Managing a team for success...
Nick Brabham, General Manager of Burpengary Community Club, shares his tips on how he trains and fosters an unbeatable team.
Nick Brabham and fellow manager Lizzie, cook and serve up breakfast for one of their staff meetings.
As a successful Club manager, what do you believe is the most important aspect of staff management for maintaining a positive and efficient team dynamic at your venue?
Open communication. Not just saying “good morning" in the hallway but keeping everyone in touch is a key to keeping our staff happy.
I regularly ask our staff (when they least expect it) to tell me about a promotion as if I am a customer. There is no punishment if they don't know it, just embarrassment. I give them one minute to find the information (readily available in every area) and come back. I find this drives an expectation without the big scary stick. The teamwork that comes from helping their colleague find the information is natural, positive and supportive.
Employee retention is a challenge that a lot of people in the industry are talking about. Could you share some of the key strategies you implement to retain good people in your team?
Two areas for me, Staff Feedback and Training.
I regularly conduct Staff Focus groups, where staff volunteer (unpaid) to attend a session where we ask a series of questions. These questions vary from what do you like about working here, what is the biggest improvement we could make as a business, what suggestion do you have to fix waste? We get some pretty out there answers that are just not possible, but I give them the reason why we can't, why we won't or we will take up their option. The ownership of new ideas and concepts empowers them to keep voicing improvements. The important thing is answering them.
Training, not formal training but experience training.
Recently we held a Keg Room 101, unpaid. We had 36 (42%) staff turn up. Chefs, Managers, new and experienced staff all wanting to improve their skills.
All of our Duty Managers have a Cadet DM that they mentor. These cadets are picked from an EOI process. They work together regularly and share experiences, stories and strategies. When that Duty Manager moves on (hopefully through promotion!) the Cadet is ready, they know the systems, they know the role and they are confident. Plus they get to mentor a Cadet too. Most of our Cadets are 20-30hr per week casuals of all ages who are just wanting to see if they can do it.
Our Apprentice Chefs (yep we have them!) are given experiences outside of the kitchen. We roster them at our local baker and butcher for work experience blocks to improve their skills. They attend our produce supplier to pick our order, deliver it and see the full circle of that box. The suppliers love the free labour which further improves the supplier relationship and we get a more enthusiastic employee back who wants to share their experiences.
How do you foster a sense of teamwork and camaraderie among your staff members?
Celebrate success! When was the last time you set a basic target, then rewarded your team? Last month our restaurant team had a target to suggestively sell gravy with 50% of burgers sold.
Pleasingly they exceeded the target with 63%. This resulted in an additional $1,200 in revenue for the month. Our reward of Cake cost us nothing from the local baker as our Apprentice made it! I find it’s not so much the reward but the recognition that counts.
How do you handle a conflict among team members or address an issue that you have with an individual staff member while maintaining harmony within the team?
Deal with it quickly and openly. I turn to mediation meetings where both parties attend and we discuss the issues. More often than not, it's a misinterpretation of what was said or how it was said. This shows that you appreciate them as employees and want to keep the team working together. As far as my time is concerned, 30 minutes and the meeting is generally over, with a positive outcome.
As a leader, how do you communicate your vision and goals to your team to align them with the overall objectives of Burpengary Community Club?
Selling the idea to the staff before you sell it to the customers. I do have some pretty out there ideas. This summer for instance, we are going to turn part of our beer garden into a Beach Club at Burpengary. A small focus group on what we need and how we are going to do it has resulted in street food menus, new cocktails, Hawaiian shirts for staff and 3 tonnes of sand! Should be interesting considering we are nowhere near the beach.
What role does recognition and appreciation play in your staff management strategy? How do you acknowledge the contributions of your team members?
Celebrate success as a team, reward individuals one on one.
If I am giving someone employee of the month, I sit with them and explain why. We don’t tend to broadcast those awards to the rest of the team. We do however broadcast the team achievements to everyone.
As a club manager, you must handle various responsibilities. How do you balance being a hands-on manager while also empowering your team to take initiative and ownership of their roles?
I work with Delegated Authority Documents. These empower each level of management to make decisions within their authority. If I witness something that I don’t like or don’t think is to standard, I will ask the relevant Team Leader, Supervisor or Duty Manager if there is a reason it is like that. This puts the responsibility on them to either know, or fix to get it back to standard. Simple things like TVs, Lighting, Music and Maintenance Items, they will look to have the answer to me before I see it.
Sweet motivation for the team ahead of a big day!
Would you like your Club to feature in our next edition of SPIN?
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