No CommentsIn any business there are essentially three groups of people that make demands of the company; the customer, the stockholder, and the employee.
One of my main jobs as a leader is to balance these demands; which is not always an easy task because there are many times when all these demands are not only different but even opposed.
While there are many ideas on how to handle the balance between all of these concerns I have learned that the employee should never be the last group that is taken care of; unless I want to do all the work myself.
In an average week, Pizza Gallery & Grill will serve nearly 4,000 guests. I am keenly aware of the fact that there is absolutely no way that I can serve each of these guests to the standard we have set here at PGG by myself. In order to properly enrich these members of my community and provide excellent dining experiences I have to rely on a team of people to accomplish our goal.
Conventional wisdom would say that the guest comes first; after all, if there are no guests there are no sales. Right?
My truth is that when my team feels supported, valued, heard, and successful I don’t have to worry about the guests. I don’t even have to worry about the stockholder.
Why is that?
When each of my fellow team members have bought into the culture at Pizza Gallery & Grill and have taken true ownership in every aspect of the company we all care more about the guest and the financial health of the restaurant.
If I earn the trust of the guest by getting them to come in and order the food, or if I earn the trust of the stockholder by getting them to invest in the company that trust only goes as far as the trust I have in my team.
This means I have to walk a fine line.
If there is a situation where a team member is clearly in the wrong I have to hold them accountable for their actions and decisions. However, in a situation where the team member has done right to the best of their ability I have to communicate to them through my words and actions: “I’ve got your back!”