The hospitality profession has been through quite an unveiling; an industry-wide “me too.” And, as much as I hoped that these things had gone away, we hear about them still, even this past week.
Back in my youth, I had a manager in New York tell me to “go outside and shake your butt” to get some people in the door. I’ve been grabbed and “bumped into.” I have seen cooks get screamed at in very high end places, in ways that were absolutely unacceptable. I have heard horrible stories of staff not being paid, rent checks bouncing and cooks being told by their chef “I can do this without you; if you don’t like it, get out.” The mentality of who cares…there are 100 other folks behind you that would love this job is just absurd. I cannot wrap my brain around why people prey on others. I promised myself that when I was making the decisions I would remember these things.
Shaun and I would never want a team member to feel uncomfortable or unsafe. Period.
Nobody is perfect…we all have bad days. But, if we cannot operate with mutual respect and integrity I would rather close. In my humble opinion: your goal as an owner in this industry should be that anyone you were lucky enough to call a team member can say they were treated fairly, enjoyed their work and left with more knowledge than they arrived with.
For what it’s worth…