What hospitality taught me about the corporate world.

I used to be an actor. It was my dream to perform in the West End and be the lead in Les Mis. I got pretty close. In the short space of time I worked in this space, I went far in auditions and I worked in a range of shows. The reason, however, I chose to leave the profession is I am ambitious and I don’t like leaving things to chance. So much of the game was right place, right time and actually had very little to do with talent because everyone was talented. I couldn’t deal with that and I wanted some certainty in my career. I also wanted a family.

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In between acting jobs and when studying, I had been a waiter in a number of restaurants. Hospitality was something that came naturally to me, like acting and given I also love food, I was in a good place ?? So, the safest transition for me was to go into the management programme of the restaurant chain I worked for, TGI Friday’s. It was an awesome experience, with very well structured learning and support. Subsequently, I managed the front of house operations for a very busy restaurant (pictured below) and a team of 30 people at any given time. Putting the leadership aspect to one side, here are some of the key learns that have served me well and might also help you:

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1.?When dealing with an angry customer, listen – have you ever dealt with someone who is starving, is about to pay ￡15 for a burger and chips and has waited for 45min? Trust me, this is dangerous territory! I have seen people try to argue with guests before, explain how busy the kitchen is or how they’re understaffed. I have even done it myself to no avail. It just escalates and they don’t care. Why should they? I learned pretty early on that the best thing to do is listen. Is to literally get on their level (or below – think status) and listen intently to their frustration. Then you empathise. Then you come up with a plan to solve their problem and deliver on the solution. 90% of the time, the guest is happy and the situation is resolved. The same is true of working with a client or a stakeholder. If they are frustrated, my advice is never go on the defensive. They are frustrated for a reason and it’s your responsibility to deliver a service to them. Whether you like this person or not is irrelevant. It is your role to ask questions, understand their frustration and provide a solution. How you do this determines how effective they will perceive you at your job and how much they will use your services in the future.

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2. Every guest must leave happy – I work in Talent, so in my world, a customer is a candidate or an employee. I obviously have stakeholders too, but let’s focus on these. In a restaurant, word of mouth is everything. If a guest has a great experience, what do they do? Think about it. When was the last time you went to a restaurant that was just awesome. Great food and drinks, great service and great atmosphere. I bet you went out of your way to tell people about it. I also bet you considered leaving a review online. What happens next is a snowball effect where word of mouth spreads, you get new and repeat custom. A healthy business. Now, let’s flip this. You go to a restaurant. It’s overpriced, the service is slow, non-attentive and when the food arrives, it’s cold and underwhelming. Ok, so what do you do? Exactly the same. You tell people and you write reviews, but here’s the kicker…you’re even more emotionally charged to write something damming or tell people how bad it was. So what do these people do when they see this restaurant or it comes up in conversation? They don’t go or they also advise others not to. You know where I am going with this. If you give a candidate or an employee a bad experience, you are tanking your reputation and you are literally damaging your business. Experience is everything.

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3. You can’t deliver a great service to a customer without great relationships with back of house – I am particularly passionate about this, especially right now in the corporate world I would be considered “back of house.” I always remember waiters who thought they were the most important team member. They faced off to the customer, they were the ones that made the tips, they sold the menu and largely, they got the praise for a great experience. So, why wouldn’t they think they were top of the tree? The thing was, without the line chef willing to prioritise your bruschetta because you’d forgotten to put it through with the rest of the order or the bartender willing to help you carry drinks to 20 people so you could take their food order they were eager to make or the dishwasher who was washing plates by hand because the machine had broken, how could you expect to deliver a gold star service and get that tip? Having worked in professional services for some time and instead of being a fee earner, I have witnessed some major God complexes over my years, where if you don’t generate revenue, you’re not worth taking seriously. Well, my final point here is that it takes every single person in your organisation to make it effective. There might be “rain makers” who we all depend on, but without the countless support staff passionately working towards the common goal of the organisation, then it soon becomes very difficult for anyone in a client facing role to do their job effectively. So my advice is that no matter what role someone plays in your team, department or organisation, they are just as important as anyone else. Treat them with the respect, courtesy and kindness you would anyone else. You never know, you might need them to help you carry some cocktails one day ??

Does any of this resonate for you? Anyone else start out in hospitality and take their experiences into corporate life? I'd love to hear.