Job Title:
Support Manager – Pizza Restaurant
Number Of Years Dedicated To This Field Of Work or Lifestyle:
1
Category Of Work:
Employment – Paid Work
Country / Area of Work:
United Kingdom
Industry:
Hospitality/Travel
Type:
Employment
Key Skills For The Job:
To be a support manager you have to be able to work on all stations within the business for example front of house, kitchen, management administration duties. You need to know the processes and policies “inside out”.
As a manager you will delegate responsibility to your team. In doing so you need to be able to assess who is working effectively, efficiently and to the standards required.
You also need to be able to identify areas you need to improve so that these areas do not affect other areas of the work-flow. An eye for detail is a key skill. An example being, when assessing the working being done in the kitchen you may notice the staff member(s) responsible for washing the dishes are falling behind in their work and so the amount of dirty plates is stacking up literally!
This may not at first glance seem like a big problem, if you have enough of a stock of clean crockery, glasses & utensils. But the way I would look at is as a manager is as followed:
1) Health and safety risk this causes
2) ‘Pot Washer’ staff member morale and needs – are they ok? Do they need training to help them manage their workflow better, is there something else impacting on the quality of their work.
3) Are other factors contributing to this issue – for example are the front of house team not sending dirty plates up quick enough resulting in the pile up.
4) Effect on any staff who are on shift next, taking over from this ‘Pot Washer’ – their morale to come into a hectic somewhat out of control station
Vital Key Skill:
Interpersonal skills.
As a support manager you work directed by the store manager however you have full responsibility of the shifts you lead.
In my experience I would gain targets, instructions and guidance from the store manager but once I was fully trained I managed my own shifts fully, in line with the policies, targets, workflow requests laid out by the manager as standard.
Interpersonal skills are vital. You need to be confident in your abilities. Execute your strategy for the shift confidently. You need to be approachable so that anyone (customers and staff) can approach you, communicate effectively with them.
You need to be open minded with how people are different. How your instructions given to one member of staff could be different if compared to another staff member undertaking the same work.
Every shift I led was different. The mix of staff, customers and environmental factors are almost rarely the same from day to day.
You need a professional attitude and great interpersonal skills when dealing with customers. Whether its working with them to make a event (birthday party dining in your restaurant) extra special. Or even working to resolve a customers concerns
Being able to communicate effectively to individuals and groups in a way that enables the most effective delegation and undertaking of tasks is vital.
Your Personal Experience Of Entering This Role:
Higher Education Level
Tips For Undertaking This Work:
Being in management is a big responsibility.
I have seen examples of management staff being assessed, judged by the team they manage who have said things like “why should I do this job, the manager doesn’t” or “they are just sitting in their office, why should I bother do this manual labour” etc.
The team you manage may possibly not see or appreciate the work you do, or why you are doing what you are. This can make you feel frustrated but all you can do is try to manage your team. Manage their expectations and understanding of what they need to focus on and you need to have “thick skin” to remain assertive even at challenging times.
Future Progression Or Developments:
An example within the company I worked for:
1) Team members – Front of house waiting staff, back of house chefs, ‘Pot Washer’ staff
2) Shift Manager – Lead Manager: who works along side the Support and general manager
3) Shift Manager – Support manager: Manage a shift without the general manager being present
4) General Manager: Responsible for the running of the store. Delegates to their management team.
5) Area Manager: Managing a given geographical area, all stores within which report to area manager. Reporting on staff turn around figures, sales figures, management issues and other targets. Area manager ensures all stores work in a uniformed manner in line with all company policies and standards.
It is not easy to give negative feedback to a team member. But with experience you are able to turn this into a more positive experience for both yourself and your team. Caring about the development of your team, understanding the resources at your disposal and being able to effectively identify any areas of concern in someones work means you will be able to effectively resolve the issue.
There may be times when you are challenged beyond this. An example being a team member who is behaving in a way that would warrant disciplinary action. This can be hard, but your training will prove very useful in these situations. Its not nice, but it is part of the job. Be sure to learn as much as possible from the experience as all parts of being a manager (the more fun parts and the most stressful parts) will make you a stronger manager.
What Are The ‘tools of the trade’ Used Daily:
As a support manager at a pizza restaurant there were many “tools of the trade” dealing with just being a restaurant. Cooking facilities, dining area and the equipment to go along with this.
In addition to this, as a manager my daily duties meant I had to utilise tools such as the following:
> Finance management resources – Provide “floats” (set amount of money) to the waiting staff. Cashing up at the end of the day. Using a safe, money bags, receipts to deposit takings in the safe and then ultimately into the bank. Using the computer (software spreadsheets) to record takings and analyse predicted sales against actual sales.
> Procurement – Stock taking, weekly stock ordering using a printed check list combined with a computerised ordering system.
> Lead the team – “Figure of 8” review system. This was simply regularly walking through the store (front and back) in a kind of figure of 8 shape to ensure you are aware of everything that is going on in the store. Looking for current or potential issues. Rewards for staff (appraisal charts, physical prize rewards such as a free pizza or other perk/ benefit). Using staff rota to manage the level of staff. Reviewing sales data for the same period the year prior to forecast need, this directly affects the rota.
> Policies and work flow manuals from within the company. Used in every day work.
A Typical Day’s Duties:
Open up the store at 6am. Do a walk-through for security, check the building is secure and there are no issues (leaking pipes, etc).
Turn on the proof cabinets. Turn on the gas supply (cut off during the night at close of business).
If delivery day, take delivery of stock. Safety measures would be taken (lifting heavy boxes) and quality of goods checked. Deal with any issues, i.e. delivery that was insufficient could leave you without enough dough for the day or next few days. You would need to call around the other restaurants to ask management if anyone could borrow you some supplies. You would need to work out the logistics in dealing with this and order additional supplies.
Review the rota for the day.
Do a walk through to check the levels of stock prepared the night before are adequate for the sift.
Prepare ‘floats’ for staff. Review shift targets (sales forecast, number of diners predicted, etc ).
Manage team as they arrive.
Ensure everything is ready for opening time.
Once open review the shift regularly to ensure you are on target (income and costs). If the day is more busy than forecasted assess if additional staff is required. If so, make arrangements. If the day is quieter than expected, you need to assess whether to send some staff home. This will reduce your costs and so you make more profit. There is a risk however that if you send staff home without correctly assessing the situation you end up with a team not adequate enough to deal with demand. This effects the quality level of products, service and customer dining experience.
Is Travelling A Regularly Part Of This Work:
No
Weekly Working Hours:
Full Time
Type Of Hours Arrangement:
Hours By Rota / Roster – Changes Regularly
The Best Thing About The Work You Do:
Seeing your team enjoy their work. You can help to lift someones mood, to motivate them, resolve problems or concerns they may have. You directly impact on the working culture within the restaurant. Its a very important but very rewarding aspect.
Your Least Favorite Thing About The Work You Do:
Dealing with team members who are working below the required level of standards.
It can be challenging. You need to utilise every resource at your disposal needed to resolve any issues.
Any Duties You Hadn’t Anticipated Prior To Undertaking The Work:
The range of issues customers bring cannot be anticipated in any field.
Even in the most strangest of concerns raised by customers you need to act professionally. Take the issue seriously, be respectful, have empathy regardless if the issue at hand is something you agree with or not.
The Top Perks Of The Work:
Free pizza!
The top perk for me was that no two days were ever the same. My team and the customers ensured that every day was different. This makes every day more challenging and exciting.
Other Work In The Same Sector: (Left Blank If Not Applicable)
If you don’t work directly in the restaurant you could be a delivery driver if the restaurant has a take-away section.
Other work in this sector is in duties at head office. These include but are not limited to, human resources, marketing, training and development.
What Professional Organisations Are Associated With Your Work:
The Food Standards Agency
British Hospitality Association
Health & Safety Executive
Additional Info You Wish To Share:
I entered into the support manager role after achieving a BSc (Hons) Business Management Degree (2.1). Other support managers worked their way up from team members to lead manager then onto support manager role.
I worked in a pizza restaurant in Birmingham, UK. I would like to thank and credit Jenter Photography for the photograph of Birmingham included above. Also my thanks to photographer Jan Vašek for the cooked pizza photograph. Finally thanks to freestocks org for the picture of the dough on the table used above.
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