Need Help Managing our Executive Chef

Indy, although I did cook for El Chico many moons ago, my experience with incentive programs comes from my retail Pet Business.
 
I had 3 managers, 12 or so permanent employees, and an always changing number of part time and temporiory help. I would hire high school students, many on some type of school work program, for most of the part time and temp jobs. My 3 main departments were Dogs and Cats, Birds... Fish and Small Animals, and Grooming and Boarding. Hey, we had LOTS of mouths to feed each day!
 
I did a kinda rough P&L, since we did not take an actual inventory, each month. We used average profit margins for about 10 catagories of our sales. At the end of the year we would take inventory and get things more exact. I would allot 10% of the net profit for the total bonious program. These were distributed to employees about the middle of the following month. The managers got a larger share that the other permanent employees.
 
The part time and temp folks didn't get these bonises. Although, they know that if they did an outstanding job, they may someday be considered for a position that did.
 
I never had the prob of managers wanting to cut their employees to a point below what they needed to get the job done. In fact they would often come to me and say they needed more help. I think their hands on day to day knowledge about this led to better dacisions  than I could make without them. The final decisions about employee numbers did get my input though. This issue of employee numbers was something to carefully discuss and consider but I never thought there was a problem due to the bonus program. You can never get things perfect but myself, and the managers, tried our best.
 
All permanent employees were always quick to make sure everyone on our team was pulling their own weight though. We were a happy team that got the job done. Not to say didn't have our issues to work out though.
 
That 10% bonus program, I can tell you for sure, did not cost me money. It made me money!
 
Again, I hope this helps!
 
Oh, not to brag but we sold over 1,000 kittens during a one year perriod. I never counted up how many kittens we sold during the whole time I had the store. Many of these kittens would have, no doubt, ended up in the city pound with a very uncertain fate.  I think I am more proud of this than the money I made, and spent, during those 12 years.
Joe

 Is it just me who believes that Mr. Jackson owes the O.P. an apology for his thoughtless comment on the last page, " bet she never returns" ? This kind of attitude is why there are not as many people posting as in the past.
 
  JMHO
 
  David O.

I agree with the above post for incentive for the EC, but I have to ask, ... What statistical program do you have available as a tool to manage the restaurant?  ... Is the reports available for the  EC use too?
 
Most electronic cash registrars at the end of day will give the total number of sales and average price of each sale.  Some will have a basic break-down of categories.   ... A complete/good statistical program will not only do the basics, but also tie to inventory, man hours per department (cooks, wait-staff, busboys, ect), and show info about sales for each item listed on the menu.
With this info, a EC can control labor cost (scheduling), inventory (too small =>lost sales - too large => increased waste), menu item tracking (order, but returned by customer (problem with cook (??) or quality of product (??)), seasonal sales differences (adjust staff & inventory for lighter or heaver sales volume), show if different promotions are working (increased sale volume).  A good EC should then see problems and taken steps for correction.
 
For you as the owner, this should demonstrate how well the restaurant is functioning, show any problem areas, and how effective your EC is at managing his resources/restaurant.

 First of all, there is only one Chef in the kitchen. The Chef is the boss, head honcho, the big Kahuna. That being said, its their job to make up and cost the menu and train the cooks to produce the food under their direction/ standards and quality guidelines. The Chef has nothing to do with sales, thats the owners job to get the people in the door, it's up to the Chef to put out quality food that brings them back.The incentive program for Food cost and labor cost is for the Chef to have a on going concern for Costs that are associated with the bottom line profit. I have been a Chef for 30 years, I would walk out the door if another Chef was hired to control my kitchen. I don't understand why your calling this person an Executive Chef when all they can do is cook ?????????  The process of becoming a Executive Chef comes with years of experience, the EC isn't a Chef that has just graduated from Culinary school, they are seasoned professional in their field.....................Bill

Bottom line I would fire the EC.  

boyardee65


 Is it just me who believes that Mr. Jackson owes the O.P. an apology for his thoughtless comment on the last page, " bet she never returns" ? This kind of attitude is why there are not as many people posting as in the past.

JMHO

David O.

I agree with you David. I figured it was a drive by post from a first timer. I am sorry for thinking she would never return. I hope she continues to provide information and insight to the forum. If it wasn't said by others Welcome To The Site...Russ

Thank you BillyB for stating what I was thinking!! The Chef is the heart of the kitchen and as such is responsible for all aspects of the kitchen. This position comes from hard work, dedication, training, and experience. A cook is just a cook a chef is a highly trained person who has the skills to manage people, resources, and maintain health dept. standards. His/Her job is not to think up promotions but to implement them. I have also been in this business for over 30 years and have held the position of E.C. for a few places. I found that politics is usually the reason that most Execs leave the restaurant as they are usually a very independent bunch and don't like the owner to tell them how to run their kitchen.
 
  Living in such places as Arizona and Alaska, I am aware that there is the need to pare down the staff during the off season. Most E.C.'s get paid salary. I don't mind working a little harder if I have to let someone go during the off season. I am happy to have the work in the first place.
 
 My advice to the o.p. is to let the E.C. go and hire a kitchen manager or two (one for each kitchen.) Let them know what you expect them to accomplish and hold them to the standards that you want to achieve. As an owner, you have the right and responsibility  hire the personnel that reflects your vision.
 
  JMHO
 
  David O.