How to Help Your Kitchen Staff Develop Their Skills

One of the worst but undeserved stereotypes the hospitality industry endures is the concept that it offers nothing but low-paying, boring, dead-end jobs to people who have no better options in life.

Ask anyone who has been a proud member of our fraternity for any length of time and the overall impression you'll get is just the opposite. It is an industry that has been consistently growing for years, has a genuine need for workers at every level of expertise and ability, and is hungry for people who are willing to work their way up the ladder as far as they are able to go, with little or no arbitrary limits placed on anyone willing to rise to the occasion.

This rare, low barrier to entry and relatively low expectations and demands in entry-level positions, is coupled with a constant need for highly trained, capable workers and leaders throughout the industry.

...At a recent board meeting of the local restaurant association, the president asked how many of us around the table had started out in the business washing pots. About three-quarters of the board members present raised their hands...

It is the nature of the abilities and knowledge required in our industry that they can be, slowly but surely, acquired on the job. This creates the perfect opportunity for those willing to work hard and learn the trade to stand out and be rewarded for their efforts and accomplishments, to everyone's benefit.

At a recent board meeting of the local restaurant association of which I'm a member, the president asked how many of us around the table had started out in the business washing pots. About three-quarters of the board members present -- myself included -- raised their hands. It is our obligation and privilege as leaders to give the same opportunity to those just entering our industry as others gave to us not that long ago. It is to everyone's advantage for us to see and appreciate the potential our entry-level workers possess, and to set systems in place to encourage their advancement in our own businesses, as well as the industry at large.