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National Report – Maintaining quality while trying to control costs is a key issue facing today’s hospitality operator. Quality is basic to a customer’s price/value perception of an
establishment. And quality is synonymous with consistency.
One factor crucial to maintaining consistent quality is the proper use of labor resources.
Food and beverage managers will tell you that the most effective way to ensure consistent product quality is to use recipes. Recipes ensure consistency by specifying components, amounts and preparation steps. They are
used to train new cooks to evaluate their ability to prepare an item and are essential to food quality assurance systems.
In addition, recipes are integral to cost control and assessment processes and help determine selling prices and profitability.
In short, recipes are a key factor in achieving consistent food and beverage quality and are in effective, proven means by which to set operational standards.
Why, then, not use “recipes” to set such standards for jobs specializing in the product we call guest service?
When a chef trains a new cook, he uses recipe cards as a fundamental tool so the trainee knows exactly what items to use, proper portion sizes, precise cooking times and proper presentation. Why not use the same
approach to train a new waiter in the proper procedures for serving the meal?
The job descriptions we use are just that-they merely describe jobs. They are hiring tools. They rarely include the explicit directions, specifications and evaluation parameters that make for a complete training
program. Without these directions and parameters, the new employee will be unsure of how to evaluate his or her own work and that uncertainty eventually can contribute to an end product of inconsistent quality.
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Explicit procedures enhance an operation’s ability to design more effective training and performance evaluation systems. Additionally, the operation can begin to determine it’s labor cost potential in the
same way that the use of recipe cards, coupled with sales data, facilitate the development of supply cost potentials in the food and beverage area.
Service jobs which necessitate a high degree of interactive behavior should use “recipes” to delineate the behavioral responses required to ensure consistent quality service.
The important thing to realize is that only with in-depth “labor recipes” can management achieve consistency of product for the long term, and management will better be able to evaluate (and improve)
employee performance and effectiveness. And only with labor recipes will employees be able to clearly understand what is expected of them, how they are to accomplish their responsibilities and how their performance
will be evaluated. Operational performance can better be assessed based on agreed-to, measurable service standards than by simple comparison to norms, averages, historical performance or subjective evaluation.
Finally, adjustments to service levels and the resultant cost can be made on a systematic basis, not simply by broad directives.
Labor recipes, like food or beverage recipes; enhance long-term profitability by ensuring consistent quality and effective cost management.
Mark S. Heymann is president of The Hospitality Group, a Walnut Creek, California based consultant firm specializing in organizational development and resource management.
(article originally appeared in April 1986)
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