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If you’re the coffee manager, then you have three main responsibilities -
lead your people, teach your people, and coach your people. Your people want to be led, taught, and coached. No one wants to be managed. If you want to manage somebody, manage yourself.
Here are a few coffee managerial hard thoughts and questions:
HARD QUESTION: Did you ever meet a manager that has no idea about the coffee ?
HARDER QUESTION: What’s your turnover rate of barista’s?
HARDEST QUESTION: After you sack a barista, or a barista quits, how much does it cost you to hire, train, and motivate a new barista?
HARD REALITY: The cost of turnover (including lost sales, lost opportunity and even lost customers) appears no place on a company’s balance sheet. If it did, many managers (not you, of course) would be out of a job.
HARDER REALITY: Most bosses never find the truth about why a barista left, especially if he goes to the competition. Try it …. and then take action on what you hear.
HARDEST REALITY: If your turnover rate is high, it may not be your people, Sparky.
Managers often complain – “there are no good people out there.” Or they say, “Good people are hard to find.” I say, “There are plenty of good people out there; they’re just not working for you.”
Here are a few things to think about as you try to build your coffee business and grow your barista’s (oh yeah, and keep them):
1. Hire happy people. If your people start out with a great attitude, it’s likely they will meet with great success. Don’t try to change attitude – hire attitude.
2. Train them properly ….. Teach them about your coffee –Freshness, Cleanliness & Extraction …. Make the best supplier a partner to help you.
3. Make sure they know how to taste coffee. If they don’t like coffee – don’t employ them!
4. Agree with them that they are first quality controllers and then salespeople.
5. The secret to barista’s being more productive comes from encouragement. Like a football team you have to make the time to inspire them and motivate them ….. and you have to keep doing it. Use other experts & coffee conferences like the annual Specialty Coffee Association of Europe’s to support you. Its actually not expensive in the long term.
6. Become the place to work by being known as a company that has a great culture and that looks after its people well. An extra £1 per hour might only cost you £2k per year per selected individual ….. put them on a profit target based on a simple equation linked to this ……
7. Do it Right Now !
8. Top barista’s know other top barista’s. If you’re looking for more barista’s look no further than your own team. If your barista’s are referring other barista’s, it’s the most powerful referral you can get as a manager. It means your employees are happy and productive.
9 There’s no magic solution. Make yourself a great person first. Make yourself attractive first. Be a leader, teacher, coach, and encourager.
10 Turn up on time, Do what you say, Finish what you start and Say Please & Thank You.
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