Can You Evaluate Servers When They Don’t Receive Tips?

Using tip totals as a measure of server quality is far from exact. You’d have to learn a lot more about why their tips are so high or low to be at all fair or accurate. Are they incompetent but super friendly? Being punished for the sins of a shoddy kitchen? How can you correct or retrain effectively? There is no way to know with tip-based evaluation. It’s simply too subjective.

With tips off the table – literally – there are still many ways to evaluate a server.

Ticket Size

How is your server doing on check totals? Are they upselling and adding on to every order? Servers who excel at “reading” the customer tend to do well. They are attentive so they don’t miss a drink opportunity, and always suggest appetizers and dessert. They make high-margin specials sound appealing to diners.

Teamwork

Do they eagerly chip in when they are needed? The best employees have never heard the phrase “not my job.” They’ll wipe a table when the bussers are busy, offer drink refills for tables that are not their own and make sure that diners waiting for seats are attended to. Assessing a server’s ability to work as a part of a team is a much better measure of their quality as an employee than whether or not a diner decided to leave 15 or 20 percent on the table.

Dependability

Are your servers on time and ready to work at the start of their shift? Look for servers to arrive neat and well groomed. They should check their personal problems at the door and have a ready smile for co-workers and diners alike. They know the menu back and front, and help new servers get up to speed.

Service Focus

The best servers put the diner first. They check to make sure the table is perfect and guests are comfortable. They accommodate special requests with a smile and seem to sense just the perfect time to check in with diners to be attentive, but not intrusive.

Restaurant owners can debate the wisdom of doing away with tipping, but there is no question that there are many ways to evaluate your servers’ on-the-job performance. If you are looking to add to your restaurant executive or management team, contact the experts at Horizon Hospitality. Our restaurant recruitment experts can help you get the high-level talent you need to keep your restaurant running efficiently and profitably.

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