plans and no one knows, your climb to the top can be stifled at every turn. Management and owners will simply not know what you really want out of your job and their business. On the flip side, if you do not make it clear that your new job is just a side hustle, you may be given responsibilities you do not want or get scheduled outside your availability.

Note: Please handle this first step with tact. Do not go into an interview saying, “your cocktail menu is garbage and I’m going to fix it as soon as I can.” Make sure you are not stepping on toes or being overly demanding of a job you will only be at 2 days a week. You have to get the job first.

Be as Helpful as Possible

I feel like this should go without saying, but many service industry professionals can go into a job with a sense of entitlement. My dad always told me: in the first few months of a new job do whatever you can to stay busy and be useful, after that you are untouchable. This is absolutely not an excuse to slack off after you have put in some work, but it is 100% true that first impressions last. Go into your new job and clean what has been neglected, help your coworkers at every turn, volunteer for the worst cut duties and help the food and drink runners if your new job has them. Do whatever you need to build a great first impression.

Pick up your Coworkers’ Shifts

One of my favorite things about working in the service industry is the ability to give up shifts to my willing coworkers if they need the money and I want the night off. It gives a certain sense of freedom I could not find in other industries. You will find people asking for their shifts to be picked up at almost every restaurant and bar for different reasons. Some people just want to go to a concert they found out about last minute, sometimes people are sick and need a coworker to cover for them. A lot of the time people are just unbelievably lazy. What I am saying is take advantage of this and be that person. Pick up those shifts and do favors. You will make more money and your new coworkers will have good things to say about you. Not to mention they will owe you some favors if you are in a tight spot.

Get to Know the Regulars

All food and drink establishments have regulars. They are the people who keep the doors open. They pay the staff’s rent and bills with their generous tips. They are the people managers and owners love. It will take some time to pick these people out of the general crowd but when you do make it a goal to get to know them. Introduce yourself by name, always say hi when they walk through the door. Give them the best service you possibly can. If the regulars like you, you will be setting yourself up for a good future with any job.

Get to Know the Staff

Much easier said than done but getting to know your coworkers can certainly lay a solid foundation for your new job. Some places have a very tight-knit staff that can be difficult to become acquainted with. On the other end of the spectrum, you could be working at a place where people are there to work and not make friends, which is completely okay. Either way, do your best to get a grasp on the social nuances of your new job. Find out which staff members have been there the longest and see what has made them successful. Invite people out for drinks after work if that’s your thing. Do your absolute best to integrate yourself into this new staff. Go full Jane Goodall if you must. You will have an easier time adjusting to a new gig if you are close with your coworkers. Plus, you never know who could become a great friend outside of work. I have met some of my closest and most trusted friends this way.

At the end of the day, doing well at a new job just comes down to hard work. If you’re exerting yourself and doing your best you should be just fine. This hard work shouldn’t just stop at your guests though. Sure, every manager or owner is going to appreciate an employee who provides good service but if you really want to be successful at your new job, you need to go the extra mile. Do the things most people wouldn’t do, get out of comfort zone and for the love of God don’t slack on your cut duties.

One significant practice that I notice being neglected at many restaurants is the practice of providing meaningful feedback to its employees. Yes, what I am talking about is performance reviews. Both managers and employees across all industries are likely to let out a begrudging groan at these two words. Despite this, performance reviews need to be done and when done correctly, can be a positive experience for both management and employees.

Why Conduct Performance Reviews?

The reasons to provide meaningful feedback to your employees has filled business management textbooks for decades and for good reason. Coaching and developing your employees should a paramount goal of any business. I could go on and on with a list of reasons why but for time’s sake, I will boil it down to the three reasons I see as most important: They let employees know where they stand, improve communication, and provide a sense of horizon for your staff. These benefits can lead to a more productive staff, higher morale and ultimately better business.

Letting Employees know Where They Stand

Providing meaningful feedback to your employees is to let them know where they truly stand in your establishment. Whether they are a rockstar server or a liability who doesn’t pull their weight, your employees need to know how they are doing.

For your top performers, letting them know their value to your business can both increase their morale and encourage them to be leaders to their fellow staff members. This can also be a segue into developing your best employees into more important roles, which we will go into more detail when we talk about providing a horizon for your staff. For your underperforming employees, a one on one situation might be just the thing they need to do some self-reflection and realize they need to do better. This is especially important for employees who have been with your establishment for a long time. Best practices are often forgotten by staff members the longer they work and become comfortable with their establishment and management. Performance reviews are an excellent way to refresh a great work ethic. Further, when it comes down to it, if bad work habits are addressed in a performance review, it makes it easier for managers to let problem employees go if need be, making more room for new talent.

Improving Communication

If you’ve ever managed a bar or restaurant, you know communication can be wildly unprofessional compared to many other workplaces. In my eight years in the service industry, I’ve been screamed at, berated in front of guests and had just about every obscenity hurled my way by both managers and employees I was managing. It is easy to forget how important honest and constructive communication is in every workplace, including restaurants and bars.

Here’s the thing, as a manager or owner, you can try as hard as you can to address problems as they happen. For example, if you have an employee who has a problem with using their phone during business hours, you can tell them while they are serving their guests that they need to be off their phone. Unfortunately, this is likely to go in one ear and right out the other. Although they may not be doing their job the best to their ability, I guarantee they are still thinking about their guests, making it easy to forget about any feedback you try to give them on the floor.

This is where a more formal, one-on-one conversation will be much more effective. By sitting down with your employees, you have 100% of their attention and your words will carry much more weight. That employee with the phone problem will remember a conversation if you address it professionally and lay out your case and consequences if their behavior does not improve. The conversation could go something like this:

“Bob, you are a valuable server for our establishment, you generally provide sufficient service for your guests and your sales reflect that. Unfortunately, you have had a problem with being on your phone while you should be checking on those guests. Whether it is true or not, it tells me that you find whatever is happening on your phone is more important than your guests and your job which is unacceptable. Further, you are setting a bad example for your coworkers, especially newer employees. We need you to work on this or else we can’t keep giving you the sections or shifts you usually expect.”

Sitting an employee down and telling them this as part of their review will be much more effective than saying “Hey Bob, get off your phone.” In the middle of a busy shift.

The communication can be effective for your best employees as well. It is easy to become jaded in a serving/bartending job, this can cause your staff leaders to lose focus. Sitting with these employees and telling them how much they matter to the business and providing them with a horizon (we will talk about that next) can be a great way to refresh their morale and encourage them to keep doing a great job.

Finally, the improved communication goes both ways. Any good performance review should be a real conversation and not a manager droning off 1-5 ratings and scripted responses. As a manager, you should be ready to receive feedback on the establishment and the job itself. This is a great time to find out where you could improve work for your employees and ultimately run a better business. Back to the example of Bob on his phone, you may find out that your employees are going too long without being able to take a breather. Maybe your floor managers need to be more present to ensure your staff members are receiving the breaks they need.

Overall, improving communication seems like a no-brainer when running a business, it is just the proper execution that is often not happening. Get your reviews done to ensure communication is at its best

Providing a Horizon for your Staff

You may be wondering “What exactly is horizon?” Simply put, horizon is what your employees see in their future with your business. In the service industry, this is something that is incredibly important and often completely neglected.

Providing a sense horizon is especially important to newer staff members. In my opinion, every employee should be reviewed within 90 days of employment, especially if your establishment starts all employees at the bottom of the totem pole. For example, if you start all your employees as food runners, sit them down after 30 days and tell them what they do well, what they could improve on and finally ask what their goals are. Do they want to serve? Do they think they would be an asset behind the bar? Once you find these goals make a real plan with them on how they will reach those goals and how you as a manager can help.

Horizon is also important for long-time employees. As mentioned before, it is so easy to become jaded in restaurant and bar environments, especially if you feel like you have plateaued in your position and have no horizon. While you are reviewing your employees, who have been with your business for years you should still be talking about horizon in any way you can. Maybe there is another area that employee can be cross-trained in. Maybe management is in the cards. No matter what it is, providing some sort of horizon for these employees can ensure they feel refreshed and that they have a future with your establishment.

Overall, providing horizon will help you retain your most talented and hardworking employees, no matter how long they have been with you. If your employees feel like they don’t have a future with your business, don’t expect them to do a good job or stay long.

In the end, I cannot stress how important providing real feedback through performance reviews is for any business, including restaurants and bars. What I have mentioned here is just a few reasons among many more. If you are a manager or owner and are not conducting reviews, I suggest you start sooner rather than later if you care about the future of your business.

Despite all the benefits of being paid in cash, there are certainly some downfalls to this system. The worst of these is how hard it can be to budget, track and save. I know a lot of professional bartenders and servers who make fantastic money, but somehow always seem to be dead broke. Follow this short guide to avoid this with a step by step process of saving money as a server.

Step 1: Know your Goals

I like to use this as a first step because it will keep you focused. Sure, you can just put your cash in a sock drawer and build up a small nest egg; but without any real saving goals, you will be more likely to dip into your savings whenever you want to buy something unnecessary or go out for happy hour.

Sit down and be honest with yourself. Why do you want to save money? It could be for retirement, a down payment on a new car, a dream vacation or even a new TV. Whatever your savings goals are, stick to them. Write them down and post it on your refrigerator if you must. You will thank yourself later when you’re pennies away from that trip to Europe. All in all: stay focused.

Step 2: Track and Budget

This is where things begin to get a little more complicated. You need to track how much money you make and create a budget accordingly. Tracking the cash you take home sounds easy in theory, but it is unbelievably difficult to keep a record when all that is on your mind after a double shift is either a cold beer or kicking your shoes off and crawling in bed. This is what I recommend, carry a notebook with you to work and write down how much money you make each shift. Do it religiously. After. Every. Shift. This is the only way you will be able to create a realistic budget you can stick to.

After you track your tips for a month, do the math and see how much you are making weekly, bi-weekly and monthly. Once you have some solid numbers, start putting your expenses on paper (or Microsoft Excel if you are able.) Be honest with yourself, how much do you really spend on beer? How often do you eat at your favorite restaurant? Never low-ball your budget, always go for the higher number. This will make it easier to stay within your own personal budget.

There are also a lot of great tools for budgeting, you can find some fantastic premade budget sheets on the internet. Play around with them and see what works. If you don’t have access to excel one of my favorite tools is Mint by Intuit Software. Mint is a mobile app that tracks your cash flow and spending all on your phone. It is very easy to use and can make budgeting a breeze.

Step 3: Deposit your Cash

Another step that is easier said than done and it is imperative for the next two steps of the process. You need to deposit your cash into your bank account as often as you can. I know the struggle of waking up early to run errands when you work until 4am every day but it is 100% necessary. Go to the bank or an ATM to deposit your cash, because the next two steps are how you are going to reach your goals.

Step 4: Automatically Transfer Money into Savings Accounts

This is something my dad taught me (we are both equally miserly.) Now that you have a budget that you are sticking to, you *hopefully* know how much disposable income you have available every month. This is where the real game begins. Find how much of that disposable income you are comfortable with not having every week and set up automatic transfers into a savings account. Some personal finance experts say you should save at least 20% of your income. I am not an expert, but I say you should save whatever you are comfortable with and build up from there. Even if it is just $25 a week, you must start somewhere. You will be surprised how much more money you will want to save once you start.

There is also a solid reason I automatically transfer my money. I do this because when the money automatically comes out of your account, so you don’t miss it. Its just gone. Yes, of course, it is still your money to do with what you please, but when it comes out of your checking account and into a savings account it makes it a lot harder to use. This is also a lot less painful than going to the bank and depositing your cash directly into savings.

Step 5: Invest your Money

Now, this is harder to achieve if you are starting from zero, but it is something that everyone should be doing. You need to invest your money if you are serious about saving, especially if you are saving for something big like retirement or a down-payment on a home.

I want to clarify yet again that I am by no means an expert in this stuff. I’m not a hedge fund manager, I’m a bartender. Regardless, I will let you know what worked for me. Save up a decent chunk of change, say, $1000. If you are serious about saving you can do this in a few months. Then open an account with Vanguard. You could open just a regular Brokerage account or IRA or Roth IRA if you want to save for retirement. Then buy ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds). These are investments that are diversified and managed professionally. They are generally safe and can get you very decent returns. You buy them and pretty much ignore them as they become more valuable. If you want to know more about them you can do your own research, but they have worked for millions of people for a very long time and they work for me. Vanguard also has a lot of great tools for novices like myself and you pick what ETFs, stocks, and bonds to choose based on the amount of risk you are comfortable with.

Once you get this set up, I recommend automatically transferring money into your investments as well, just as you do with your savings account. All I have left to say is that compound interest is the best thing that can happen to your wallet other than winning the lottery.

A Final Note

So now that I have laid out the steps, all you have left to is try it out for yourself. My word is by no means the law and through your own research, you may find information that disputes mine. The important thing is to just start. Once you do you will find little systems and routines that work best for you. Just like working in a kitchen, serving or behind the bar, everyone does things just a little bit different. If you are actually saving money, you can’t be doing that bad.

Anyone who has worked in a restaurant or bar can tell you, the weekends are for making money. Friday and Saturday are the days when all of our nine to fiver friends, family and acquaintances go out to enjoy themselves and spend their money. We thank you all for paying our bills.

What about the people who provide those good times? Where is their weekend? For many, it simply does not exist. I am lucky enough to work at a restaurant that gives me two days off in a row every week, usually Monday and Tuesday. Unfortunately, many of my friends in the service industry rarely get two days off in a row, meaning they do not get a real weekend. Considering this, Service Industry Nights are like manna from heaven that get you through the week.

For anyone who does not know what service industry night (or SIN) is, let me define it for you. SIN is a night of the week (usually a weeknight) in which restaurants and bars offer special discounts for anyone who works in the food-service industry. Think of it as a top-secret special happy hour that only those who have the privilege of feeding people and serving drinks get to take part of. A weekly celebration of ourselves and our hard work in a truly unforgiving industry.

There are many types of service industry nights, restaurants may take half off your tab or have specials on certain dishes and drinks. Bars typically place a few products at criminally low prices or discount your tab. Some restaurants do SIN better than others, but we can all agree that discounted food and drinks are never something to complain about.

Let’s get down to the real business, why do establishments do service industry nights? What is there to gain for selling goods at cost to your fellow industry folk? Although it may not affect the bottom line directly, there are certainly underlying benefits for everyone involved.

From a business owner or manager’s standpoint, service industry night comes with a host of benefits. First, it’s a great way to get the word out about your establishment – especially if you are a restaurant or bar that has recently opened. Think about it, if you have hundreds of service industry professionals coming through your place monthly, all of which are eating, drinking and enjoying themselves, you are opening the floodgates to a plethora of word-of-mouth recommendations from those professionals. Personally, when I start talking about restaurants with friends, usually the first spots I will mention are those I frequent on service industry night. Sometimes even guests at my own bar are looking for recommendations, guess which places I am telling them to go?

Another benefit is one that affects both staff and owners/management. Service industry night is a great boost to morale. Think about it, SIN is a night in which the bulk of your guests are your own kind. They understand your struggle, the heartache, and pain that comes with cooking serving and cleaning every day of your life to sometimes despicable people. Hell, they might have just gotten off work ten minutes before they sat at your bar. This creates one night a week where the environment of your restaurant is just a little more relaxing than any other night. Obviously, you still want to provide the best service to your fellow service industry professionals, but at every turn you’ll have someone telling “It’s alright, take your time.” A refreshing and wonderful experience. Also, did I mention service industry professionals tip better than anyone else? Its no wonder SIN shifts are reserved for your best, most dedicated employees – its the best shift of the week.

The last benefit is one that is a little more abstract compared to the first two. Service industry night helps to create a superior culture within the foodservice industry. In cities across the country, there are pockets of service industry workers and these are tight-knit communities with their own cultures, stories and inside jokes. SIN provides these communities with a night to come together and share stories, provide feedback, drink, eat and be merry. All of these contribute to a more inclusive and stronger community in the industry. Every other industry has their trade shows, networking events and so on, all of which provide a stronger sense of community within the industries. The food service industry has their own through service industry night, and it just happens to be a lot more fun.

Ultimately, SIN is a hugely beneficial tradition for any restaurant or bar. With the right planning and execution, it can raise your establishments market share and revenue. The added benefits of boosting morale and improving industry culture are like two cherries on top. If you are a manager or owner, consider bringing SIN to your establishment. If you are food service worker and have never attended a SIN in your own city, do some research to find what your local bars and restaurants have to offer, I promise you won’t be disappointed.