Time For Change

The Five ‘I’s

With Independence Day right around the corner, I felt that it is high time that we address a few issues that have been long nagging our society and specifically, the restaurant industry. Here are a few ‘I’s that we need to change.

One of the major issues is the Inequity that is found in almost every organization and workplace, with the same being unfortunately true of the restaurant industry as well.

The difference in wages needs to be eliminated. We must encourage more women to join the workforce as a gender equitable employee pool can do wonders for business. It also improves the professionalism of everyone involved. 

Inequality is another issue that we should fight against. We must firmly put the days of discriminating against people based on their color, ethnicity, and religion. Restaurants can play a leading role in this through their hiring processes and internal value systems. 

Individuality is another principle that I feel restaurants must not deviate from moving forward. We see too many restaurants trying to do something that many others are doing just to make sure that they stay in business and do not care about trying anything new or out of the box due to the fear of failure and rejection. This needs to change. A unique identity is priceless in today’s industry begging for an injection of new blood. 

Innovation should be the driving force going forward, especially in light of the pandemic that has forced us to look for new solutions to stay relevant. We must continue to ride this wave and keep innovating to ensure that the restaurant industry as a whole does not become redundant in the eyes of the customers as we face more and more challenges from food delivery services. 

Finally, I think a sense of Integrity is crucial to step into the future. An uncertain future. A future that is difficult to predict. We must abide by our principles even in the face of severe adversity.  We must resolve the issues that I have enumerated above which are only a few of many more that plague our society.

When we resolve the issues associated with these ‘I’s, we can truly celebrate the ‘I’ in Independence as a nation that has freedom in the true sense of the word.  

I know that it is a long, winding road ahead. I know that it is going to be a difficult journey. But we must not give up. We must not surrender. Because very soon, we may be fighting for our very own survival and no one but ourselves can help us then.