At around 11:45 CDT this past Monday (6/24), I was a mixture of resigned, frustrated and annoyed. I had just walked out of an open-air restaurant in Acadia National Park in Maine. This, after waiting for 30-minutes to be seated, although there seemed to be no shortage of available tables. This, after waiting at our table for 15+ minutes for our server, although there was no apparent shortage of workers in the area.
The young woman busing our station was standing idle and looking bewildered. The young man filling water glasses also had little to do, but, unfortunately, we didn’t have water glasses. Others were tapping furiously away on their tablets, looking busy while doing nothing useful. Finally, the young man charged with putting popovers on the table was scanning the entire outdoor area looking for someone, anyone, who didn’t have one.
Alas, as with the water glasses, we didn’t have any plates on which to put anything. The same could be said about the tables behind us. As for those seated next to use, they had their popovers, but were seated, with arms crossed, waiting less than patiently on their specialty iced teas. Curious, my wife asked them how long they been waiting, and the man simply said: “a long time, a real long time.”
Although the place is officially called Jordan Pond House, it could just as easily be named ‘The Mill.’ After all, it seems as though that is the only thing happening there, patrons and employees both milling about. Unfortunately, this was at least the third time on our short vacation when we had eaten at a ‘The Mill.’ However, this was the only instance when we tired of the lack of service and left.
Trust me, these people didn’t care we were there, and didn’t care we left. We were just two less people with which to contend, and there were scores waiting to take our spots. I wonder how many following us left without getting their teas and popovers. Shoot, left without even getting an acknowledgement from anyone pretending to be working there.
This has a point, other than giving me an opportunity to vent.
Of the three instances of poor service to which I have alluded, I have concluded one was due to sheer laziness and the others to lack of adequate training. As to the former, let’s just say when the manager and the kitchen staff are literally yelling at each other over the status of an order (mine), there are some bigger problems at hand. But the latter two? I would be willing to bet dollars to doughnuts the staff didn’t really understand what their jobs were.
Had I asked the staff at this popover joint (a popover is a type of pastry) what their primary responsibilities where, they would have been rather myopic. “I bus tables.” “I fill water glasses.” “I place pastries on the table.” “I am the hostess.” That sort of thing.
However, although these might be their primary duties, they aren’t their primary responsibilities. The latter being “to help ensure our patrons have an enjoyable experience and vacation.” Think about it. If you believe the only thing you should be doing is clearing the dishes, what does it matter to you if people are seated with their arms folded, looking less than pleased? The same could be said of the person who fills water glasses when all of them are full. Let alone the hostess, who has seated people in empty tables and tried to allot them to servers equitably.
This is an endemic problem in our economy.
Riddle me this. Why do a lot of people go to places like McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s and/or other similar fast food joints? Is it because the food is so extraordinary they would go out of their way to get it? Drive past umpteen other options or go hungry because they want McDonald’s and nothing else will suffice?
Perhaps there are some folks out there like that. To be certain, people will have their personal preference for either a Whooper or Big Mac. However, I imagine most people would say the real ‘value-add’ of these types of restaurants is “fast and affordable food.” Using myself as an example, I prefer Zaxby’s fried chicken to Chick-fil-A. However, I am not going to go 20 miles out of my way to get it if the latter is just down the block.
Now, ask your average worker at a fast food restaurant what they do, and they will tell you they are a cashier or a burger cook or they dump frozen potatoes in boiling oil, etc. Although I am quite certain the corporate brass at HQ would love it if the rank and file employee said “to provide a fast, affordable, delicious meal in a family-friendly environment,” they aren’t going to do so.
How else can you explain why the service at a lot of the fast service places is so suspect? It isn’t because the workers don’t know what they are doing. These jobs aren’t terribly difficult. They just don’t know the reason why they are doing them. Truly. They don’t appreciate how each role in each company has a purpose, no matter how large or small.
Now, what is that old expression about a chain only being as strong as its weakest link?
If the powers that be have trained you to think your ‘primary responsibility’ is to fry French fries, does it really matter if you put a large or extra-large fry in the bag? The portions are plenty big as they are, and, friend, you could stand to lose a pound or twenty. Or if you are working on the line, who cares if you add pickles to a burger when the customer asked for none? They can pick them off themselves. Or, if you are supposed to be the cashier, why are you cleaning out the bathroom? This isn’t a rest area. It is a restaurant.
To be sure, if the manager at the Jordan Pond House had cross-trained the staff and coached them on what their real purpose was, some of the workers milling about would have seen to it that I had a water glass and a plate for a popover. They might have tracked down the actual server for our station. They would have done something “to help ensure I had an enjoyable experience and vacation.”
But that isn’t their job. Their job is to bus tables. Fill water glasses. Put popovers on bread plates. To seat people. Those sorts of things.
Hey, if one business doesn’t train its associates effectively, that is good news for their competition. If the competition fails to do so, that is bad news for the industry. If the industry doesn’t do it, it could be bad for the economy. If it is bad for the economy, it is ultimately bad for everyone. What’s more, it doesn’t take long to coach workers on why they do what they do at the company. It is incredibly easy, yet often overlooked to everyone’s dissatisfaction.
In the end and when you boil it all down, that is why I was a mixture of resigned, frustrated and annoyed at lunchtime on Monday. It wasn’t because I didn’t get a popover. They didn’t look that good anyhow.
Have a great weekend.
Thank you for your continued support. As always, I hope this newsletter finds you and your family well. May your blessings outweigh your sorrows on this and every day. Also, please be sure to tune into our podcast, Trading Perspectives, which is available on every platform.
John Norris
Chief Economist
Please note, nothing in this newsletter should be considered or otherwise construed as an offer to buy or sell investment services or securities of any type. Any individual action you might take from reading this newsletter is at your own risk. My opinion, as well as those of our Investment Committee, is subject to change without notice. Finally, the opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the rest of the associates and/or shareholders of Oakworth Capital Bank or the official position of the company itself.