Last week I had an opportunity to coach a newly hired restaurant supervisor: she’d been a food server in the past and most recently worked in retail. She was very professional and confident, but confided in me that her manager hadn’t provided any formal training: she’d been trying to glean information from other employees and was using her own common sense. While being somewhat unsure of things, she was undaunted since she was still learning. I advised her to approach her manager and respectfully request some guidance, and, if it wasn’t forthcoming, to document her experiences and suggestions in hopes that someone else in management might ask. The sad fact is that most service employees receive little or no training and are then left to being observed and judged by customers, other employees, and management. There’s no reason to limit the training that new employee needs to be effective: to put them in that situation is unfair to them, their co-workers, and your customers. Get involved in training new employees, show them what’s expected, answer their questions, and be a coach and mentor as they learn to sail today.
Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888): Novelist
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