The Ten-Minute Manager's Guide To...Promoting Hourly Employees

The Ten-Minute Manager's Guide To...Promoting Hourly Employees

by Lisa Bertagnoli, Special to R&I

 

In theory, it's good to move hourly employees into management roles. Seasoned hourlies "understand a company's culture and can carry it to a higher position," says Brian Colton, restaurant owner and president of Dallas-based Preferred Restaurant Management Services.

 

But without a good transition process in place, promotions can misfire. Great servers don't always make ideal bosses, especially if proper training is not provided. How to prevent such moves from backfiring? Give employees clear criteria for moving up or offer them halfway points such as shift supervisor or trainer. Above all, don't be afraid to say "stop" when a promotion just isn't working out.

 

Clear Rules Make Successful Promotions

More than half the managers at El Pollo Loco were once hourlies. In fact, several years ago, the Irvine, California-based chain reduced the size of regions covered by area leaders so they could spend more time mentoring employees, says Jeanne A. Scott, vice president of human resources and training for the quick-service Mexican chain.

 

Criteria for promotions are clearly defined and available to all crew members. "They understand what it takes to be promoted, and they can see peers engaging in those activities," Scott says.

 

El Pollo Loco also looks for employees who have what Scott calls a "broad appreciation" of the business. "They understand how each job fits into the success of the company and, therefore, how each job should be managed," she says. Such employees are easy to spot: "They raise the standard of the whole restaurant."

 

Promotable employees also are disciplined and comply with standards rather than look for shortcuts. "And they're team leaders," Scott says. "If you make the mistake of promoting someone who's not, you'll pay for it," most notably in the form of resentment from other crewmembers, Scott says.

 

Keys to Success

At Beef O'Brady's, the Tampa, Florida-based chain of 165 sports pubs, internal promotions "are part of our business model," says President Nick Vojnovic.

 

When deciding which hourlies to advance, managers look for the same qualities that mark a top executive: maturity, trustworthiness, reliability and people skills. Employees with those qualities are given a trial period as a "key employee": an opener, closer or shift supervisor. Only 20% of key employees eventually make it to full-fledged manager. The remainder "still want to hang with their buddies, or they're too strict," Vojnovic says.

 

In those instances, stores try to roll employees back to their previous positions, even sending them to a new store to prevent embarrassment.

 

But some workers simply find they're comfortable as a key employee and choose not to move up. "They may have kids at home, or they don't want responsibility or more hours," Vojnovic says. "No one size fits all; we need to work with each person individually."

 

A Smooth Transition From Peer to Boss

Newly promoted employees sometimes find it difficult to manage workers with whom they once were peers. Palm Restaurants tries to make that transition easier.

 

The promoted manager is physically separated from his or her former crew during the six to 10 week training period, says Scott Vasko, vice president of human resources for the Washington, D.C.-based steakhouse chain. The separation helps employees make the emotional break with co-workers; so does a formal announcement that the person has been promoted.

 

Palm also has no qualms about moving freshly minted managers to another unit. "It's definitely more difficult for someone to step out of a peer group and into a supervisory role at the same location," says Vasko. About 75% of promoted employees ask to work at another unit.

 

Finally, the chain encourages new managers to ask for help if they need it. "They can call anyone in the organization they're comfortable with, from another GM to the head of the company," Vasko says.

 

And they do ask for help, Vasko says. "[Palm President] Fred Thimm has gotten a few of those calls."

 

Management Training

Postrio in The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino, Las Vegas, requires hourly employees to be trainers before they're managers.

 

"It's a necessary step," says Matt Dickerson, general manager and partner, of the training tour of duty. "They learn how to train, coach and teach, which are important elements in management." 

 

Hourlies who are trainers are paid better, get prime hours and better sections of the dining room, and are given gift certificates to dine at other Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining restaurants, a group that includes Postrio. "Training's not easy," Dickerson says. "We take care of our trainers and make it something people want to do."

 

How long an hourly remains a trainer before moving to management depends on the individual. Some stay at the trainer level a year; some choose to remain trainers rather than move up, Dickerson says. Occasionally, a trainer returns to the position he or she came from, "but for the most part we try to make them successful," he says.

 

Dickerson admits that because of lost tip income, it can be difficult to persuade management-worthy servers or bartenders to move up. He courts them with the promise of future income, and a career. "They won't make as much in the beginning, but the money will be better in the future," he says. "And it's a career versus being a food server for the rest of your life."

 

Making Promotions Stick

Enthusiastic, top-performing hourly employees don't always turn into stellar managers.

 

"One of the biggest mistakes an operator can make is to take a very good hourly employee, put them into management and watch them become a poor manager," says Brian Colton, an owner of Dick Clark's American Bandstand, a 235-seat restaurant and night club in Overland Park, Kan.

 

To prevent such mistakes, Colton looks for clearly identifiable traits in hourly employees who have been promoted to semi-management positions, such as shift supervisor. The first? A server's reaction to a smaller paycheck, due to fewer tips. "That's a huge indication of a potential problem," says Colton, adding that promoted servers will eventually earn more money as full-fledged managers.

 

He also looks for good listening skills, leadership traits and the ability to transition from peer to boss. "Favoritism or power tripping are very noticeable," Colton says. "The employee might not realize it, but you can see it."

 

In that case, Colton recommends that the worker remain an hourly. "Usually there's no argument; they see it," Colton says. "Lots of people are just phenomenal at their jobs, but they aren't cut out for climbing the ladder."